Can D2C Brands Ever Match the Speed of Blinkit and Zepto? Pikndel Thinks So.

Today, if you're in Delhi, you can get groceries delivered in just 10–20 minutes—thanks to apps like Zepto and Blinkit that have made this possible. But that speed doesn’t extend to emerging D2C brands.

For years, D2C brands in India have struggled to meet the rising expectations set by quick commerce. While consumers now expect near-instant gratification, most of these brands still rely on slow courier services or are forced to list on marketplaces, giving up control over their brand experience, customer data, and margins.

This creates a clear disconnect between the polished Instagram ads and the 3–5 day delivery wait that follows. And it’s not just about delivery speed, it’s also about conversion. According to industry reports,  faster delivery options can boost cart conversions by up to 30% and significantly improve COD success rates.

This gap was soon noticed by Siddharth Batra and Tullika Batra, the co-founders of Pikndel, a Delhi-based logistics startup that is working to bridge it.

Pikndel enables D2C brands to offer 1-hour, same-day, and next-day delivery and that too without relying on Amazon or apps like Blinkit.

The Founders’ Journey

Siddharth Batra’s journey began at Delhi’s prestigious SRCC, where he pursued Chartered Accountancy before dropping out to build a B2B logistics startup in 2015. It was profitable, bootstrapped, and ahead of its time, but not scalable.

The challenge lay in expanding into retail logistics, a high-burn sector not suited to his bootstrapped approach. He took a strategic pause, enrolled at ISB, and joined Boston Consulting Group. But the builder’s itch never left.

“I didn’t just want to build fast, I wanted to build smart and sustainable,” Siddharth reflects.

Tullika Batra, a media producer by training, brought an entirely different lens. With a background in storytelling and brand strategy, she had already launched her own logistics startup prior to Pikndel.

According to the founders, there was no single “Eureka” moment. Instead, they noticed a pattern. D2C brands were doing everything right—building websites, running ads—but losing customers at the last mile. Speed was still in the hands of marketplaces. Pikndel was launched to change that.

“We knew speed wasn’t just a customer want, it was a competitive moat for brands,” the founders say.

The startup built a delivery network that gives brands the ability to offer fast shipping directly through their own website or app, keeping the customer experience intact. 

“It was about restoring power to D2C brands, giving them a fast and reliable infrastructure that didn't just deliver boxes but delivered conversion, retention, and brand trust,” they say.

How It Works

Pikndel’s operations are built on a three-layer model: a central mother warehouse, a network of dark stores, and a trained last-mile fleet. Brands stock their inventory at the mother warehouse. Based on data and regional demand, fast-moving products are pushed to dark stores located in high-demand zones like Gurgaon, Noida, and South Delhi. Deliveries are then fulfilled by Pikndel’s in-house riders.

This results in 1-hour deliveries within Delhi NCR and next-day delivery across major metros like Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Unlike third-party courier services, Pikndel manages its own delivery fleet. Couriers are trained in soft skills and safety, with top performers moving up to supervisory roles. Many treat their zones like their own micro-business.

For many D2C startups, selling through marketplaces means giving up too much. Commissions eat into margins, customer data goes to the platform, and the brand gets lost among countless listings.

Pikndel takes a different route. Brands can now offer fast delivery directly from their own websites. They keep control over communication, post-purchase journeys, and customer data, while Pikndel handles the logistics in the background.

According to the founders, this approach is already showing results like COD success rates have increased from 75% to over 90%, Product pages with same-day delivery tags see up to 30% more conversions, and Return rates (RTOs) have dropped significantly.

Serving Notable Brands

Within a few years of its operations, Pikndel has onboarded notable brands like Ghazal Alagh's Mamaearth, Aman Gupta-led boAt, Healthkart, Bellavita, Uniqlo, and Hopscotch.

The startup’s plug-and-play model allows brands to onboard within hours. It integrates with platforms like Shopify, Unicommerce, and Shiprocket. A brand’s dashboard syncs with Pikndel’s system, enabling real-time tracking, inventory visibility, and customer communication—all without the tech headaches.

“We weren’t pitching logistics. We were pitching revenue growth,” the founders noted.

Unlike most startups that expand rapidly, Pikndel chose depth over speed. The startup initially launched in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru but quickly realised that thin presence in multiple cities was hurting profitability and overall service.

So, they paused operations in Mumbai and Bengaluru to double down on Delhi NCR, where they had higher delivery volumes, better warehouse placement, stronger brand relationships, and—most importantly—dense enough demand to reliably support their quick delivery model.

And that decision turned out to be the right one. It improved delivery routing and batching, reduced the cost per order, boosted on-time delivery rates and NPS, and led to six straight months of bottom-line profitability, all while significantly enhancing the customer experience.

“We didn’t overpromise. We started small, proved ourselves through on-ground reliability, and scaled only when we hit metrics that mattered,” they say.

As Pikndel continues to achieve sustainable growth, it plans to expand to 11 new cities over the next six months, targeting Tier 1 and Tier 2 locations based on partner demand. It is also building tech tools, including predictive inventory systems, demand forecasting engines, and smart routing algorithms, to support this growth.

“Our goal is to replicate the efficiency of our Delhi NCR model across India—without compromising speed or service quality.”

Building A Sustainable Business

Pikndel began with Rs 25 lakh in personal savings and bootstrapped its early operations. In December 2023, the startup raised $285,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by 100x.VC, followed by a $1 million seed round in November 2024, led by VC Grid.

Despite the funding, the startup is not chasing GMV or vanity metrics. Instead, its focus remains on building infrastructure that D2C brands can rely on without burning capital.

“For us, scale only makes sense if it’s sustainable,” they say.

For Pikndel, achieving sustainable growth wasn't easy. The founders recalled facing cash crunches, investor rejections, and criticism from brands unwilling to pay a premium for faster delivery.

“There were also moments when our very model was questioned. Brands would ask, ‘Why would anyone pay a premium for faster delivery?’—especially when everyone else was cutting costs. But we believed in our thesis: that speed is not a luxury—it’s a revenue driver,” the founders recalled.

“Ultimately, we got through those lows by staying obsessed with solving real brand problems and building lean, execution-first teams that believed in the mission—even when the world didn’t,” they say.

A Culture Like A Sports Team

Both Siddharth and Tullika describe Pikndel’s team culture as more like a sports team than a corporate ladder—execution-focused, collaborative, and driven by ownership.

“We’re building the future of quick commerce for D2C brands, and that demands clarity, speed, and alignment. Our day-to-day involves regular feedback loops—with our brands, team, and investors—to stay agile and focused. As founders, our role is to identify and empower self-driven industry leaders, work closely with them to bridge operational gaps, and ensure we’re always moving in sync toward our shared goals,” they noted.

When asked about their long-term vision, the founders said they aim to become the go-to infrastructure layer for quick commerce in India.

“We’re building a one-stop, plug-and-play logistics platform where brands can simply connect their order panel to our WMS, stock inventory in our hubs, and leave the rest to us: Pick. Pack. Deliver,” they added.