Myntra spends ₹2,326.5 cr on ads as revenue falls 13.5%

Myntra ended FY26 with a striking advertising arithmetic: it spent ₹2,326.5 crore on advertising while earning ₹1,236.4 crore from advertising services on its own platform. The Flipkart-owned fashion e-commerce company also swung from a net profit of ₹548.5 crore in FY25 to a net loss of ₹579.4 crore in FY26, as revenue from operations fell 13.5% to ₹5,242.5 crore.

The drop was driven by logistics services, where revenue fell 53.2% to ₹1,119.2 crore from ₹2,390.5 crore in FY25. Total revenue, including non-operating income, stood at ₹5,315.8 crore.

01 · Advertising: the largest cost and a growing income line

Myntra’s advertising expenditure rose 10.5% year-on-year, making it the largest single cost at 41% of total expenses. At the same time, advertising services revenue grew 35.2% from ₹914.5 crore to ₹1,236.4 crore, contributing 23.6% of operating revenue. Brands and sellers pay these fees for sponsored placements on Myntra’s platform.

That means Myntra’s ad bill was nearly 1.9 times its ad income—an aggressive bet on customer acquisition even as the core topline softened.

• Ad spend: ₹2,326.5 crore, up 10.5% year-on-year.
• Ad revenue: ₹1,236.4 crore, up 35.2% year-on-year.
• Net result: a loss of ₹579.4 crore, against a profit of ₹548.5 crore in FY25.
• Revenue from operations: ₹5,242.5 crore, down 13.5%.
• Advertising share of expenses: 41%.

02 · Marketplace stays the anchor

Marketplace services remained Myntra’s largest operating revenue stream at 50.7%, rising 3% to ₹2,657.3 crore. Other operating services grew from ₹178.6 crore to ₹229.6 crore. But logistics revenue fell sharply, and that single segment was the primary driver of the overall decline.

Total expenses were broadly stable at ₹5,757.7 crore. Advertising was the largest component. Logistics expenses dropped 16.6% to ₹1,666.6 crore, employee benefit expenses rose 4% to ₹777 crore including ₹235.4 crore in ESOP costs, IT expenses were ₹323.8 crore, payment gateway charges ₹174.4 crore and other overheads ₹455.5 crore.

03 · What brand leaders should read into it

For marketers, Myntra is two things at once: a heavy advertiser buying attention and a retail media platform selling it. The 35.2% growth in advertising services shows that brands are putting more money into marketplace placements. The 41% cost share shows how much Myntra itself is spending to hold its position.

The framework to use is contribution after advertising. A company that spends ₹1.9 on ads for every ₹1 it earns from advertising placements is prioritising demand generation over near-term margin. That can be a legitimate strategy, but with an EBITDA loss of ₹435 crore and an EBITDA margin of -7.09%, the pressure to show return on every marketing rupee is built into these numbers.

04 · What to do now

If your brand sells on Myntra or buys against the fashion shopper, do not treat this as a simple demand story. Watch platform advertising revenue as a signal of how aggressively the marketplace is monetising sellers. Track your own contribution margin by channel, and keep retail media budgets tied to incremental sales rather than vanity visibility. For agencies and media owners, Myntra’s cost discipline is worth preparing for: a more selective, performance-led conversation in the next cycle.

Source: Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media

Mad About Marketing Desk The strategists and writers at Mad About Marketing, writing up what we see in the work every week.