A new playbook: Startups go vertical in India's quick commerce race

As the quick commerce (qcom) race hots up, a new model — vertical qcom — is gaining investor attention. Unlike horizontal players such as Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart, which stock everything from groceries to gifts and gadgets, vertical platforms focus on depth over breadth. 

These platforms target niche but high-value categories, such as ph­arma, fashion, beauty, baby care, and pet care, where the range of ass­ortment and repeat purchases is hig­h.  Investors say that specialised ve­r­tical players can offer better availability and domain-specific expertise. 

They are also increasingly betting on these models for their higher average order values (AOVs), repeat transactions, and optimised inventory and delivery networks. 

For instance, Info Edge Ventures and Chiratae Ventures recently invested $4.5 million in a seed funding round in fashion qcom company Zilo. All In Capital also invested $1.4 million in qcom Pharma firm Plazza, and a baby care-focused qcom startup, Peeko, raised $3.2 million in a seed round led by Stellaris Venture Partners. 

Speaking on the growth opportunities for vertical qcom models, Aditya Singh, cofounder and partner of All in Capital, said, “Categories like pharma have over 15,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) and platforms like Blinkit or Zepto cannot stock that depth in every dark store.  That's where a vertical pharmacy player makes sense. Additionally, in categories such as fashion or apparel, speed is not the only issue. The bigger issue is what to stock and which brands to push. A vertical player can curate better, manage supply chains differently, and solve that discovery challenge.” 

Echoing Singh’s perspectives, Rahul Chowdhri, partner of Stellaris Venture Partners, said, “In horizontal qcom, the optimisation is about how fast they can move the inventory. But in a category like fashion, the collection needed is larger, and the pace of inventory movement is different. Consumers also don't want a grocery kind of buying experience for fashion and beauty. So, in this particular case, a try-and-buy could be a reason why you need fashion qcom.” 

IIMA Ventures, too, added that it is keen to explore vertical qcom opportunities in categories that require depth, tailored curation, stronger consumer experience, and domain-specific trust. Vipul Patel, partner-seed investing, said that non-grocery and high-context categories could present promising opportunities. 

A few founders building in the vertical qcom space say that some categories, like fashion and pharma, demand deeper curation and a differentiated shopping experience. Their rise also stems from the fact that offline shopping often fails to meet consumer expectations due to unbranded and fragmented offerings. 

Chetan Sharma, cofounder of Peeko, said that the baby care market is large, fragmented, and predominantly unbranded, with only about 25 per cent of the market being brand-led.  He said, “The remaining 75 per cent — apparel, accessories, shoes, and toys — remains unbranded. This creates supply chain complexity, requiring 15,000-20,000 SKUs, and demands deeper curation to ensure products are high-quality, safe, and reliable. Finally, parents are often pressed for time and want frictionless shopping, without the hassle of returns. A vertical platform allows us to design features like 'try and buy' and instant returns." 

On the pharma category, Aman Priyadarshi, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Plazza, said, “For pharmacy, 95 per cent of the experience is offline, and that offline experience is pretty broken. Almost all customers ask their retail pharmacist for WhatsApp numbers for home deliveries, or they come down to the store themselves, where it can take 15-30 minutes for even a small transaction. That is, if one is lucky enough not to have to check across two to three stores.” 

Priyadarshi added that the company is building delivery-first stores and is currently delivering medicines in Bengaluru. 

Zilo’s cofounder and chief infor­mation officer (CIO) Bhavik Jhaveri said that fashion is the second-largest consumption category, post grocery.

 

However, he added that horizontal formats are commoditised while fashion, as a vertical, behaves differently, given the size, fit, design, and selection choice. 

“Fashion is a lifestyle and design-led decision, and hence, more browsing and inspiration-led. Especially when it comes to branded and premium selection, consumers expect a captive experience and services. A vertical approach allows us to make a top-of-the-mind fashion-first platform,” Jhaveri added.