Myntra acquires Pretr to scale omnichannel capabilities

Flipkart-owned fashion retailer Myntra has acquired Pretr, a Mumbai-based omnichannel platform for retailers, the company said in a statement.

The acquisition will ramp up Myntra’s omnichannel capabilities, which will allow it to provide such solutions for retailers on its network. The company declined to comment on the terms and size of the transaction.

Consequently, Myntra will partner with 50 strategic brands in the next one year and will leverage omnichannel capabilities for its offline stores, Ananya Tripathi, head of category business and chief strategy officer at Myntra, stated.

“Omnichannel, one view of inventory and one view of customer irrespective of the channel, will bring the best of offline and online world to customers—the touch and feel experience of offline and the convenience of online,” Tripathi added.

After the acquisition, Pretr will continue to operate as a separate brand and its entire team will be integrated into Myntra, a spokesperson for the fashion e-tailer said.

The company will offer its omnichannel capabilities to brands on the platform as well as to other retailers, the spokesperson added.

The latest acquisition comes a little under four months after Myntra acquired Witworks Consumer Technologies Pvt. Ltd, a Bengaluru-based wearable tech startup for an undisclosed amount.

According to Myntra’s statement, a customer shopping for a brand on its e-commerce marketplace will now have a unified view of the brand’s online and offline inventory. Consumers will also be able to avail of value added services such as same-day delivery, click and collect, and return or exchange at the brand’s stores. Brands, in turn will be able to increase their sales, improve inventory utilisation and offer better customer experience.

Pretr

Launched in 2016 by Bhavik Jhaveri and Ankur Joshi, Pretr is operated by Mumbai-based Ambab Infotech Pvt. Ltd, which develops products for technology services and retail cloud.

The venture operated a software-as-a-service platform that provides a suite of omnichannel solutions for retailers that includes instore assistance, real-time inventory, scan and shop and instant payment solutions, among others.

An IT engineer by qualification, Jhaveri had earlier co-founded online fashion e-portal Craftsvilla. Co-founder Joshi is a financial management graduate and had earlier worked with Reliance Industries Ltd as part of its treasury vertical.

Myntra’s previous acquisitions

Besides Pretr and Witworks, Myntra has made many acquisitions in the past.

In April last year, it acqui-hired logistics startup InLogg to help solve delivery inefficiencies in terms of cost and reach.

In 2016, it bought a majority stake in fitness and sportswear brand HRX, co-owned by Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan and Exceed Entertainment.

In the same year, it had acqui-hired Cubeit, a Bengaluru-based tech startup in 2016 and Native5, another Bengaluru-based mobile app development firm, in 2015.

Previously, in 2013, it acquired Fitiquette, a San Francisco-based technology startup.

However, its largest acquisition is Jabong in 2016, a transaction that reportedly gave it a 70% market share in the Indian online fashion market.