Latest news with #Slikk
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Rapid Delivery's in Fashion at Ecomm, New-age Apparel Cos
HighlightsNew direct-to-consumer brand Snitch has launched a pilot project for its quick fashion delivery service in Bengaluru, joining other brands like Newme, Slikk, and ecommerce platforms such as Myntra, Ajio, and Nykaa in exploring ultra-fast delivery for fashion and apparel. Slikk, which offers delivery within 60 minutes, recently raised $10 million in funding led by Nexus Venture Partners, while Snitch has secured $40 million from 360 One Asset to expand its offline retail presence and enter the quick commerce segment. Industry experts caution that the rush towards rapid fashion delivery may be an overhyped extension of the quick commerce trend, noting that the supply chain for fashion is significantly more complex than that of grocery delivery. New-age brands like Newme, Slikk and Blipp, as well as ecommerce platforms such as Myntra, Ajio and Nykaa are all exploring ultra-fast delivery for fashion and apparel. The latest to join the race is Bengaluru-based D2C brand Snitch. Its founder Siddharth Dungarwal told ET that the company has launched a pilot project for its own quick fashion delivery service in Bengaluru last week. Seeing the rush, venture capitalists are betting on the segment. Slikk, which promises delivery within 60 minutes, recently raised $10 million (about Rs 85 crore) in a round led by Nexus Venture Partners. Snitch has raised as much as $40 million from 360 One Asset, with the proceeds to be used for expanding its offline retail presence to more than 100 stores by the end of 2025 and entering quick commerce. Some industry insiders believe this may be another overhyped extension of the quick commerce narrative. The model is new and comes with its own set of challenges. The push towards rapid delivery began with quick commerce platforms like Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit expanding the categories of products they deliver. These platforms, which were initially focusing on grocery delivery, partnered with brands like Jockey, Manyavar, Puma and Adidas to offer apparel and accessories, although limited to essentials such as innerwear, socks, gym wear, basic tees and track pants. This opened up a gap for fashion-first players to offer broader selections with quick fulfilment. "Fashion is an experiential category. The supply chain required for fashion and lifestyle is far more complex than grocery," said Akshay Gulati, cofounder and chief executive of Slikk.
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Rapid fashion delivery gathers pace, but long-term viability in question
New-age brands like Newme , Slikk and Blipp, as well as ecommerce platforms such as Myntra, Ajio and Nykaa are all exploring ultra-fast delivery for fashion and apparel. The latest to join the race is Bengaluru-based D2C brand Snitch. Its founder Siddharth Dungarwal told ET that the company has launched a pilot project for its own quick fashion delivery service in Bengaluru last week. Seeing the rush, venture capitalists are betting on the segment. Slikk, which promises delivery within 60 minutes, recently raised $10 million (about Rs 85 crore) in a round led by Nexus Venture Partners. Snitch has raised as much as $40 million from 360 One Asset, with the proceeds to be used for expanding its offline retail presence to more than 100 stores by the end of 2025 and entering quick commerce . Some industry insiders believe this may be another overhyped extension of the quick commerce narrative. The model is new and comes with its own set of challenges. The push towards rapid delivery began with quick commerce platforms like Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit expanding the categories of products they deliver. These platforms, which were initially focusing on grocery delivery, partnered with brands like Jockey, Manyavar, Puma and Adidas to offer apparel and accessories, although limited to essentials such as innerwear, socks, gym wear, basic tees and track pants. This opened up a gap for fashion-first players to offer broader selections with quick fulfilment. 'Fashion is an experiential category. The supply chain required for fashion and lifestyle is far more complex than grocery,' said Akshay Gulati, cofounder and chief executive of Slikk. 'I'm not sure how a grocery-first platform can scale and solve for this category in depth.' Predicting demand in real time Keeping up with ever-changing fashion preferences is another major hurdle. Brands say accurately forecasting demand — sometimes before customers themselves know what they want — is critical. Many startups are leaning on proprietary AI models and data science teams to stay ahead. These tools help analyse social media chatter, search trends and buying patterns to identify what is likely to trend next. Newme, for instance, has built a dedicated data science team that uses these insights to drive design and inventory decisions, cofounder Sumit Jasoria told ET. Cautionary signs Despite the buzz, challenges persist. One of them is customer behaviour. While there's early interest in fast delivery, shoppers tend to play it safe. Dungarwal said although customers initially showed enthusiasm when Snitch joined platforms like Myntra's M-Now, Slikk and Knot, many reverted to buying only wardrobe basics such as black t-shirts or shirts via these services. 'We've done multiple polls with consumers. Most of them said they don't buy clothes last-minute unless they have a sudden plan or urgent need,' he said. Another issue is forecasting fashion demand at a hyperlocal level. 'If a brand misjudges demand at the pin code level, it will be stuck with unsold inventory,' said a Bengaluru-based industry expert. 'Liquidating it will mean additional cost.' Returns are another pain point. Sizing, fit and comfort issues lead to high return rates in fashion, and rapid delivery doesn't solve for that. 'These platforms are burning money to process returns, which can go as high as 35-40%,' the expert added. The rapid fashion model is still in its early days. While there's excitement around it, the real test will be how brands manage inventory, reduce returns and drive consistent demand without compromising margins, say industry experts.
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Quick fashion delivery gathers pace, but road ahead seems challenging
New-age brands like Newme , Slikk and Blipp, as well as ecommerce platforms such as Myntra, Ajio and Nykaa are all exploring ultra-fast delivery for fashion and apparel. The latest to join the race is Bengaluru-based D2C brand Snitch. Its founder Siddharth Dungarwal told ET that the company has launched a pilot project for its own quick fashion delivery service in Bengaluru last week. Seeing the rush, venture capitalists are betting on the segment. Slikk, which promises delivery within 60 minutes, recently raised $10 million (about Rs 85 crore) in a round led by Nexus Venture Partners. Snitch has raised as much as $40 million from 360 One Asset, with the proceeds to be used for expanding its offline retail presence to more than 100 stores by the end of 2025 and entering quick commerce . Some industry insiders believe this may be another overhyped extension of the quick commerce narrative. The model is new and comes with its own set of challenges. The push towards rapid delivery began with quick commerce platforms like Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit expanding the categories of products they deliver. These platforms, which were initially focusing on grocery delivery, partnered with brands like Jockey, Manyavar, Puma and Adidas to offer apparel and accessories, although limited to essentials such as innerwear, socks, gym wear, basic tees and track pants. This opened up a gap for fashion-first players to offer broader selections with quick fulfilment. 'Fashion is an experiential category. The supply chain required for fashion and lifestyle is far more complex than grocery,' said Akshay Gulati, cofounder and chief executive of Slikk. 'I'm not sure how a grocery-first platform can scale and solve for this category in depth.' Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Predicting demand in real time Keeping up with ever-changing fashion preferences is another major hurdle. Brands say accurately forecasting demand — sometimes before customers themselves know what they want — is critical. Many startups are leaning on proprietary AI models and data science teams to stay ahead. These tools help analyse social media chatter, search trends and buying patterns to identify what is likely to trend next. Newme, for instance, has built a dedicated data science team that uses these insights to drive design and inventory decisions, cofounder Sumit Jasoria told ET. Cautionary signs Despite the buzz, challenges persist. One of them is customer behaviour. While there's early interest in fast delivery, shoppers tend to play it safe. Dungarwal said although customers initially showed enthusiasm when Snitch joined platforms like Myntra's M-Now, Slikk and Knot, many reverted to buying only wardrobe basics such as black t-shirts or shirts via these services. 'We've done multiple polls with consumers. Most of them said they don't buy clothes last-minute unless they have a sudden plan or urgent need,' he said. Another issue is forecasting fashion demand at a hyperlocal level. 'If a brand misjudges demand at the pin code level, it will be stuck with unsold inventory,' said a Bengaluru-based industry expert. 'Liquidating it will mean additional cost.' Returns are another pain point. Sizing, fit and comfort issues lead to high return rates in fashion, and rapid delivery doesn't solve for that. 'These platforms are burning money to process returns, which can go as high as 35-40%,' the expert added. The rapid fashion model is still in its early days. While there's excitement around it, the real test will be how brands manage inventory, reduce returns and drive consistent demand without compromising margins, say industry experts.
Fashion Network
30-05-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Slikk raises $10 million in series A funding round led by Nexus Venture Partners
Fashion delivery platform Slikk has raised $10 million (Rs 85 crore) in an all-equity series A round led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from existing investor Lightspeed. Earlier, it had raised $3.2 million in a seed round from Lightspeed. The company will utilise the funds to fuel its next phase of growth that includes launch of new lifestyle categories, rollout of instant returns, and expansion into more urban pin codes. Commenting on the funding, Akshay Gulati, co-founder & CEO at Slikk in a statement said, 'Slikk, since inception, has delivered a high-quality customer experience through our 60-minute delivery model. Brands have been able to unlock new users at a hyperlocal level. With this new round, we intend to double down on that promise and offer a significantly wider range of products and experiences to our customers.' Pratik Poddar, Partner at Nexus Venture Partners added, 'Having watched quick commerce reshape India's consumer behaviour, we firmly believe fashion is the definitive next frontier for digital disruption. The Slikk team's deep category insights and strategic execution are precisely what this moment demands. We're incredibly excited to be long-term partners in shaping this future.' Founded by Akshay Gulati, Om Prakash Swami, and Bipin Singh, Slikk delivers clothing and accessories within 60 minutes in select areas of Bengaluru.
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
NEWME launches 60-min fashion delivery in Bengaluru, plans expansion to Mumbai and Hyd
Bengaluru: Fast fashion brand NEWME has launched a 60-minute fashion delivery service in Bengaluru under its new initiative, NEWME Zip, following its 90-minute delivery pilot in Delhi-NCR, which started 6-months back. 'Gen Z is clear in what they want - style that's current, access that's instant, and experiences that feel personal,' said Sumit Jasoria, co-founder and CEO, NEWME in a chat with ETRetail. 'The overwhelming response to our pilot confirmed that fast fashion can't afford to be slow. With NEWMe Zip and a promise of under-60-minute delivery in Bengaluru, we're building on what worked, pushing boundaries, and setting new benchmarks in fashion-tech innovation.' Speaking on the evolution of the initiative, Jasoria shared, 'We are in the business of fashion, where we bring new styles every single week, and that's our prime core value proposition. While fashion delivery is evolving, the market is changing and as a technology-first company, we have to also innovate to stay relevant to the consumers. And this was an initiative which we picked last year.' NEWME is currently operating the Zip model in Bengaluru through a combination of dark stores and its own retail outlets. While the brand works with third party delivery, the company is now testing in-house riders in Bengaluru, Jasoria said. The brand plans to expand its quick delivery offering to Hyderabad and Mumbai over the next quarter, he shared. NEWME is currently operating 14 offline stores and plans to add 10–12 more in this year. Commenting on the brands performance, Jasoria said that the fashion retailer has reported 3x growth in the last fiscal and is targeting similar journey this year. Quick commerce is increasing traction in categories beyond grocery. Earlier on Tuesday, 60-minute fashion delivery startup Slikk announced that it has raised USD 10 million in a funding round led by Nexus Venture Partners and Lightspeed. Last year in December, Myntra forayed into 30-minute delivery with M-Now.
