Nykaa is taking a different approach to quick commerce with Nykaa Now, its beauty and personal care delivery platform that promises orders within 30–60 minutes rather than the industry’s increasingly common 10-minute delivery model.
Currently operational in 13 cities, Nykaa Now is expected to expand to 25–30 cities over the next several quarters. The platform has 100 rapid, or dark, stores across these cities and also uses Nykaa’s brick-and-mortar stores for hyperlocal deliveries.
According to Anchit Nayar, CEO of beauty e-commerce at Nykaa, the company does not need to compete on 10-minute delivery because beauty and personal care purchases can support a longer delivery window. The 30–60 minute promise allows Nykaa to operate with fewer rapid stores while stocking each location with a wider and deeper assortment.
Nykaa believes this model can reduce inventory risks associated with an aggressive dark-store network. Moving from 30-minute to 10-minute delivery would require the company to potentially triple or quadruple its dark-store network. That would replicate inventory across significantly more locations, increasing the possibility of products ageing if they do not sell.
Instead, Nykaa Now is prioritising assortment. The platform carries upwards of 10,000 beauty and personal care SKUs, giving consumers greater choice across categories such as shampoos, moisturisers, sunscreens, makeup brushes and lipsticks. Nykaa argues that generalist quick-commerce platforms typically have less depth in beauty because they sell across multiple categories.
Nykaa Now’s average order value is currently similar to Nykaa’s broader e-commerce platform, according to Nayar. The company expects incremental orders to increase as the service receives more marketing support.
The strategy also extends beyond rapid stores. Nykaa’s physical stores can facilitate hyperlocal deliveries and provide access to its entire 1.5 lakh-item inventory. This gives customers a broader selection when rapid-store inventory is insufficient.
While quick-commerce purchases are often driven by urgent replenishment, Nykaa believes its deeper assortment can encourage customers to use Nykaa Now more frequently. A customer who previously transacted four times a year could potentially transact eight times, even if individual Nykaa Now orders carry lower average values.
For now, Nykaa Now remains focused exclusively on beauty and personal care. Nayar has not ruled out fashion, but there are no immediate plans to add the category.
Nykaa’s quick-commerce strategy, therefore, is not simply about being faster. It is about balancing delivery speed, inventory depth, store economics and customer choice while building a specialised beauty-focused quick-commerce network.
