Jabong’s largest warehouse, situated in Pataudi on the outskirts of Delhi, has been destroyed in a fire. Initial reports indicate that the fire was caused by a short circuit. There were no casualities.
“We confirm that a fire broke out at one of Jabong’s warehouses in Pataudi in Haryana on late Monday night. According to our information, no employees were injured, which is of utmost importance for the company as the health and safety of our employees is our key priority,” a Jabong spokesperson said. “Jabong will continue to conduct business normally, subject to some temporary delays or fulfilment issues which could be encountered for some product categories. As India’s online fashion leader, we will continue to provide our customers with excellent service and are confident that our customers will bear with us till we return to normalcy.”
Jabong has had a tough quarter as it battles other e-commerce players for a slice of India’s fashion e-retail pie. Myntra, its biggest competitor from 2 years ago, now has the financial muscle of Flipkart behind it, and several other players have also stepped into the fray. There were reports that Jabong was looking to be acquired by a bigger e-commerce player, such as Amazon, but those deals never materialized.
Internally, Jabong has been dealing with management changes. Its new CEO quit in September to start his own company, and Jabong has had to look for a replacement. Its chief investor, Rocket Internet, is having troubles of its own in India, and there are reports that it’s looking to exit the country.