Flipkart has shut down Jabong and has decided to focus on its other fashion brand, Myntra, according to reports. Jabong’s website too now redirects to Myntra.
The two were parallel fashion brands promoted by Flipkart under the management of the Bansals before Walmart acquired Flipkart. Both platforms were organically acquired by Flipkart and were run as a separate business. Once Walmart took over Flipkart, the two were merged under the umbrella of Flipkart Fashion, but the two websites continued to exist separately.
Flipkart however, turned its attention to Myntra, signalling a backseat for Jabong.
Flipkart acquired Jabong in 2016, which then began working under Myntra’s management. However, the two continued to run separately under the same CEO. In early 2019, the CEO, Ananth Narayanan, left the company.
Reports in June 2019 stated that Flipkart was cutting down on Jabong’s marketing spends, and was also redirecting users to Myntra.
In November 2019, while announcing the earnings for the third quarter Walmart announced that the retail giant was taking a non-cash impairment of nearly $290 million on the trade name ‘Jabong’.
“We continue to see strong growth in both sales and units across both Flipkart and Myntra fashion and remain confident about performance. Since there was value ascribed to the Jabong name at the time of the Flipkart acquisition, we are taking a non-cash impairment charge on the trade name,” Walmart Inc EVP and CFO Brett Biggs had then said in a statement.
Experts told the Economic Times that the move will help consolidate operations, and it made sense, given that Walmart wants to focus on operational efficiency.
TNM reached out to Myntra for a response, and the story will be updated if they respond.