It’s not only FMCG giants, automakers or e-commerce platforms that are bracing for a retail rush this festive season. Direct-to-consumer quick commerce brands too are tightening their belts and fast-tracking supply chains to tap into peak demand. And for many of them, the buzzword this year is speed.
Having launched their own quick-delivery options over the past year, a clutch of D2C players, ranging from men’s fashion startups to skincare labels, are making sure they don’t miss out on the season’s surge. For them, festivals have become not just a sales driver but also a test of brand discovery, consumer loyalty and operational muscle.
How D2C brands are achieving instant speed
Take men’s fashion brand Snitch, which has been preparing for months in advance. It has strengthened its supply chain with added manpower and tech-led processes, and in select pin codes, is scaling up its 60-minute delivery promise by partnering with more last-mile providers. “Fast deliveries are playing a significant role, as customers prefer instant access to festive-ready outfits. Typically, Diwali drives a 2-3x surge in orders for us, and this year we expect an even sharper rise given stronger consumer sentiment,” Siddharth Dungarwal, founder of Snitch, said. The company is also pushing time-bound festive offers and Diwali-only collections.
DaMENSCH, another men’s wear startup, has stocked up on fast-moving styles and tested its systems to withstand any traffic spike. “We have stocked up on fast-moving styles, worked closely with delivery partners, and even stress-tested our website for traffic spikes,” founder and CEO Anurag Saboo told FE.
According to him, festive demand began building earlier than usual, with September already showing a bump in outerwear and premium innerwear. The brand expects sales to rise 30-35% above its monthly average during Diwali, supported by its flat 30% festive campaign
Skin and hair care brand Clinikally is preparing for a different kind of rush. It has added two more logistics partners to ensure 2-4-hour and same-day deliveries. “Skin and hair care products are always in high demand during the festive period, and our focus is to make sure customer orders never face delays, whether for daily use or gifting,” Nishant Maggon, COO, Clinikally, said. Its festive push will include selective offers aimed at trial and gifting.
Fast-fashion platform NEWME, which targets Gen Z shoppers, is banking on festivals beyond Diwali as well. “Not only Diwali but post-Diwali, with Halloween, college fests and New Year, we see a massive organic increase in demand for Western wear. This becomes a lot more pronounced among Gen Z, especially with rising travel,” co-founder and CEO Sumit Jasoria said. The company is expecting a 50% lift in demand through its rapid delivery channel.
For logistics startups such as Zippee, which power these deliveries, the season is a period of no-slip execution. “The festive window is when supply chains need to operate like clockwork, meaning no margin for error, no buffer for delay,” founder and CEO Madhav Kasturia, said. Zippee is adding a temporary fleet and working with warehouses to manage demand spikes.
Quick commerce as a loyalty and growth driver
The recent goods and services tax (GST) cut on apparel priced up to Rs 2,500, from 12% to 5%, is expected to give further momentum. DaMENSCH said it is passing on the benefit to consumers through lower delivered prices, while Snitch is extending its quick-delivery model to more pin codes. Maggon of Clinikally believes the tax relief, coupled with the growing trend of gifting, will accelerate adoption of direct deliveries.
Beyond these, brands such as Neemans, Supertails, Epigamia, Lenskart, Ultrahuman, Sepoy & Co, Mondelez, Allter and Mymu are also pushing express fulfilment through their websites, apart from listings on Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and BBNow.
Analysts said that for D2C brands, the festive rush is more than just about higher volumes. It is about building habits among customers who now expect speed as part of the shopping experience.