D2C x Monsoon

Hey readers,

Welcome to the twenty-sixth edition of D2C Cents!

This edition? We talk about:

Mumbai was flooded last week, but demand didn't stopped. It moved to rain-friendly products and quick commerce. Brands that prepare for the monsoon grow through it.

Let's dive right into it.

As I started writing this, Mumbai was underwater. 

The IMD had an orange alert on the city, schools and colleges were shut, and landslides on the Mumbai-Pune ghat section at Thakurwadi and Monkey Hill cut train services between the two cities. The western suburbs took close to 380mm of rain in 48 hours.

For many D2C founders, this is the toughest week of the year.

Your biggest market grinds to a halt almost overnight. Orders fall, foot traffic disappears, and customers stay indoors.

Many brands respond the same way. They wait for the rain to pass.

That's usually where they lose the opportunity.

The logic behind "wait it out" is that people stop buying when it rains. They don't.

Their shopping habits change.

People buy different products, and they increasingly turn to quick commerce instead.

That's exactly what Flipkart Minutes reported last June.

Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai led these orders. And it wasn't just umbrellas.

The same shift is happening right now.

During the flooding in Mumbai, one quick commerce platform reported that repeat purchases increased by about 25%. As stepping outside became difficult, more people turned to reliable delivery.

Demand didn't fall with the rain. It became more concentrated.

Some of these shifts create opportunities that last well beyond the monsoon.

Brands focused on scalp care are seeing repeat purchase rates of more than 40%, compared with the beauty category average of around 26%.

A rainy scalp isn't just a one-time sale. It can become a repeat customer if the right product is on the shelf.

While some brands wait for the rain to stop, demand has already moved to a different aisle, and someone else is already selling there.

Two moves can turn the monsoon from a season you survive into one you grow through.

The first is offence. The second is defence.

Most brands focus on the first and overlook the second.

Follow the demand

Start with your own catalogue.

Find the SKU that becomes more relevant during the rains. It could be anti-frizz products, quick-dry clothing, waterproof gear, indoor-use products, power backup, or scalp care. If demand is shifting, make sure it shifts to your shelf.

Get visible on quick commerce.

Quick commerce crossed ₹11,000 crore in GMV in January 2026 alone. For some FMCG brands, it now accounts for up to 70% of e-commerce sales.

If your products aren't available there during the monsoon, you're invisible in your biggest market for almost a quarter of the year.

Defend the delivery

This is where the season is won or lost.

India's RTO rate already sits between 20% and 40%, depending on the category. Heavy rain pushes those numbers even higher.

Every failed delivery can double your shipping cost because you pay for the trip to the customer and the trip back.

A brand shipping 500 orders a day with a 25% RTO rate is dealing with around 125 failed deliveries every day. Over a year, that can add up to a few crore rupees that never appear as a separate line item in the P&L.

A promise you keep is worth far more than a discount you can't deliver.

Every delivery during the monsoon depends on one person reaching a flooded address.

During heavy rain, riders deal with waterlogged roads, hidden potholes, poor visibility, and unsafe conditions on two-wheelers that were never designed for this kind of weather. Many still do it without hazard pay or medical cover.

This week, one Mumbai quick commerce platform said around 9% of its fleet was out sick.

The platforms that manage the season well prepare for it. They provide rain gear, offer extra pay during bad weather, and extend delivery timelines when conditions become unsafe.

That's a good model for any brand.

A realistic delivery promise protects the customer, and the person responsible for keeping it.

On the flipside, a promintent D2C founder mentioned to me that a large 3PL partner is yet delayed on orders, blaming the rain when there isn’t much this week.

There's one more number every founder should know before the monsoon begins:

How much of your revenue depends on Mumbai?

If one flooded week can noticeably reduce your national sales, you have a concentration risk.

The answer isn't to hope for better weather. It's to build demand in other metros before the next storm arrives.

This Isn't a Call for a Rain Sale

The answer isn't another discount or a monsoon sale.

The brands that win this season usually do something much simpler. They have the right products, they're available on the right channels, and they make delivery promises they can actually keep.

Even then, some days are beyond anyone's control.

When a city comes to a standstill, with flooded roads and trains suspended, no operations plan can change that.

The goal was never to beat the weather.

The goal is to be ready for it.

While some brands wait for the rain to pass, others have already adjusted their products, channels, and operations. That's where the advantage comes from.

Brands build a war room for Diwali and treat the monsoon as bad luck. But the rain is just as predictable and just as big. It simply rewards different products and punishes weak operations. India's D2C market crossed ₹2.5 lakh crore last year, and a real chunk of that flows through exactly the weeks and cities the rain disrupts.

Before next season, three things are worth locking in early:

The output is that you grow through the season your competitors are busy surviving.

The rain will be back next year, on schedule. The only real question is whether you'll have a plan ready, or be watching your biggest market from the sidelines again.

See you next edition - same time, deeper insights.

Until then, keep building strategically.
Abhishek