Guwahati, Sept. 5: In Assam, the men prefer smart casuals and footwear, the women western and ethnic wear, said a study conducted by leading fashion portal, myntra.com.

“We had conducted the study recently to find that online shopping has gained momentum in Assam with men preferring to shop for smart casuals and footwear while the women mainly settle for western and ethnic apparel,” Ashutosh Lawania, co-founder of myntra.com, told reporters here today.

Over 68 per cent of the shoppers on myntra.com are men, while the women account for 32 per cent, the study, which ranked Guwahati 11th among the top 15 cities in the online shopping list, said.

The survey also found that the trend of online shopping has picked up in towns such as Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Sivasagar and Tinsukia in the past few months.

“Currently, of the 15 crore Internet users in India, 60 lakh are from the Northeast. We get around 400 orders per day from Assam, of which, around 250 are from Guwahati. So, there is a growing prominence of not just Internet users but online shoppers who prefer fashion and lifestyle products,” Lawania, who founded the portal with Mukesh Bansal in 2007, said.

“Myntra’s in-house brands such as Roadster, Dressberry and Anouk are preferred along with the big names in fashion and lifestyle products,” he added.

The size of the e-commerce market in India is around $2 billion. It is projected to grow to $80 billion by 2020. “The Northeast market size would be in between Rs 75crore and Rs 100crore,” Lawania said.

Asked about the factors behind the growth of online shoppers here, he said, “A majority of them are youngsters with the average age being 25. Fashion consciousness and a knack for technology here have led to a steady growth, but also now the best of international and Indian brands are available online. Offline stores have a limitation of investment and reach.”

Given the trend, Myntra recently opened a delivery centre in Guwahati that caters to over 50 locations across six states of the Northeast.

The study found apparel and footwear as the most preferred items in the country. Delhi (NCR), Bangalore and Mumbai were ranked first, second and third respectively.

On Myntra’s revenue growth, Lawania said, “Over the past two years, we have grown by 10 to 15 per cent every month. Last year, the business was pegged at Rs 400 crore. This fiscal, we are eyeing Rs 800crore, of which Rs 25crore is our target from the Northeast.”

Myntra recently opened a delivery centre in Guwahati that caters to over 50 locations across six states of the Northeast.