Online fashion retailer Myntra (a Flipkart acquired company)
has shut down its desktop
and browser version from 15th of May 2015, and is now available only
as an App. Probably the first online retailer to say no to omni-channel retail
strategy. As their website now says – “Myntra is now App Only”.
As an implied justification of this decision, Mukesh Bansal,
CEO, Myntra, and Head of Commerce, Flipkart says “Presently, we see 90 per cent
traffic coming from the mobile app. Over 70 per cent of sales are via mobile
devices.” Other reasons include – fast expected growth of smartphones in India,
shift of consumers to smartphone over web for commerce and information
consumption.
However, the “Appy” decision still means that Myntra is
willing to risk losing a good 30% of its sales which was coming over the
browser. Why would any retailer risk a potential drop in sales in the near term
by shutting down one of the avenues of sale? What does Myntra really expect to gain?
The answer probably lies in Myntra’s statement: “With
mobile-based commerce emerging, we want to create a differentiated /
personalised shopping experience for our consumers”
A retailer’s mobile app is like the best spying device
available, and it takes your explicit consent for being spied upon.
I downloaded the app on my Android device from the Google Playstore.
As you can see in the image below, the Myntra app wants to (automatically) access
the following information about you available on your mobile: Your identity,
Contacts, Location, Photos/Media/Files, Wifi connection information, Device ID
and Call information.
After installing the app, you can browse the products on
sale, admire what for now appears to be great deals, but you can buy only
after you login to the app.
So here is the implication - Myntra, through its app, wants to
sell products only to those customer’s whom it can know intimately, much more
than on first name basis. With access to almost everything that your mobile
phone is privy of, like where do you go, who are your friends, what have you
bought in the past, it is ready to offer a “personalised” service.
It is willing to risk losing those 30% of sales coming
through the browser which had inferior or limited personalised information. A
browsers on a desktop would not allow location information, or even the
identity of the person making the purchase as login was optional.
While Eco-101 taught us that markets were good for they
allowed multitudes of nameless buyers and sellers to interact, and then
transact at a discovered market clearing price generating economic surplus for both
buyers and sellers, the App only model is preparing to create a million markets
of 1 person each. You will get an offer –
a great deal on the surface, but the offer is only for you. Will it be good for
you? I doubt it, unless you are one of the early investors in Myntra. Let me remind you of
I strongly recommend Jaron Lanier’s excellent
book – “Who owns the future” for a different and more alarming perspective on the digital
revolution.
