Fashion e-commerce platform Myntra spent ₹2,326 crore on advertising in FY26 against revenue of ₹5,242 crore, That works out to roughly 44% of revenue going into marketing, a ratio that shows how costly it remains to win and keep shoppers in India’s online fashion market.
Advertising is one of the largest expenses for consumer internet companies, and fashion is among the most competitive categories. Shoppers have countless options, switching costs are low, and brands fight for attention during every sale season and festival period. Spending heavily on campaigns, influencers, performance marketing and sale events is often seen as the price of staying visible, especially for a platform that wants to remain the first stop for fashion shopping.
A figure like this can be read in two ways. On one hand, high advertising intensity points to the pressure on margins that large e-commerce players face. Every rupee spent on acquiring or retaining a customer has to be earned back through repeat purchases, higher order values or better-paying brand partnerships. On the other hand, the spending reflects confidence that scale and brand strength will eventually pay off, particularly for a company that is part of a larger retail group with deep resources behind it.
The numbers also say something about how the industry works. Platforms like Myntra do not only spend on advertising, they also earn from it, since brands pay to be featured and promoted on the marketplace. That makes the relationship between ad spending, ad income and net profitability more complicated than a single ratio can show. The full financial picture, including margins and losses, should be checked in the original report.
For marketers and brands, the takeaway is practical. Customer acquisition in Indian e-commerce is expensive, and rising costs push companies to focus more on retention, loyalty programmes and first-party data. Lower-cost channels such as organic content, search and community building become more attractive when paid reach gets pricier.
As FY26 results continue to emerge across the sector, comparing marketing intensity between players will show who is buying growth and who is building it more efficiently.
