Flipkart forays into fashion private label with Divastri

After the launch of a private label brand Flipkart Smartbuy in electronics and home categories, the ecommerce major has launched its first private label in women’s ethnic wear Divastri. Under the newly launched fashion label, the company will target unstitched garments category, typically served by long tail merchants. With the label, the company also aims to control quality and pricing in the segment.

"We have some basic line of private label but Divastri will be our first brand in the fashion space," said Rishi Vasudev, VP of fashion (retail) at Flipkart, as reported by the ET. “We have selected over 20 sellers, some of whom double up as manufacturers to licence the brand and sell on the Flipkart fashion marketplace. We have started with a selection of 1,500 and will soon ramp it up to 2,500,“ he added.

Currently, Flipkart has selected 20 sellers for Divastri, based on performance history, design capabilities, quality standards, manufacturing and sourcing capabilities.

Vasudev said the company will be introducing new labels in the coming months as part of the fashion vertical. The current line will meet quality standards with a uniform design story for its offerings, he said.

Flipkart-owned online fashion portal Myntra had launched its private label category as early as 2012.Currently, it has 14 private label brands, including Roadster (its top-selling, outdoor lifestyle brand) HRX by Hrithik Roshan amongst others.

The share of fashion in the company's gross merchandise value has remained static between the first quarter of 2016 and that of 2017, said a report by RedSeer.

Experts opine that private labels are very crucial for online marketplaces to turn profitable as they offer better margin. To beef-up its private label, Amazon launched in-house home and kitchen brand Solimo followed by fashion offerings Myx and Symbol last year.

Meanwhile, Flipkart owned Myntra has come a long way in terms of revenue generation from private label. The company expects 25 per cent revenue from private labels by the end of the ongoing fiscal.