How dark stores are lighting up the online beauty business

livemint.com:

Mint. Nykaa owns over 27 brands across skincare, cosmetics, and fashion, including Nykaa Cosmetics, Nykd by Nykaa, and Pipa Bella. Purplle, which recently raised ₹1,000 crore from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and other investors, runs brands like Carmesi, Good Vibes, NY Bae, and Faces Canada.

“These companies are platforms themselves that are competing with other platforms like Zepto and Blinkit. Since some portion of their demand is being taken away by quick commerce platforms, they want to retain customers by offering faster deliveries," this person said. While these companies may not offer 15-minute deliveries, they will focus on delivering within a few hours.

The companies are also working to upgrade their websites to reflect shorter delivery timelines, this person added. Nykaa already manages next-day delivery of select products in a limited number of pin codes in some metro cities by partnering with logistics companies. It's now aiming for same-day deliveries.

Several direct-to-consumer brands are also evaluating their ability to fulfill quick deliveries by collaborating with third-party logistics players to stock fast-moving products in shared warehouse facilities, the person quoted above noted. While these brands will continue being listed on quick commerce platforms like Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, and Zepto, they will work simultaneously on shortening delivery timelines on orders made through their website. Website sales, which often contribute a small percentage of overall sales for most consumer brands, are likely to become an important sales channel if brands manage to offer quicker deliveries.