Update: Ananth Narayanan will continue his role as the chief executive officer of Myntra-Jabong as per fresh Reuters report.
The departure of CFO Dipanjan Basu could not be independently verified. Entrackr has reached out to Myntra and Narayanan for more inputs.
Earlier: Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan and CFO Dipanjan Basu quit
Everything is not going well at Flipkart and that’s leading high profile exit at its owned entities– Myntra and Jabong. Soon after the resignation of Binny Bansal as Flipkart group CEO, Ananth Narayanan, CEO of Myntra and CFO Dipanjan Basu have reportedly resigned from the company.
The speculation of Narayanan’s quitting the fashion vertical has been doing the rounds for the last 24 hours.
Narayanan, who was slated to report Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy after Bansal’s exit, has shared good relations with the former Group CEO. However, the same may not be anticipated in case of Krishnamurthy.
Further, the conflict of interest arises as the Bengaluru-based e-commerce marketplace already runs its own fashion vertical — Flipkart Fashion led by Rishi Vasudev. Besides, differences over preferential treatment to Flipkart Fashion can’t be ruled out.
The internal conflict might have cropped up when Myntra and Jabong did not participate in Flipkart’s flagship sale Big Billon Days instead they run their own sales called Big Fashion Days. Last year, Flipkart claimed 80 per cent market share in the online fashion segment with three brands — Flipkart Fashion, Myntra and Jabong.
Industry experts also believe that Myntra’s missing the revenue target for 2018 may be the reason for these exits.
According to some media reports, Walmart has been planning to integrate some roles between Myntra and Flipkart’s fashion business as well as Jabong.
Meanwhile, Jabong is planning to lay off 40-50 per cent of its 400 employee workforce. The company’s restructuring itself so that its technology and corporate functions like HR and finance will get combined with those of Myntra’s.
Citing sources, an ET report said that Jabong is also likely to move base to Bengaluru from Gurugram.
Myntra could also see a significant lay off up to 400 employees.
While the cost-saving approach in operations and marketing seems to be the possible reason behind restructuring, it will be worthwhile to watch how Narayanan’s exit costs the most celebrated fashion company of India.
