Myntra's U-Turn Comes Full Circle With Desktop Site Relaunch on June 1

A year after going app-only, fashion e-tailer Myntra completed the u-turn on its decision by announcing that it will be relaunching its desktop website on June 1.

Myntra, owned by e-commerce firm Flipkart, had shut down its mobile and desktop website a year ago, when it claimed that 85 percent of its users and around 63 percent of all purchases happen on the app.

On relaunching the desktop site, Myntra CEO, Ananth Narayanan said that the premise for an app-only strategy was based on mobiles enabling tailored experiences, and being the future of computing.

"Despite many clear positives, we've decided to revisit our decision. The biggest reason is that the feedback from consumers, especially women. According to our data, women customers, who are a key area of focus for us, in particular, want to have the option of shopping across channels. In addition, as we enter the next phase of our rapid growth, we're launching home furnishing and jewellery where viewing intricate patterns lead to better purchase decisions," Narayanan said.

Myntra had already shown signs of changing course on its app-only move, with a partial launch of its mobile website in December 2015, which was later extended to cover purchases.

"At Myntra, we've always believed in taking bold calls and pushing innovation forward. We tried to do this last year because we thought we can offer consumers a much better experience on the mobile. While that is still true that the mobile experience is far superior to the web, we have recognized that some consumers still want the option to shop on the web and we're humble enough to listen to our customers," he added.