Well, we knew it coming. Flipkart has finally shut down Jabong and users are now being redirected to its other Fashion portal Myntra. When you visit Jabong.com website or mobile site, you would be now redirected to Myntra.com. Jabong’s app on Android and iOS now shows a banner which reads “Rush to Myntra to place your orders“. On clicking any section in the app, you would be redirected directly to Myntra App, (if it’s already installed on your phone or to respective app stores to download Myntra app).
Those you may not aware of, Flipkart acquired Jabong via Myntra from Global Fashion Group back in the year 2016. The deal that time tuned to around $70 million in cash. Instead of merging two of its Fashion portals at that time, Flipkart retained it as a separate entity.
Unlike Myntra which has seen exponential growth as an online fashion portal, Jabong was struggling to keep up. Its daily active users base dropped tremendously and app downloads slowed down. To reduce high cash burn Flipkart then decided to give Jabong a break and focused entirely on Myntra.
In November 2018, Flipkart started consolidating operation of Myntra and Jabong. Jabong’s core functions including technology, marketing, finance and creative teams were merged with Myntra. There was a layoff of about 50 per cent of the total workforce.
During the same period, Walmart the parent company behind Flipkart (Myntra and Jaong) incurred a non-cash impairment of $290 million as s a write-down of its investment in Jabong.