Flipkart formally closes down fashion portal Jabong 4 years after acquisition; to focus fully on Myntra for apparel business

After four years of its acquisition, Flipkart reportedly formally closed operations of Jabong, the Indian fashion, and lifestyle e-commerce portal, said a report. The purpose behind closing the operations of Jabong, which Flipkart acquired in 2016 for $70 million, is to focus fully on its premium fashion platform Myntra for its apparel business, said a report in The Economic Times. [caption id=“attachment_7311851” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] Flipkart redirected Jabong’s flagship portal and app to Myntra’s shopping window as part of the closure plan. The move may help Flipkart consolidate operations and make its marketing budget efficient, the report quoting experts. “The way e-commerce market in India has developed, customers need to be reacquired consciously. Since the level of stickiness is low, it is better to bring consumers to one site than spread money across multiple sites,” the reported said quoting Devangshu Dutta, founder of Third Eyesight, a strategy consulting firm. In July last year, it was hinted that Walmart-owned Flipkart might close down Jabong after the e-commerce firm had started diverting the shoppers to its own e-commerce firm Myntra. Flipkart reportedly had slashed a chunk of its marketing expenditure on Jabong and had been giving incentives to users to move from the Jabong app to Myntra on its homepage over the past few months. Jabong’s web traffic claimed to have declined to 2.5 million in June 2018 from 7.5 million in January 2019 while traffic to Myntra during the same period remained unchanged at 30 million.