Can Blip Outpace Myntra’s M-Now In The Fashion Quick Commerce Race?

Can Blip Outpace Myntra’s M-Now In The Fashion Quick Commerce Race?

SUMMARY

Bengaluru-based Blip was one of the earliest to experiment with fashion quick commerce having started with a pilot in 2023 before a formal launch in Bengaluru last year

The quick commerce for fashion category has flurry of activity as startups such as Blip and Slikk are looking to compete with marketplace giants Myntra that have also joined the race

Blip cofounder Ansh Agarwal believes that the focus now has to be on building trust and customer loyalty as the operational model for quick commerce is well familiar to all players

The convenience of quick commerce has upended the notion of ecommerce in India, at least as far as the metros are concerned. The norm today means delivery timelines range from 10 minutes to ASAP for everything from groceries to fashion to food and medicines. 

It’s also resulted in a massive rush for quick commerce gold in various verticals, with startups sprouting up in each major metro. Names such as Slikk, Blip, Zing, Plazza, Swish are joining the daily parlance along with Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart, with the new brigade looking at specialisation in key verticals. 

But it’s a wave that’s been building up for several months now. Bengaluru-based Blip was one of the earliest to experiment with fashion quick commerce. Blip cofounder Ansh Agarwal said that there was a real gap because most horizontal quick commerce platforms had tailored their distribution and supply chain for essentials.  

“Shopping for groceries and fashion are fundamentally different, with established mental models. Groceries are linked to platforms like Zepto, while fashion is tied to Myntra and Nykaa. This gives fashion-focused marketplaces like ours a clear edge, as Blip is a fashion marketplace and was one of the first to offer quick delivery in fashion,” the Blip cofounder told Inc42.

But being first is not a long-term advantage in quick commerce. Blip’s launch in October 2024 was followed by a flurry of activity. Fellow Bengaluru startup Slikk emerged, and marketplace giant Myntra launched M-Now to add to the competition in the quick fashion commerce space. 

Agarwal believes that the focus now has to be on building trust and customer loyalty as the operational model for quick commerce is well familiar to all players. “To stand out in this space, a quick commerce platform for fashion must go beyond speed, focusing on building trust and awareness through partnerships with established retail stores and leveraging their reputation for credibility.”

But before we get there, let’s take a step back and see Blip’s short journey thus far.

The Birth Of Blip

Inspired by the success of players like Blinkit and Zepto, Blip was founded in 2024 by Agarwal and Sarvesh Kedia, with the promise of delivering apparel in 30 minutes from reputed brands. The app went live in October with 25,000 SKUs and more than 10 retail brands in Bengaluru and plans to expand to all key metro cities soon.

A graduate of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Agarwal had already founded three startups at a young age before the Blip journey began. While still in college, he launched his first venture in 2020, a marketplace for blue collar workers inspired by gig economy unicorn Apna. 

The concept gained some traction, but the founder’s lack of experience in scaling and managing teams led to its eventual shutdown.

To refine his entrepreneurial acumen, Agarwal went through several internships to explore various aspects of business—from product development to HR, finance, marketing, and content creation. He even worked on many side projects and even gained recognition in a hackathon. At one point, he managed a YouTube channel on the side. 

One such side project, Tweepsbook, a bookmarking tool that won a Twitter hackathon, became his second startup.

Despite initial success, the project faced challenges like API restrictions and funding hurdles, which led to its acquisition by New York-based venture studio Fountane. Agarwal also began working as a part time consultant at Fountane after that. 

But the shifting market dynamics on the ecommerce front in India eventually compelled him to lay the foundation for Blip. 

He didn’t quite understand the challenges of the industry, he recalled, but the idea seemed exciting ever since a friend introduced him to the idea of quick fashion deliveries in 2023. “The concept of Zepto for clothes sparked an idea. I thought it was a great idea, but at that point, I didn’t know how to handle inventory, set up a dark store, or even bring brands on board. It felt like too big a project with a large investment required, and I wasn’t sure how to approach it,” the founder told Inc42. 

Thus began the journey of learning the tricks of the ecommerce trade — from OMS or order management systems to distribution and supply chain. “It was then that I began to understand key concepts like omnichannel, warehouses, inventory management, and how they fit together. It was like fitting multiple pieces of a puzzle to build something meaningful.”

By October 2023, Kedia and Agarwal were deep into research on what brands were doing and delving into the potential of omnichannel solutions. As easy as the idea sounded in their head, bringing it to life proved an equally difficult task.

By December 2023, Blip was registered as a fashion marketplace with local brands as partners and just 25 SKUs. For context, today, its brand partnerships include brands like United Colors of Benetton (UCB), Tommy Hilfiger, Celio, Park Avenue, Pepe Jeans, AND, Global Desi, among others. 

Validating The Blip Hypothesis 

Before launching in Bengaluru, Blip ran a short pilot in Mumbai to test the 30-minute delivery model. The startup rented a shared warehouse and began using it for last-mile hyperlocal delivery. It started with an inventory of 50 to 60 products, focusing on basic items like innerwear, formal shirts, and casual shirts. 

The key hypothesis was that customers seeking quick deliveries would primarily be looking for these basics. The pilot covered Bandra to Borivali in Mumbai, with Blip’s warehouse located in Andheri East. It was a large enough base for the founders to recognise that the startup needs to expand its catalogue. 

If anything, Blip had underestimated the demand, the limited knowledge of the two founders in cataloguing and sourcing was a hurdle. 

“The goal wasn’t to make a profit but to see if customers, overwhelmed by too many choices, would still make purchases. The pilot continued through May 2024.”

The obvious next step was to study the competition — how the likes of Shoppers Stop or Myntra expanded their product catalogue. The founders also launched a pan-India mock website named StyleFleet to test their reach through performance marketing. Surprisingly, they also received orders from around the country for this website, which were obviously cancelled by the founders. 

“These tests validated our hypothesis that customers truly wanted urgent delivery. Through these experiments, we were able to identify successful price points, brands, and high-demand pin codes, and built a comprehensive customer data set,” Agarwal said. 

The data allowed Blip to engage with brands directly. “We started cold-calling, emailing, and DMing brands on LinkedIn,” the founder added. 

Even as the catalogue expansion was being addressed, Blip had to rethink its existing dark store model. Eventually, the founders decided to step away from the dark store model, and focus on partnerships with brands that already have retail presence.

“The challenge was ensuring that retail stores adhered to the promised turnaround time (TAT) of ten minutes, which we are still strictly working towards. Occasionally, there have been some slip-ups, and that’s something we aim to address. Secondly, many of the OMS platforms we were using weren’t designed for hyperlocal deliveries.”

Blip currently operates in four zones in Central Bengaluru, with an 8 km radius per zone. Customer location determines the product catalogue shown in the app. 

When an eligible order is placed, it is routed to the closest corresponding retail store in that zone. For example, if the order is from a store in Forum Mall (Koramangala), the store staff prepares the order. A delivery partner picks it up and delivers it to the customer. It’s not unlike the model popularised by Dunzo in the past. 

Currently, the startup has an in-house delivery fleet, but that could change with expansion to other cities. Currently, the startup is handling between 30-50 orders per day.  

Cracking Fashion’s Quick Commerce Model 

At this early stage, Blip’s journey has largely been focused on experimentation, and the startup continues to explore and test new ideas every day. For instance, Blip has placed standees outside many popular retail spaces in Bengaluru to build brand awareness and trust among customers.

While fashion remains the brand’s primary focus, it is open to exploring new verticals and partnerships. According to Agarwal, plans in the near future include opening retail stores that feature early to growth stage D2C brands, and help them achieve retail presence more easily. The goal is to position Blip as a Shopify for offline retail.

Agarwal said the company aims to focus on an omnichannel approach rather than just sticking to the online space. He sees a significant opportunity for small to mid-sized D2C startups with only an online presence, as these brands can gain more visibility if launched offline. 

The omnichannel model allows Blip to source products from various retail brands and fulfillment centres, making inventory management easier without the need for a centralised warehouse.

This strategy will allow for rapid expansion by utilising multiple retail locations. “The goal is to expand into more cities after reaching a target of 700 orders per day.”

While quick commerce has proven to be a successful model in various segments, it’s early days for fashion. Despite major players like Myntra now trying to crack the model, startups such as Blip do have a place because of the gaps in the market that can enable huge value creation. 

Edited By Nikhil Subramaniam

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.

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