Continuing on its mission to democratise fashion and with the intent to make the purchase journey more inclusive and accessible for everyone, Myntra has introduced the Vernacular Search feature. This customer-centric feature, which is now live on the Myntra app, allows users to also shop in their native languages further enabling the ease of discoverability and shopping on the platform for them. The addition of Vernacular Search to its bouquet of cutting-edge tech-enabled features will help Myntra further penetrate into the non-metro geographies, while expanding its customer base to native language speakers, helping establish the platform as the one-stop fashion destination for customers across India.
The Vernacular Search feature offers consumers the facility to browse and shop for products across fashion, beauty and lifestyle in 10 native languages other than Hindi, including Telugu, Kannada, Bangla, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Odia, Punjabi, and Assamese. In addition, the platform also supports searches typed in 'Hinglish', that is Hindi queries typed in English, for example Kala Kurta or 7 Saal ki bacchi ka Lehnga. In its next phase, in addition to Hinglish, customers will also be able to search for queries in native language written using English script (e.g. সাদা শার্ট which is a Bangla phrase for white shirt can be searched as Sādā śārṭa on the Myntra Search tab and the platform will show relevant results). The feature is also well-equipped to handle the nuances of certain words in regional languages as well as complex queries, such as Baal seedhe karne ki machine or बनारसी ब्लैक साड़ी .
Myntra has recorded significant growth in the non-metro and tier 2+ cities and towns for online shopping, with 20% of searches being non-English. Since the launch of this feature earlier this month, there has been a marked improvement in customers finding precise results for their searches in native languages on the platform. In a multicultural country like India, the Vernacular Search feature further emphasises Myntra’s customer-centric approach, in addition to the voice search feature that exists on the platform, allowing a great online shopping experience for a rapidly growing non-metro consumer base. To continuously cater to the non-metro customer base, Myntra also works with creators that create content in regional languages on their social handles.
According to the report “How India Shops Online 2022”, there has been a 5x growth in voice-search users and 3x growth in vernacular-search users over the past year. These innovations are helping make shopping easier for a new wave of online shoppers.
Talking about the launch of the Vernacular Search feature, Raghu Krishnananda, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Myntra, said, "In our constant endeavour to enabling customers to discover and shop better while innovating at scale, we are thrilled to announce the launch of the Vernacular Search on Myntra, which is a significant step towards making fashion more accessible to millions of people across the country. With this feature, we are enabling our customers to search for products in their preferred native languages, breaking language barriers and making fashion even more inclusive. This is one of the many steps we are taking to ensure that we cater to the diverse needs and preferences of our customers, and we are confident that this feature will be a game-changer for online fashion and beauty shopping in India."
