About a quarter of Flipkart’s shoppers are GenZ users, born between 1997 and 2012, the company said in a statement. Spoyl will focus on this segment, offering over 40,000 products, across segments such as westernwear, accessories, and footwear.
In May, Flipkart-owned fashion platform Myntra had launched its own GenZ focused app-in-app shopping vertical, called FWD. Myntra also launched a programme for students to access special deals in relation to FWD last week, called “FWD Campus Tribe”.
“At Flipkart, we understand that value fashion doesn’t mean compromising on quality and ethical production practices. By encouraging our seller ecosystem to use on-spot trend inputs and incorporating advanced planning, we strive to make available the most stylish garments, made possible by technology and data insights,” said Sandeep Karwa, vice president of Flipkart Fashion, in a statement.
The drive for GenZ customers comes as Flipkart tries out a number of other experiments on its platform, such as live commerce and an AI assistant. Though they’re yet to make a sizable impact, the ventures are intended to increase customer engagement with the platform. Similar strategies have also been adopted by rival Amazon India, with the latter even building a free-to-watch OTT platform inside the shopping app, called MiniTV, to boost user engagement.
Flipkart’s and Myntra’s effort to tap into GenZ users also come when multiple platforms and brands such as Virgio, Stumbl, Zouk and Snitch, have been scaling up operations to tap this user segment, which is believed to be a bigger spender on fast fashion than traditional users. Myntra’s FWD includes brands such as H&M, Trendyol, bebe, Tokyo Talkies, and Boohoo, as well as its private labels such as Roadster and Sangria. Myntra had launched FWD just weeks after one of India’s biggest Gen-Z fast fashion brands, Urbanic, pulled out of the site.
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Also read | Building India’s Shein: why investors are backing a new wave of fashion ecommerce startupsOn July 27, ET had reported a restructuring at Myntra as part of a new strategy to focus on select private labels instead of scaling a plethora of the in-house brands it had started in the apparel space. Roadster, HRX, and Mast and Harbour, among its largest brands, will be key focus areas for the Flipkart subsidiary. The restructuring had led to around 50 employees being laid off . The majority of those affected were staff employed by in-house brands.
ET had reported on April 15 that investors are keen on investing in Gen-Z ecommerce fashion newcomers as consumers look beyond platforms such as Myntra and Ajio for their fashion shopping needs. Those newcomers include Virgio, a direct-to-consumer fast fashion brand started by former Myntra CEO Amar Nagaram.
