As the surge in quick commerce changes consumer behavior, Myntra, the largest fashion e-commerce platform in India, is testing a four-hour delivery service in four Indian cities, according to two sources who are familiar with the matter and spoke to TechCrunch.
This is a dramatic acceleration from its standard 2-3 day delivery timeframe. The Flipkart Group-owned firm Myntra is conducting its pilot studies for fast-tracked delivery services. The piloting is conducted in several metropolitan cities such as Bengaluru and New Delhi. Several sources reported that the company wishes to expand the feature of a four-hour delivery service to several other Indian cities by the end of the year.
Several companies are expanding into faster delivery in India, where fast commerce is gaining market share across categories including grocery and office supplies. In some cases, these firms are exploring item returns, signaling plans to expand into fashion, which has a high return rate. Flipkart’s agility in India’s e-commerce race can also be seen in Myntra’s push.
A Walmart-owned firm recently entered the fast delivery race in response to the rapid adoption of quick commerce in India. To date, Flipkart’s chief competitor in India, Amazon, has not joined the race.
Myntra, known for its superior quality of clothing items, shoes, and jewelry, has traditionally delivered items to consumers in 2-3 days and has been attempting to shorten delivery times over the past two years. Its Express service, for instance, has been delivering products to consumers within 24 to 48 hours in select Indian cities.
According to one of the sources, an internal assessment by Myntra has found a significant increase in consumers’ propensity to complete purchases when offered shorter delivery times.
JPMorgan analysts said in a note this month that quick commerce firms have “rapidly been gaining share from the three main incumbents: offline or general trade, modern trade retailers, and other e-commerce players.” Since it is the trial period, Myntra is offering the quick commerce service to a smaller section of items to customers.
