Flipkart launches men’s fashion private label 'Metronaut'

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Jul 3, 2017

 India’s leading online marketplace Flipkart has launched its first fashion private label for men 'Metronaut'. The company last month had launched a fashion private label Divastri to cater to women’s ethnic wear segment.

Flipkart along with its subsidiaries Myntra and Jabong is the undisputed leader in the online fashion market with 70 per cent share of the fashion e-commerce market in India.

With fashion expected to become the largest product category and Indian e-tailing market to reach $80-100 billion by 2020 it is no surprise that all major e-commerce firms are taking to private labels as they give higher margins as compared to margins the firms earn from sellers.

Flipkart owned subsidiary Myntra has mastered the private labels formula and aims to be profitable in its next financial year riding high on its 14 in-house brands like Roadster, HRX and others.

Flipkart is also banking on private labels to drive growth and plans to launch more in the coming months. The company is also optimistic that Metronaut label will be a profitable venture.

“Men's fashion is a top category for us contributing 60% by value of all fashion sales. We believe that the brand will have a higher sell through due to lower returns as we have made sure that the sizing is standardised and better-quality checks, and hence less discounting to clear stocks. Also, the supply chain cost will go down. We will update styles every two months”, Rishi Vasudev, vice president, Flipkart Fashion was quoted by the Economic Times.
 
Metronaut currently has a selection of denims, t-shirts, shirts and accessories such as belts, wallets and sunglasses.
 
Flipkart’s fiercest rival Amazon is also making inroads into India’s online fashion segment and has already launched two private labels ‘Symbol’ for men’s western formals and Myx for women’s Indian wear.