Online fashion retailer Myntra has revealed more about its collaboration with Microsoft, which helped integrate generative AI into its shopping app in an attempt to change the way Indians shop for clothes. The new feature, MyFashionGPT, allows shoppers to search using natural language instead of keywords, opening up new possibilities for product discovery. Powered by Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service, MyFashionGPT understands open-ended questions like "show me clothes for a beach vacation" and returns relevant items spanning categories of beachwear, hats, sunglasses and more. This unshackles shoppers from the limitations of conventional search that relies on matching specific keywords already present in a product catalogue. Myntra revealed that it had organised a hackathon in February to explore how it could harness generative AI to solve this "unsolved search problem" in online fashion. ChatGPT’s generative AI tech quickly emerged as the top candidate. Azure OpenAI Service gave the team the flexibility to compare different large language models and choose the best fit for Myntra's use case. Myntra says that over the next few weeks, multiple teams refined the backend systems and user interface ahead of the launch alongside the platform’s End of Reason Sale in May. Seamless integration with existing Azure infrastructure accelerated deployment. “Myntra’s systems are on Azure and deploying Azure OpenAI Service was as seamless as deploying another server and it gave us a secure way of using generative AI,” explained Vindhya Priya Shanmugam, director of engineering at Myntra. Since launch, MyFashionGPT has already changed how people search and shop on Myntra, according to the platform. Queries have broadened as the AI assistant interprets the intent behind vague search strings instead of relying on matching keywords. This opens up new product discovery opportunities. Director of Product Management Arit Mondal said MyFashionGPT is "solving the unsolved search problem in fashion" by understanding open-ended natural language. Myntra says its data shows shoppers using the AI assistant are 3x more likely to make a purchase. The assistant also helps discover complete looks, driving a 16% average increase in categories per order. Encouraged by the success, Myntra is actively building new generative AI-powered features. Upcoming capabilities include previewing full outfits by choosing tops, bottoms, and accessories. Myntra plans to add voice search and personalisation later. Myntra's Fashion GPT is already available widely on the app and can be accessed from an icon to the right of its search bar. You can type in highly specific requirements in natural speech and watch as the assistant intelligently produces a relevant list of clothing items you can shop. Users can feed it outfit queries based on occasions and travel locations, popular events like IPL, and even celebrity looks from popular movies.
