May 15, 2015 was a historic day for Myntra.com, as it closed down its website and moved to an app-only platform. Speculations are rife that Flipkart, would soon follow suit. Myntra’s has testified this bold move by claiming that close to 95% of their internet traffic and over 70% of sales comes through mobile devices.
But being a loyal Myntra customer, this transition has left me confused! In spite of belonging to the generation of smartphones and mobile internet, and having installed all the key e-tailing apps, I have always felt more comfortable browsing these websites on my laptop.Personally, apps have been very beneficial to do a quick search to check the availability of a product or avail some exciting discounts that were only applicable to the App users.But when it comes to the shopping experience, the website has always been a notch higher, providing the ability to browse through a category right till the end and going back and forth till the time one is completely satisfied with their selections.
When I looked up Twitter to gauge the sentiments of fellow online shoppers, I wasn’t surprised to find many like me, who were forcibly being pushed out of their comfort zone -
This definitely does not mean that companies completely ignore the kind of impact mobile apps can have.
According to a recent study, 90% of smartphone users in India use apps, which is close to 158 million as of today. The country ranks second only to the US in the usage of shopping apps.( Source : http://bit.ly/1JXqlUX)
Myntra and parent company Flipkart have observed these numbers for quite some time now and one could gauge the below reasons for taking the App only approach:
- Connecting with On the Go consumers : With India expected to reach 213 million mobile internet users by June, 2015, the company does not want to lose out on the market potential of these On the move consumers (Source: http://bit.ly/1DCYk4W)
- Personalization and Enhanced User Experience : Fashion is a very personal experience and a mobile app can deliver this experience as it captures the user’s lifestyle and context in a manner that no other medium does. The idea of Myntra is to transform the app into a sort of personal style adviser. With multiple sensors, GPS, and camera etc, mobile apps will be able to capture multiple data points, which will eventually help Myntra provide a more personal and engaging experience
- Creating a Direct Marketing Channel : One of the biggest benefits of a mobile app is that any information that needs to be pushed out to customers – including special sales and promotions, is just a fingertip away. Through push notifications and location intelligence, the company ensures a direct interaction with the user, as and when required
- Growing presence in Tier II and III cities : Over 50 percent of their mobile traffic is coming from Tier II & III cities, which only goes to show that these are the cities where people have access internet only through their mobiles and this population is only going to grow with time
All the above mentioned reasons seem logical and the conversion numbers speak for themselves. But let’s also take into consideration the perspective of online consumers and what this move is taking away from us
- Choice of Medium : Consider this case - We get the same brands of apparels, electronics, books etc at our local shopping mall as well as on an online shopping site. But we as a consumer, have the option of deciding where to make the purchase from, depending on our personal factors. How different is this from the current situation of choosing between an app and a website? For some the app-only approach may be an invasion of privacy. Whereas others may not even be aware of the tracking permissions they give apps or the hidden data consumption in their phones due to apps. So, why not let the consumers decide which channel suits them the best?
- Price Comparisons : As we all know, comparing prices on mobile apps becomes an almost impossible task unlike a laptop or PC, where one can open multiple tabs simultaneously. Ultimately, to save on time and resources, the customer will have to accept the price which is being quoted by the particular mobile app
- Product Visibility : Because of the smaller screen, some consumers might find visibility as an issue. It also becomes time consuming to view the complete range of products in a category, as one can only preview about 4 products at one time. Also, viewing multiple product categories at the same time would be impossible
Co-existing Channels
Customers engage with brands through various channels—be it laptops, tablets, browsing on mobile websites or apps. Any brand should aim to interact with it’s customers as much as possible and should not ignore any of the customer touch-points. Ofcourse, it is extremely important to have a forward thinking approach to build brand recognition, but not at the cost of disgruntled consumers.
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