Profits won't come so quick

DEEPINDER GOYAL BELIEVES his quick commerce business, Blinkit, could become bigger than Zomato in a year.

- AYANTI BERA

Given the quick commerce space is tipped to grow at 30-35% annually, this is not surprising. The market could be worth 1.5 trillion a year-about 25 million households spend an average of 4,0005,000 a month to have goods and goodies delivered home within 1030 minutes. It would explains Goyal's conviction on Blinkit's prospects. It would also explain why Flipkart has decided it wants to be part of the space once again.

Today, qucik commerce services reach some 25 cities and experts say this could double in the next five years. But the large market isn't the only reason why Goyal is so keen on the space or why Flipkart is looking to make a comeback. It's because this is not a winner-takes-it-all kind of market there's room for three or four players to do well.

As Sachin Salgaonkar and Shalav Saket, who analyse the sector at Bank of America, point out, no one player would be able walk away with the lion's share. "The market share between the players would gravitate towards 35%, 30% and 25% for the top three and may not see a disproportionate 50-60% plus share for one player," they opine. As Ravi Kapoor, Partner and Leader - Retail & Consumer PwC, says, at an annual $3 billion, the quick commerce market is yet to mature. Also, Kapoor believes that the AoV (average order value), density and frequency are equally important to deliver profits and the reason it's hard for one player to corner a disproportionate share.