Why Myntra ‘lost conviction’ and went back to the website (yes, finally)

Photo credit: Art Comments

India’s biggest fashion app Myntra (owned by Flipkart), has finally decided to admit defeat in what had fast become a staring contest between the startup and its customers.

Then Myntra blinked.

“We have been humble enough to realize and listen to our customers’ needs and hence, we are relaunching the desktop version on June 1,” chief executive Ananth Narayanan told the Economic Times.

The U-turn has raised a bit of rabble on the internet, with some celebrating Myntra’s spirit, while others picked on the company.

https://t.co/GU3Wt0pZki
unanswered Q's about myntra's move back to desktop…and then some history, like this quote: pic.twitter.com/fWweTRkRx2

— Nikhil Pahwa (@nixxin) May 4, 2016

Arguments for “bowing to customers” and “taking risks” notwithstanding, there’s a far more practical reason – some would call it a “no brainer” – for why the desktop is still very important for ecommerce companies.

Despite a phenomenal rise in mobile traffic and users, India is still learning to balance patchy internet connectivity, a skew towards cheap phones, and a deluge of online stores, which keeps the desktop relevant.

And while Flipkart-Myntra tom-tommed their mobile strategies, Amazon reaped rewards on its website.

What happened with app-only

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