Myntra launches fashion portal FWD to tap GenZ shoppers

The Myntra app was down for about 11 hours till about 11 am on Monday as the new product was being integrated into the app.

Myntra CEO Nandita Sinha told ET that the product had been in the works for several quarters and that through FWD, the company aims to attract 10 million Gen-Z users over the next two years.

“We wanted to build an immersive shopping experience for Gen-Zs. We have been talking about it that this cohort is going to be one of the largest consumer target groups in the country,” said Sinha.

The company has about 8 million Gen-Z shoppers—those born between 1997 and early 2012.

Sinha said the Gen-Z customer base has a very different way of shopping online with a particular focus on online trends.

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“What we have realised is that Gen-Z is a very different consumer segment. They have an inspiration, they have very different styles of shopping, and they have very different expectations from shopping apps and experiences,” she said. “Gen-Z discover trends mainly online and they spend about 8 hours every day online… We wanted to capture this insight of Gen-Z to create the FWD experience.”H&M, Trendyol, bebe, Tokyo Talkies, Sassafras, Hersheinbox, Street 9, Athena, Bonkers Corner and Boohoo are among the more than 500 brands that will be available through FWD. Myntra’s private-label brands like Roadster, Sangria will also be part of FWD.

Myntra FWD will have prominent visibility in bottom navigation, simplified trend-spotting-to-shopping, photo search, and daily drops among other features. Myntra will also incorporate more social media-like features like short video formats replicating Instagram Reels and have a community of more than 500 fashion influencers.

The development comes just weeks after one of India’s biggest Gen-Z fast fashion brands, Urbanic, pulled out of Myntra.

Sinha declined to comment on the development.

ET had reported on April 15 that investors are keen on investing in the Gen-Z ecommerce fashion newcomers as consumers look beyond platforms like Myntra and Ajio for their fashion shopping needs. This also includes Virgio, a direct-to-consumer fast fashion brand started by former Myntra CEO Amar Nagaram.