Myntra brings back 'End Of Reason Sale' amidst pandemic

Increased demand for loungewear, kids wear and lingerie are some of the category trends predicted for the 2020 sale.

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown things out of gear for India's economy. As India attempts to unlock after nearly three months of lockdown, fashion and lifestyle e-tailer Myntra announced its first End of Reason Sale for the year. The sale is live on the app between 19th and 22nd of June.

To draw attention to the sale, Myntra has been running advertisements on television, YouTube pre-roll ads, and ads on all major platforms. The agency that Myntra worked with for this campaign is Brave New World and for the media buying side, it worked with Wavemaker. The ads feature Bollywood actors Hrithik Roshan, Sonakshi Sinha and South Indian actress Samantha Akkineni.

In a press release, Myntra has laid out detailed guidelines on safety to be followed at every touch point in the supply chain, including at warehouses, fulfilment centres, forward deployment centres, storage facilities of MENSA partners (Myntra Extended Network of Service Augmentation) or kirana shops and at the doorsteps of customers. In the wake of the pandemic, Harish Narayanan, the CMO at Myntra believes its important to ensure that the safety factor is in place.

"Our association with Hrithik Roshan and Sonakshi Sinha and its the first time we're working with actress Samantha. We have also created a sort of sonic branding identity with the trumpets that we intend to use going forward," says Narayanan in a conversation.

This is the 12th edition of Myntra's sale and Narayanan mentioned that the site has seen a good response from the audience, even in categories such as shoes. The key difference between the rise in orders, as compared to 2019, has been the increase in demand for comfort and home wear apparels. Consumers seem to be opting for more in-house wear rather than the pre-lockdown era of making occasion-based fashion choices.

Fashion seems to be leaning heavily into the zone of comfort as work from home becomes the norm for many. Myntra saw an almost 2x-3x surge in organic searches on the platform for comfortable t-shirts, shorts, night suits, track pants, innerwear, kids apparel and sandals, etc. The e-tailer is also expecting loungewear/comfort wear as a trend to pick up in the coming days, given the work from home situation.

Another category trend was a jump in the kidswear category which is currently seeing 1.3X - 1.4X growth. This is primarily because clothing sizes keep changing as kids grow, safety and convenience of shopping from home is an important factor at this time.

When it comes to the beauty and personal care category, trimmers have witnessed high traction due to the sheer need for grooming at home. Apart from these, a press note also mentions that Myntra will be introducing products including personal protective masks. According to the e-tailer, masks are one of the top searched products on the platform.

Myntra is also expecting customers to spend more per transaction and opt for long-lasting and premium brands. There is an anticipation for demand in 'utility' apparel, such as T-shirts with attached masks, a night suit, or work from home sets, with a mask, among others. This will make it easy for people to switch between video calls and running errands. The brand has also experienced 2.5 times the demand for products in the lingerie segment, when compared to pre-lockdown levels.