Fashion in 30 minutes: India’s quick-commerce players race to redefine how clothes are bought

After groceries, essentials and services, quick commerce has found a new testing ground: fashion. From 30-minute party wear to same-day office outfits, speed is beginning to reshape how Indians buy clothes.

Startups and large platforms alike are now racing to deliver fashion faster, raising a key question—can this model actually make money?

Fashion startups such as Zilo, Knot and Zulu Club, along with D2C brands like NEWME and Snitch, are disrupting the traditional rhythm of clothes and shoe shopping.

The familiar routine of visiting malls, trying outfits and waiting days for online deliveries is being replaced by near-instant fulfilment. Indian consumers, already hooked to quick commerce, now want the same speed when it comes to fashion purchases.

Padmakumar Pal, Co-Founder and CEO of Zilo, says shopping behaviour has clearly shifted. “What behaviour we have seen is, let's shift in how customer shops fashion. They're not doing planned shopping. They are doing fashion shopping instantly. They don't need to plan. They can buy fashion instantly and this the convenience and experience which is actually helping this customer to basically shift to this new way of shopping,” he said.

Echoing this, Newme Co-Founder and CEO Sumit Jasoria noted, “It's instant gratification, but that's the need of the hour.”

Incumbents are also moving quickly. Platforms like Myntra with M-Now and Ajio Rush have already seen strong demand. Myntra says it now operates over 80 dark stores across major metros, with plans to expand further.

According to Sai Deo, Head of Strategy at Myntra, nearly 20% of customers in these cities are already shopping through M-Now.

Two business models are emerging. One is a marketplace-led approach built around dark stores. The other is a brand-led model that uses existing physical stores for quick fulfilment. Snitch, for instance, is using backroom inventory from its dense store network. “We are trying to run our stores almost or the backroom of our stores like a warehouse,” said Aniket Singh, Chief Business Officer, Snitch, adding that picking times are now within three minutes.

Speed, however, complicates a category built around trials, sizing and returns. Some players are betting on technology, while others are experimenting with try-at-home models. Anoop N Menon of Chiratae Ventures believes bunched try-at-home orders can improve unit economics. But Jasoria disagrees, calling try-and-buy “a waste of time” that makes little economic sense.

Investors say both models can work, but only with the right economics. Unlike groceries, fashion quick commerce needs higher average order values—around ₹2,000 or more.

While it is still early days, one thing is clear: speed is becoming a permanent layer in fashion retail, and only platforms that crack scale, dense demand and last-mile execution are likely to survive.