Fast fashion, faster delivery: 30-minute style becomes quick commerce’s new obsession

Impulse meets infrastructure

Unlike groceries or essentials, where speed is about utility, fashion is about identity and occasion. The backend needed to deliver on that promise is complex and demands different infrastructure than traditional quick commerce.

“Traditionally, if you order from an e-commerce platform,  delivery usually takes three to five days. Returns push that to over a week. That kills impulse buying,” said Akshay Gulati, co-founder and CEO of Slikk. “We wanted to change that mindset.”

Slikk operates its own dark stores, delivering fashion and personal care within 60 minutes across Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru. Myntra, through its M-Now service, offers 30-minute delivery in parts of Bengaluru.

“The beauty of the model is its ability to respond swiftly to topical demands. During the cricket season, fans may need a jersey right away, and during festivals like Holi, we witnessed an increased demand for white basics,” said Ankit Dua, Senior Director, Category Management at Myntra.

NEWME’s express delivery service, Zip, launched as a pilot in Delhi-NCR, now fulfills nearly 20-25 percent of orders there and has expanded to Bengaluru.

Demand is largely occasion-driven: last-minute partywear, vacation outfits, or viral trends spotted online.

“Occasion wear and trend-led styles are seeing the strongest traction in our quick delivery segment—especially partywear, co-ords, and going-out outfits. Over 50 percent of our 90-minute delivery orders are impulse, last-minute buys,” Jasoria added.

No one-size-fits-all supply chain

Unlike grocery quick commerce, fashion faces unique challenges: size, fit, seasonality, and returns.

Players are adopting varied approaches. Slikk and NEWME rely on curated assortments in dark stores, while Blip takes a lighter approach: no warehousing, just local retail partnerships.

“Think of us as the Zomato for clothes,” said Ansh Agarwal, co-founder of Blip. “We don’t hold inventory—retail stores already have that. Our job is to surface the right selection and deliver it quickly.” Blip is live in Bengaluru and plans to expand to Delhi soon.

On the backend, quick commerce logistics enabler Zippee serves many direct-to-consumer brands and has tailored its systems for fashion’s variability.

“Fashion has seen a sudden spike in quick-comm demand in the last quarter with large platforms like Myntra, AJIO and Cliq and new platforms like Slikk, Blip going live with 30/60-minute delivery in top metros,” said Madhav Kasturia, founder and CEO of Zippee.

The platform currently sees 30 percent of its demand from fashion and beauty personal care.

“Quicker deliveries reduce return-to-origin (RTO) rates for fashion and increase ‘Add-to-Cart’ conversions—a game changer for many fashion sellers and marketplaces,” Kasturia explained.

Why investors are circling

Investor interest is rising. Slikk recently raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Nexus and Lightspeed, while Blip and NEWME are in talks for fresh capital. Early-stage startup Knot is reportedly negotiating a $3 million maiden round.

“Anything that brings faster gratification is getting funded,” said a venture investor familiar with quick commerce deals. Fashion stands out: average order values are significantly higher than grocery, and margins are stronger, he said.

Industry experts note that customer retention in quick commerce fashion is significantly stronger than traditional e-commerce—around 40 percent for quick delivery players versus 30 percent for conventional online retailers. Higher average order values translate to healthier profit margins.

“Our customer retention is much stronger than traditional marketplaces. Our repeats are very strong, and so are our unit economics. This has allowed us to raise money from the right investors,” said Gulati. Slikk’s AOVs are 3–4x those of grocery, with margins up to 2.5x higher than traditional quick commerce.

Startups vs scale

With players large and small converging on dark stores, zonal hubs, and hyperlocal inventory, the battle is shifting to who can serve demand faster and smarter.

Startups bet on nimbleness, sharper curation, and inventory control to win loyalty. “A new set of customers—almost 40 percent of our buyers—have come in because quick fashion exists. They weren’t shopping online or offline earlier,” said Agarwal.

Incumbents have their edge too. Myntra runs M-Now and M-Express (next-day delivery) to blend speed with scale.

“Startups will be more agile early on. But at scale, assortment depth, tech, and customer experience matter more,” said Dua.

Despite the buzz, analysts warn that ultra-fast fashion delivery may not scale easily. “The difference between grocery and fashion is that grocery has sustained and high-frequency demand,” said Satish Meena, founder of Datum Intelligence. “In fashion, demand visibility is low. Companies will have to focus on which geographies are more demand heavy, which SKUs to pick. Return rates are also higher, which is an added cost.”

Meena added that profitability remains a challenge. “Quick deliveries, in general, are an urban phenomenon. Even within these markets, we have to figure out demand-dense areas. This is aside from the competition from offline retail. Scaling up beyond a certain point will be difficult,” he said.

For now, quick fashion is a metro-centric play in Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. But with tech improving, return rates falling, and expectations rising, founders believe it’s only a matter of time before the model spreads.

“This isn’t just faster delivery,” Jasoria concluded. “It’s a new kind of buyer—and brands that build for them from the ground up will define the next wave of fashion commerce.”