Myntra CEO says no reason to quit

NEW DELHI: Myntra chief executive officer (CEO) Ananth Narayanan on Friday dismissed reports of his resignation and said the online retailer will continue to run as a separate business.

Earlier this week, Walmart Inc., which owns Flipkart and Myntra, said Narayanan would report to Flipkart chief executive officer (CEO) Kalyan Krishnamurthy in the wake of group CEO Binny Bansal’s exit. The move led to speculation that Myntra would be integrated with Flipkart’s fashion business.

However, on Friday, Narayanan said in an interview that Myntra would continue to run as an independent company under his leadership.

Myntra will completely integrate Jabong, which will continue as a brand and separate platform. The move will lead to some redundancies and the com- bined workforce of Myntra and Jabong would be reduced by about 10%, Narayanan said.

“Since we bought Jabong we’ve been integrating the supply chain and tech. Now we’ve decided to integrate the org (Jabong organization) as well. Myntra and Jabong will continue to run as distinct platforms but they will be run by one team,” he said.

Narayanan dismissed specu- lation that he was leaving Myntra. He also said that while Flipkart and Myntra might work more closely in the future, the two had enough differentiation to be run separately.

“I’m definitely going to continue as head of Myntra-Jabong. The market is at a very early stage and our focus is on expanding the market. Of course, it’s been a tough week with Binny leaving but our immediate prior- ity is End of Reason Sale and we remain focused on innovating and bringing the best experience for customers for the sale,” Narayanan said.

Still, analysts expect Myntra to lose at least some senior leaders after the restructuring. Last month, chief marketing officer Gunjan Soni and chief strategy officer Ananya Tripathiquit. More leaders are expected to follow.

› I’m going to continue as head of MyntraJabong. The market is at a very early stage and our focus is on expanding the market. It’s been a tough week with Binny leaving but our priority is End of Reason Sale ANANTH NARAYANAN, CEO, Myntra