DBT Bureau
Pune, 16 Jan 2025
Velocity, one of India’s D2C enablers, has launched Shipfast, a solution designed to help Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) businesses offer faster deliveries through their websites. With 4-hour, same-day, and next-day shipping options, Shipfast enables quicker order fulfillment while reducing operational overheads.
The recent rise of quick commerce represents a significant shift in the behavior of the Indian customer. A study by McKinsey, for instance, revealed that almost half of the respondents abandoned online carts due to long or unclear shipping times. A survey of 300+ D2C brands conducted by Velocity revealed that 65% of e-commerce brands saw faster shipping as a key trend they need to leverage in 2025.
While D2C brands have seen significant growth on quick-commerce platforms like Zepto, Blinkit, and Swiggy’s Instamart, many are choosing to own the customer journeys end-to-end by facilitating faster deliveries through their own websites to avoid high commissions. One persistent challenge, however, has been the shipping experience. Delivery delays, long issue resolution times and lack of accurate tracking, often lead to customer dissatisfaction, impacting brand loyalty.
To address these pain points, Shipfast has reimagined shipping workflows with its logistics partners to optimize for quicker deliveries. It also incorporates a mix of internal early warnings for delivery roadblocks, along with proprietary AI agents to ensure seamless deliveries. This helps in minimizing the need for customers to escalate issues, while also reducing the operational overheads for brands.
“Velocity’s mission has always been to power the growth of D2C brands in India. Shipfast is a natural step in our evolution. While access to capital drives 40-50% growth for D2C brands, faster deliveries can unlock an additional 30-40% growth by increasing customer conversions. Shipfast enables quicker commerce for D2C brands, strengthening direct customer relationships, boosting loyalty, and driving repeat purchase rates on their websites. We’re excited to launch our product built in-house, and are actively looking to bolster it with potential acquisitions,” said Abhiroop Medhekar, Co-Founder and CEO, Velocity.
Since its inception in 2020, Velocity has served 5000+ customers across its various products. It has financed over 1,200 e-commerce businesses, disbursing more than Rs 1,000 crore in working capital. Some notable brands funded by Velocity are Soulflower, Suta, Imagimake, Frido, Koskii, Hammer, Bewakoof, and Chumbak
“It’s exciting to see our long-term financing partner, Velocity, expanding into the logistics space, which aligns perfectly with the growing demand for same-day and next-day deliveries—something our customers truly value,” said Amit Sarda, Co-founder of Soulflower, a leading beauty and personal care D2C brand.
Backed by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, Velocity has partnered with leading logistics providers like Delhivery, Shadowfax, Ekart, EcomExpress, and more to cover multiple cities across India.
