Myntra CEO clears air, says no reason to quit

Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan (in picture) will now report to Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy. Photo: Mint

New Delhi: Myntra chief executive officer (CEO) Ananth Narayanan on Friday denied reports he had resigned 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 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 combined workforce of Myntra and Jabong would be reduced by about 10%, Narayanan said.

Mint reported on Thursday that Myntra will integrate Jabong and cut about 150-200 jobs.

“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 speculation 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 priority 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.

“Both Ananya and Gunjan left to pursue really senior jobs and that’s a sign of how well our leaders are perceived. We have a very strong bench at Myntra, so while people may come and go we are confident we can handle any transition smoothly. We also continue to hire,” Narayanan said.