10-minute delivery: Quick rise in revenue, but losses mount

IN LESS THAN two years, the 10minute delivery promise of quick commerce players seems to have gone from a marketing ploy to a critical driver of customer growth.

- AYANTI BERA

• JURY STILL OUT ON LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY

Zomato-owned Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy's Instamart and Big Basket's BBNow have all seen a rapid pace of customer adoption with users hooked to the speed and convenience of the model - and growth.

Concerns, however, remain around its long-term economics.

According to some analysts, with none of the quick-commerce players being profitable yet, questions over long-term sustainability cannot be brushed aside.

Take Blinkit and Zepto for example. Blinkit, formerly known as Grofers, rolled out the 10-minute delivery model in December 2021. It re-branded itself a few months after Y combinator-backed Zepto entered the quick commerce market, promising a similar delivery time.

In the initial months, both struggled to deliver consistently within the advertised time, primarily because their network of dark stores, or micro fulfilment centres, was weak in major cities. Besides, the technology to forecast demand from a certain area based on its purchase pattern was yet to be fine-tuned. The platforms also grappled with rider availability.

Quick turnaround

Two years later, the story seems to be completely different. In most parts of major cities, Blinkit now delivers in six to seven minutes, and Zepto also sticks to its 10-minute deadline. With more customers drawn by the convenience of delivery within minutes, Blinkit has grow its number of orders from 22.2 million in Q1FY23 to 55.8 million in Q3FY24.