Effective May 15th, Myntra.com website is no more existent. All desktop and laptop users are being asked to download their mobile app inorder to purchase a product from their platform. Earlier, we had reported that both Flipkart and Myntra have discontinued their mobile websites, and forcing users to download their mobile app.
Speculations are rife that Flipkart may also close down their website for ever, and enable only mobile app purchase. Few days back, Flipkart’s founder had stated that India is no more a ‘mobile centric’ country, but has become a ‘mobile only’ nation.
We had also shared that how users are greatly disappointed with this decision, and have expressed their anger and frustration. After all, not every shopper wishes to get ‘sticky’ with one app as comparing prices becomes a headache on a mobile app.
However, the good news is that not all ecommerce portals in India are emulating Flipkart and Myntra; and the top three portals have openly come out and assured all their customers that their desktop version will exist peacefully, along with mobile.
Strategically speaking, this is a huge morale booster for users of desktop version of ecommerce portals, and at the same time, a huge demoralizer for Flipkart and Myntra’s marketing team, as they seem to be left out now.
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We Cant’s Force A Customer – Jabong
As the current trend goes, even Jabong, strongest competitor of Myntra, has admitted that 50% of all traffic and sales originate on their mobile app and the usage is increasing. But at the same time, they can’t force a customer to purchase only via mobile app. The customer is the best person to judge whether they wish a desktop site or a mobile app to make the purchase.
Jabong Cofounder Praveen Sinha said, “We strongly believe customers should have the choice to buy either on his smartphone or on the computer. It’s still 50-50 for us.”
The Power Lies With Customer – Amazon
Amazon has made clear that in a price sensitive and emerging market like India, the power has to be given to the customer in order to grow in the market. Although they admitted that close to 50% of their sales are happening on their mobile app, but both website and mobile should co-exist.
Akshay Sahi, customer experience head at Amazon India said on this issue, “We believe that as a consumer-obsessed company, we have to enable our customers to shop anytime, anywhere, and anyway they want.”
Respect Desktop Users – Snapdeal
On the other hand, Snapdeal has said that their analytics data shows that there are considerable amount of desktop website users on their portal, and they can’t just leave them in the middle.
A spokesperson from Snapdeal said, “Our data shows that there are still many customers who use PCs to shop online. We do not want to force our customers to use one specific medium to shop on Snapdeal,”
The Hidden Secret Behind Mobile Only Diktat: Stopping Price Comparison?
After several consultations with product managers and users of ecommerce portal, we have concluded that Myntra and Flipkart wants to stop the process and tradition of price comparison, and the best way to do is forcing mobile app only purchase. As we all know, comparing prices on mobile apps becomes an almost impossible task, and to save time and resources, the customer will have to accept the price which is being quoted by the particular mobile app.
Additionally, getting more details about the product also gets difficult in the app.
Echoing our view, Jabong Co-Founder Praveen also said, “Getting a price discovery from an app will be very difficult. Price comparison is significantly reduced there. Product visibility is a feature on the application which will get improved in future. Because of the small screen, some consumers might find it a visibility issue,”
What is your take on the issue? Will you download and install Myntra’s mobile app to make a purchase or switch over to a competitor who is still providing a website to shop? Do share your views by commenting right here!
This is not a good decision. I don’t use apps for my Online shopping and 90% of my shopping is through online portals. Moreover, both Flipkart and Myntra don’t have apps for Blackberry. I admit that newer Blackberry 10 devices can run android apps but compatibility is always an issue. Even if we leave the debate over the os platform, product visibility and price comparison are the most important aspects that keeps me away from those apps.
I was a regular visitor of Myntra before it went app only. They say 95% of their sale is app only. The reason for that was additional 5-10% discounts they offered on app. I always used their website to view products, compared prices and add to cart on web but place a final order on the app just to get extra discount.
Who would not like to get that extra off on your cart by just ordering on app. (It shows pre-filled cart in app when you have added products in cart on the webpage, so just a matter of 2-3 final clicks to buy via app and everything else via web portal.)
Now if you categorize these sales as app sales, I do not know what to say. For me Myntra is now the last option. App is still under development and has a lot of bugs. Finding product or sometimes even choosing a category is difficult sometimes.
I have tried the Myntra app for shopping and it is inconvenient! Price comparison is one thing, making choice in terms of visuals and material is also difficult. Plus it is not possible to browse on phone everytime, specially when you are travelling and internet connectivity on mobile phones is poor.
I loved Myntra for their quick delivery and products, but I would rather for Jabong as they still have the website.
flipkart and myntra are stupid………. i am never using the app…i used to purchase most of my products from these two.. but nw i will use other sites.
Though I have a phone having large screen 6+ but I do not prefer buying the product only viewing them on app. More over I don’t like to turn my head down on cell.
Definitely, I will go for other shopping sites, who still offer the desktop site as well. So will prefer jabong and amazon more than this stupid decision of app.
Mr. Bansals, it will definitely have an impact over your sales data. Good luck for your future.
The other BIG reason for app-only approach is Zero rating. Although Flipkart has moved away from Airtel Zero due to consumer backlash, they will soon hop in as TRAI and Indian govt seems that they will not support full-fledged Net Neutrality (of course who can say “No” to your election sponsors).
It will be a stupid decision if giants like flipkart take such decisions. In my view the biggest asset of flipkart is their website UI. its so awesome and considerably faster than other e-commerce websites. I was sad after hearing flipkart will shut down their website coz i love it.
If this happens, then bye bye flipkart, amazon zinda bad!
I have decided to go for other ecommerce sites who give open browsing catalogs or even visiting a shop than downloading the mobile app for shopping. I do browse the catalogs in my tablet and mobile phone, but I make purchases after viewing the product images in a bigger screen and after comparing prices.
I am more concerned about the apps requesting permission to access my personal information, location, call list, address book access and other information.
I am gonna delet my flipkart accoount as i don’t want purchase anything from them because of thier autocratic thinking.
Going the app only approach seems totally ridiculous. They will regret it soon. They will show how many customers ans sales they got via the app, but the fact is that they will never realize the loss they have gained by subtracting the PC users.
I am a Flipkart First member and I keep regretting the decision to pay Rs. 500 to them.
God help any company that stops listening to the customer and starts forcing decisions down their throat.
I have bought lakhs worth of stuff from Flipkart, mainly from my mobile app, but after doing all my research in the desktop site.
You bet that I won’t be buying a laptop or a DSLR again from Flipkart (when they move to app only) as it is a pain to compare and buy products within the app.
Targeted marketing and big data may be great for the company, but the consumer gains nothing there and loses flexibility. This personal app experience that Myntra talks about is nothing but targeted ads right? Or did I miss any other explanation that they have deigned to provide?
I Think Myntra and Flipkart Will Soon Resume Their Websites, As they are the owner and can take their discussions as they want. If they say 50% customer is coming from mobile app, But even rest 50% is coming from the web and my dear friends who think mobile can never be overcome to Desktop Computers.
Moving to mobile only is a bad choice .. I was a big fan of Myntra.com.. now the website is not working..in mobile it is very difficult to search product and i need to spent lot on GPRS and 3G plan. Very bad decision taken by Flipkart. No longer shopping is very smooth in Myntra.
I still prefer to buy using a desktop site even though use app sometimes to browse the product. For ordering cab, food etc it is much easier to use app. However when I have to search through a large assortment of products, I prefer to use only desktop sites.
I most probably will not be buying from myntra.
There are lots of people who are not like mobile-only approach of myntra and flipkart, you should provide multiple options to your customer for transaction.
Myntra’s move is an amazing move , indirectly its asking customers to trust them , once customer is satisfied they never gonna check price comparison nd stick to myntra .
Wrong move from flipkart. Many of us do not have senough storage in the mobile to have their app. They have become arrogant with success.
For FK Bansals, Myntra is an testing portal, If everything goes well.. Yay or else Myntra goes down but Brand ‘Flipkart’ shouldn’t go down. Haven’t seen so mean people like these ones.
I completely agree with Jabong.. You should provide option to customers whether to opt Desktop or Mobile. You can not force a customer to opt for Mobile App only. Orelse number of options available in market.
It’s a very good decision to not to go mobile app only. I strongly feel forcing ppl to download the app is wrong and that is why I feel flipkart and mantra has lost its popularity though m unaware about their sales trend. But definitely ppl prefer amazon and snapdeal over flipkart and other mobile app only. This idea of comparison is the basic crux of online purchasing if the comparison is being stopped why would ppl then stick to online purchases it would be again like going to a store and shopping from there.
Maybe the sales are looking more from Mobiles but it would still be quite infused by the desktops/laptops etc. For example – I do a lot of comparisons and searching for best price on my laptop….and then I sit with my faamily in the evening/night, show them the product on mobile and order it on mobile. Also, a lot of websites do sometimes give more offers and discounts on app so it is wise to shop on app. HENCE it shows more shopping on mobiles but ultimately the sale was created from a desktop.
I guess Flipkart has to roll back else this will backfire. First of all their prices are souring in comparison to other sites. Earlier I used to blindly shop from Flipkart but not now. They could be very costly in a lot of items. And the margins are so much that I simply can’t go to an app and shop like an Ape.
Moreover, in today’s scenario no one even think of Flipkart even if they simply vanish from the market. We have a lot and lot of options now. Amazon is the biggest one giving them fight and more are coming day by day.
I wasn’t even willing to download flipkart app (for example) when it forced me to download the app while I try to browse the website in my mobile (trying to load it’s mobile website). It was more than convenient, I do not like someone forcing me to change the way I want to shop. I found the move to mobile app a highly ridiculous one. It just shows that they don’t respect the customer’s preference, which clearly means that they are NOT CUSTOMER ORIENTED. How can one ever shop with such retailers (be it online or local).
Let me talk free here!
I will use an app only if it is the most cost effective option than the usage of a proper computer with a big screen and the ability to open multiple tabs on the browser!
For that price / product / review / comparison purpose I will most certainly use my desktop/laptop computer!!
Therefore, a site like Myntra selling only the non-essential things has no chance of forcing me to use an app for shopping!
But myself being a Flipkart First customer and their app is already installed on the phone, I might use their app for comparison purposes, if they go app only, for the time being! But, I will see that they will derive no competitive advantage from me as a customer by going app only.
I believe that this app only business model is basically anti-consumer and anti-competitive. I will, therefore, detest from buying from such sellers if similar options are available elsewhere.
Second your point completely Ben…