Fashion discovery was broken, so Myntra rebuilt it
Myntra
has been building a content ecosystem designed to solve one of the most significant consumer friction points in fashion shopping: discovery. Until now, most
e-commerce
marketplaces have been designed in a way that treats discovery like a scavenger hunt. Generic filters and endless scrolling have diminished the joy of finding that perfect product, one that makes the consumer feel good and confident about their decision.
The greatest strength of e-commerce marketplaces, their vast catalogue, has become a marketing nightmare. Platforms attempt personalised recommendations and semantic search, but shopping for fashion online still does not feel as easy or effortless as it should.
Meanwhile, consumer behaviour is evolving rapidly. The shopper's journey no longer begins in a storefront or search bar, but when they are scrolling through social media or consuming entertainment. Spotting what a celebrity wore at the Met Gala might lead to a quick Google search, or a Google Lens scan to discover similar products listed online. But this journey is not intuitive.
People want to be inspired first, and then they shop. Myntra is betting its future on that idea. Instead of rebuilding its catalogue, it is rebuilding the top of the funnel.
In mid-2022, the platform launched Myntra Minis, short-form influencer videos embedded directly into the app's shopping interface. Over 150,000 videos have been uploaded to date.
Sunder Balasubramanian, CMO of Myntra, told ETBrandEquity, 'Minis gave us a wealth of insights into how people interact with influencer content. Shoppers loved the inspiration, but Gen Z, a key cohort for us, sought relatability. They wanted to know: what are people like me wearing and buying?'
Then in 2024, Myntra launched
Ultimate Glam Clan
, a programme that transforms the average shopper into a creator. Any user can upload a photo or video of something they have bought on Myntra. If someone purchases through that post, the creator earns a commission.
Myntra saw modest success through these initiatives:
1 million users signed upOver 1 million posts uploaded4.5 billion impressions deliveredTop content viewers watched 30 to 40 videos per sessionA 20%+ uplift in conversion rates among content-exposed users
Last week, Myntra rolled out its most ambitious content-to-commerce experiment yet:
Glamstream
.
500 hours of celebrity-led content4,000 episodes across music videos, podcasts, web series and styling shows100+ celebrities, in partnership with 50+ content creators and studios
Balasubramanian stated, 'We are not just experimenting with content formats. We are trying to understand what kind of content converts on a commerce platform. Nobody knows that yet.'
This layer of content is fully shoppable and is designed to both inspire shoppers and enable purchases simultaneously. Users can not only see what their favourite creators or celebrities are wearing, but also browse a curated list of similar products displayed below the video and add items to their cart instantly.
The back-end has evolved at a similar pace. The initial MVP (minimum viable product) relied on manual tagging. Today, machine learning auto-tags fashion products in videos using visual similarity and catalogue data.
Like most brands, Myntra is still on the learning curve when it comes to building a successful social commerce business in India. In 2021–22, the company launched M-Live, a live commerce platform that failed to take off. The key learning was that appointment-based viewing did not resonate with Indian users. Especially among Gen Z, browsing is spontaneous, often happening during a commute or just before bed.
According to Balasubramanian, phase one is about building adoption and understanding user behaviour. Then comes scaling and personalising content to match individual preferences. Once that is in place, brand integrations and monetisation will form phase two. But it is still early days for the platform.
'Currently, 16% of monthly active users engage with content. Our goal is to take that up to 50%,' noted Balasubramanian. 'Next, we are building creator pages (for influencers and everyday users alike), metrics like likes, followers, earnings, and a personalisation engine, so that each user sees a content feed tailored to their fashion preferences.'
While content-to-commerce is not new, most brands still rely on affiliate links and traffic redirection to drive purchases. If Myntra succeeds, it will have made content-to-commerce journeys more effortless and intuitive, potentially changing how consumers in India shop for fashion online.
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