For Sundar Balasubramanian, Chief Marketing Officer of Myntra, the creator economy isn’t a trend, it’s the backbone of how India now discovers fashion. “Social commerce has emerged as a strong growth engine for Myntra,” he said during a recent roundtable. “It’s now contributing over 10% of the platform’s revenue and reshaping how India discovers fashion.”
Over the past few years, Myntra has evolved from a catalogue-based marketplace to one of India’s largest content-commerce platforms, blending entertainment, community, and shopping into one seamless experience. Today, more than 350,000 creators are active monthly, and 20% of Myntra’s 75 million monthly users engage with social content, a shift that’s driving 25–28% higher conversions compared to traditional shopping journeys.
Balasubramanian credits this to how content and commerce are now inseparable. “Shoppers no longer browse just for products, they shop from content,” he explained. “When you see a beauty or fashion trend unfold in a video, and you can buy it in real-time within the same experience, that’s the new frontier.”
The Rise of ‘Everyone as a Creator’
Tracing the evolution of India’s creator ecosystem, Balasubramanian said it began with the “meta-influencers”, the million-follower names who introduced global trends to Indian audiences. “Then came the era of micro-creators,” he recalled. “People who looked like us, lived like us, they made trends relevant.”
Now, Myntra is betting on the third phase: “everyone as a creator.” Through initiatives like the Ultimate Glam Clan, the platform has empowered 3.5 million shopper-creators, two-thirds of whom are Gen Z. “We hit our 2025 goal of a million creators in the very first quarter,” he said with a smile. “Today, that number is already three and a half million, and growing faster each month.”
The impact is tangible. When users interact with creator-made content, purchase conversion rates rise by 25%, underscoring how relatability and authenticity drive action. “It’s about democratising aspiration,” Balasubramanian said. “Every user can now inspire their community, geographically local, passion-based, or otherwise.”
Commerce Meets Culture
Beyond UGC, Myntra’s creator universe extends across celebrity-led content and an affiliate network of 160,000 influencers who generate 9 billion monthly impressions. “Close to 10% of our platform traffic is now influenced by external creators,” he noted. “These creators aren’t just storytellers anymore, they are business drivers. Content today drives commerce, not just awareness.”
This creator economy has also diversified Myntra’s content formats and category mix. “About 45% of our UGC comes from fashion, and 55% from beauty, jewelry, luxury, and other lifestyle categories,” Balasubramanian revealed. Long-form storytelling, talk shows, and reality-style formats are outperforming quick edits, with the 15-minute format emerging as the sweet spot for attention and intent.
Interestingly, much of this growth is coming from non-metro audiences, where localized creators are translating fashion and beauty trends for their communities. “A Gen Z in Mizoram might prefer user-generated content, while a shopper in Chandigarh leans toward celebrity-led shows, both are part of the same cultural wave,” he said.
The GlamStream Era
At the center of this movement sits GlamStream, Myntra’s in-app entertainment and live-shopping vertical, which now houses over 3,000 hours of content. “It’s about bringing discovery and purchase together,” Balasubramanian explained. “You can be watching a creator or celebrity show and buy what they’re wearing in real time. That’s the seamless loop we’ve built.”
The momentum culminates in the Myntra GlamStream Fest 2025, a large-scale celebration bringing together 3,000 creators, 5,000+ customers, and over 30 partner brands, from Ralph Lauren and OPI to Korean beauty labels like TirTir and Skin1004. “It’s no longer just a creator event, it’s a lifestyle festival where creators, brands, and shoppers celebrate together,” he said. The fest, featuring performances by Himesh Reshammiya, Shalmali Kholgade, Paradox, and more, marks the first time consumers will participate alongside creators.
Interestingly, the inclusion of live music wasn’t a marketing strategy but an organic evolution. “Last year, we added artists to the fashion shows, and the response was phenomenal,” Balasubramanian shared. “Music is integral to how digital video storytelling works today. And concerts themselves are fashion moments, what you wear to a concert is as much self-expression as the music you hear.”
Myntra’s ambition now is to triple its creator base and double social commerce’s revenue contribution within the next 12–18 months. “We want to enable 10 million lifestyle e-commerce creators in India,” Balasubramanian said. “The goal is not just to scale numbers, but to create an inclusive, culturally connected ecosystem where every shopper becomes a creator.”
Authenticity, he emphasised, will remain the north star. “Creators know their audience best,” he said. “They understand what resonates, and they protect that connection fiercely. That’s what keeps this ecosystem genuine.”
As Myntra continues to blur the lines between content, culture, and commerce, its vision is clear, a future where discovery, inspiration, and purchase coexist effortlessly. As Balasubramanian summed up, “We’re not just selling fashion anymore. We’re building a community where stories sell style.”
