Even as quick commerce companies are feverishly working to launch and build their fashion portfolios, fashion companies seem to be fighting back.
Myntra has launched a quick-commerce initiative which will deliver items to users in as little as 30 minutes. Named M-Now, the service is being tested out in Bengaluru in select pin codes. With the launch, Myntra has become the first major e-commerce platform to launch a quick-commerce service.
This isn’t the first time that Myntra has experimented with faster deliveries. In 2022, Myntra had launched Myntra Express, which delivered goods to customers in 24-48 hours. M-Now, however, aims to be even faster, and will deliver items to customers within 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Myntra’s foray into quick-commerce comes on the heels of quick commerce companies expanding their portfolios over the last few months to rapidly include fashion products. Blinkit has tied up with Decathalon, Zepto has tied up with Puma and Swiggy Instamart has tied up with FabIndia, and they are all quickly ramping up their fashion categories. Blinkit has even launched returns for fashion products in 10 minutes, which could be crucial for the vertical — fashion products are returned far more frequently than others because of issues with fits and sizes, and allowing returns of these products could help quick commerce platforms drive adoption.
All this has made it vital for traditional e-commerce players to launch their own e-commerce operations. If quick commerce companies can send products at the same prices within 10 minutes, it would make little sense for users to wait several days for deliveries through traditional e-commerce channels. Faster deliveries would also lead to more impulse purchases, which could unlock demand that wasn’t being fully addressed by traditional e-commerce.
Traditional e-commerce players seem to have realized this, and are making moves to make their products available to customers quicker. Nykaa has launched a service named Nykaa Now, which delivers cosmetics to users in 3 hours. Flipkart too has launched its own quick-commerce play in Flipkart Minutes, and is delivering all manner of items in 10 minutes. And with Myntra too entering the quick-commerce fray with M-Now, it appears that quick commerce could become the latest battleground for India’s many e-commerce players.