The fashion e-commerce industry in India has witnessed exponential growth over the past few years. Several factors like increasing internet and smartphone penetration, growing affluence of population and preferences of young demographics have contributed to the meteoric rise of this sector.
CoherentMI dives deeper into various aspects that are fueling the growth of fashion e-commerce in India in India Fashion Ecommerce Market.
Rise of Fashion-focused E-commerce Platforms
A host of Indian startups like Myntra, Jabong and Limeroad have emerged as dominant players focusing exclusively on fashion and lifestyle segments. These platforms offer a wide variety of products across men’s, women’s and kids’ wear along with accessories. Their user-friendly mobile applications and websites have made online shopping of apparels very convenient. Aggressive marketing campaigns, celebrity endorsements and frequent mega sale events like End of Reason Sale (EORS) have helped these platforms achieve massive scale.
Myntra alone ships to over 19,000 pin codes across the country each day. In recent years, large multinational e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart have also strengthened their fashion portfolio by collaborating with popular brands and influencers. This has allowed customers access to global as well as domestic fashion trends sitting in small towns and cities.
Rise of Private Labels
Many fashion e-tailers like Myntra, Jabong and Amazon India have established their own inhouse private labels over the past years. These private labels ranging from affordable to premium products catering varied customer segments have gained tremendous popularity. For instance, Myntra’s popular private labels include Roadster, HRX and Dressberry while Amazon Fashion houses brands like Symbol, Anthropic and Aurelia.
Private labels not only help platforms diversify their product offerings but also improve margins. They give customers unique style options at competitive prices. It is estimated that private labels already contribute over 20% of the revenue for top fashion e-tailers. With continuous innovation, their popularity and market share is expected to rise further in the coming times.
Influence of Celebrity Endorsements and Influencers
Celebrity endorsements have played a crucial role in enhancing brands and promoting fashion shopping online in India. Major platforms partner with popular Bollywood as well as sports celebrities to market various fashion products and sales.
For example, Jabong associates with cricketer ViratKohli as its brand ambassador. Myntra has collaborated with top actresses like Anushka Sharma, Alia Bhatt and others as its style icons. In addition to celebrities, social media influencers across Instagram, YouTube and other platforms have become key partners for e-tailers as well as brands.
They help create buzz around new launches, campaign products and create user-generated content to appeal to younger audiences. This has given significant impetus to discoverability and trial of various apparel categories online. Overall, celebrity endorsements and influencer associations have made online fashion shopping more exciting and aspirational for Indian customers.
Growing Dominance of Mobile Commerce
India being a smartphone-dominant market, the rise of mobile commerce has played a transformational role. According to studies, over 80% of fashion shopping currently happens through mobile applications of various e-tailers. Enhanced features like product videos, virtual trial, easier payment options and faster deliveries have boosted the overall mobile shopping experience manifold.
Platforms are leveraging technologies like AI, augmented reality, virtual reality to make browsing and purchases on phones increasingly immersive. For example, applications allow users to try and share outfits virtually before buying. Personalized search and recommendations further optimize the findability of products based on past behaviors. As India marches ahead in its digital journey, mobile commerce is certainly poised to drive the next wave of growth for fashion e-tailing.
Market Outlook
With increasing internet penetration in smaller cities and towns, the adoption of online shopping is growing at a rapid pace in India providing vast opportunities. Some key factors like rising incomes, growing working women population, social media influence and strong presence of global and domestic fashion brands are likely to help India emerge as one of the largest fashion e-commerce destinations globally over the coming years. While lifestyle brands and mass affordable segments have already achieved scale, niche categories around ethnic, kids, plus size and accessories continue to offer tremendous headroom for growth.
The Southeast Asian region specially Indonesia has also emerged as a high potential market influenced by domestic fashion brands and trends from India. Overall, technology led innovations, differentiated customer experiences and strategic partnerships remain crucial for platforms to tap into the humungous opportunities across both domestic and international markets in the future.
