Myntra, one of the major e-commerce players in the fashion segment, has launched its second offline store in the country in Bengaluru. The store, which will be a retail outlet for its in-house brand Roadster, is fully radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology enabled, and has been introduced with the concept of a 30 second self checkout.
Through this store, the second in Bengaluru, Myntra aims to offer its customers a fusion of an offline and online experience. The price of items in this outlet will be same as the online store. The brand is planning to open around 15 stores in the country by the end of this year, and is planning to set up a similar technology enabled store in Pune next week. Apparently, Roadster is one of the fastest in-house brands for Myntra, and is currently witnessing a 100 per cent year-over-year growth.
“We keep doing research on consumer pain points and try to keep innovating so that the customers get the best experience. We have an innovation lab in Bengaluru which keeps on doing Research and Development (R&D) as to how to make the offline store experience enriching for our customers. Our aim is to have around 100 retail stores by end of next year. All the innovation and technology for these stores are being developed in-house by our R&D team,” Manohar Kamat, CXO and head of Myntra Fashion Brands (MFB) told THE WEEK.
Interestingly, customers will be able to pick up their products without any assistance and can see the real time online price of the garments as well as do a self checkout in around 30 seconds in the newly launched store. There are RFID-enabled digital screens at the store that offer shoppers detailed information about a particular product when a customer holds the cloth against it and hence does not require any intervention from the staff at the outlet. Additionally, the shoppers are also able to discover different product features on models wearing them (studio images) including fabric, washes, suitability to body type, color matching, availability of size etc.
“Under the self checkout system, customers will be able to experience a quick self checkout by placing all the products in the RFID tray that will capture the product details and display the bill on the screen instantly, which can be paid using a debit or a credit card upon confirmation. Hence, it would require no more scanning of individual products or removing security tags from each garment. This will make the entire process seamless,” said Kamat, who has more than 15 years of experience in the brick and mortar store, and had spent a large part of it at Shoppers Stop before joining Myntra.