Myntra, a Flipkart-owned fashion platform, has roped in local tailors to pick up packages from warehouses and deliver to customers to mend the sales gap caused by the return of ill-fitting clothes. The move is set to minimize business losses by cutting down on the return of clothes and refunds, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Tying up with local tailors in apparel delivery is not a new concept and companies such as Raymond and Birla-owned Abof.com took initiatives to partner with local tailors as last mile delivery agent.

Shagun Sachdeva, Consumer Insights Analyst at GlobalData, says: “Myntra started offering alternation services in Bengaluru back in 2016 and with the present move the company looks to address the discomfort of consumers in searching for tailors for altering purposes. This is aimed at mending sales gap and at the same time improving customer satisfaction by fixing fitting flaws at doorstep.”

According to GlobalData, online retail in India accounted for US$17.2bn in 2017 and is projected to reach US$69.9bn by 2022.

In line with this growth, the online retailing of clothing in India grew exponentially in the last few years and reached US$5bn in 2018, owing to increasing penetration of Internet and discounts offered by e-retailers.

The market is currently fragmented with market leader Amazon commanding only 5% share across all categories. Therefore, in order to break the clutter, companies such as Myntra are finding innovative ways to please the customers.

Sachdeva concludes: “Myntra has reduced its losses from US$96m in FY2017 to US$22m in FY2018 and is aiming to turn itself profitable down the line, for which such loss reducing measures might be helpful.”