Urbanic to delist from Myntra, Flipkart

Urbanic is a digital only fast fashion brand targeting consumers in Asian and Latin American markets—it was launched in 2019 with India as its first overseas market of expansion. While it initially entered the market via its own app; in 2021 the brand partnered with Flipkart Group—selling clothes through Myntra as well as Flipkart.

Now as part of its plan to focus completely on its own platforms, Urbanic is set to launch its own website in India. It already has a mobile app that draws significant traffic for the Gen-Z focussed brand.

“As part of our global brief, we have been asked to focus completely on our platform and developing our own community, developing everything on Urbanic. In the future we might take a few decisions but again the speed at which we want to grow right now, I think our platform is more than enough for us,” Rahul Dayama, head of marketing, Urbanic India said.

To be sure, India accounts for half of the brand’s revenues. After it launched in India, Urbanic launched in Latin American markets to tap younger shoppers there. Urbanic sells casual western wear clothing such as t-shirts, jeans, dresses and accessories at price points that appeal to younger consumers.

To be sure, Flipkart’s fashion focussed platform Myntra has been a top contender for large foreign brands to enter India on an exclusive basis. For instance, when Urbanic first listed on Myntra in September of 2021—it recorded one of the biggest opening day sales for a brand on Myntra.

Within the first 12 hours of listing on Myntra—Urbanic sold 23,000 pieces largely tops, dresses, and jeans, Myntra said then.

Urbanic has since not listed on any other marketplaces such as Amazon, Ajio or Nykaa Fashion.

However, Dayama said while e-commerce marketplaces give brands like Urbanic huge reach and depth in the market—a majority of its shoppers largely reside in tier-1 cities; the brand now wants to control its interface with consumers including service and communication.

“We were always a direct-to-consumer platform right from the start. I think partnering with Myntra was something which we wanted to do to reach more pin codes,” he said.