Flipkart Eyes Quick Commerce Foray To Take On Zepto, Blinkit

Ecommerce giant Flipkart is reportedly foraying into the quick commerce space to take on the likes of Zepto, Zomato’s Blinkit, and Swiggy’s Instamart.

Flipkart is set to launch 10-15 minute delivery services in at least a dozen cities in the next six to eight weeks, Entrackr reported citing sources.

“It’s building up a chain of dark stores across several cities including Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Hyderabad, among others,” the sources were quoted as saying.

Inc42’s email to Flipkart seeking clarity on the matter did not immediately elicit a response.

Quick commerce has emerged as a popular trend, particularly in the Tier-I cities in India, over the last few years. As per a 2023 Deloitte report, quick commerce emerged as a popular channel for consumers with a 51% purchase rate. The analysis was done on a sample size of 841. 

The research found that quick commerce was particularly favoured for groceries, with 25% of consumers reporting it as their most preferred channel for grocery shopping.

However, as per an Inc42 analysis last year, customer service is among the topmost criteria for choosing any grocery delivery service, where none of the top quick commerce players could score well.

Topping the chart, on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is the lowest and 10 the best customer experience, Blinkit topped the ranking with 2.4. In fact, Zomato-owned Blinkit also topped in terms of maximum app downloads in 2023.

A recent Bernstein report suggested that quick commerce is now about 40% of the online grocery delivery category, where Blinkit is the market leader with about a 40% market share.

On the other hand, Zepto turned a unicorn last year and has also been growing its business significantly.

Meanwhile, Flipkart has worked on ramping up its ecommerce business over the last few months. In January, the Walmart-backed company rolled out same-day delivery services for multiple products across 20 Indian cities. 

The platform has also strengthened its payments offerings. Recently, it launched Flipkart UPI in partnership with Axis Bank. The ecommerce major has also been eyeing entry in the lending space. Flipkart is likely coming up with a credit marketplace, Super.Money.

Recently, there were also reports about Flipkart eyeing the acquisition of beleaguered hyperlocal delivery platform Dunzo, which also tried its hands on quick commerce but shut it due to massive cash burn.

As per the Entrackr report, Flipkart is expected to have a wider catalogue than the existing players in the quick commerce industry.

“The company will have a sharp focus on FMCG, grocery and daily essentials but it would also push categories such as electronics, fashion,” a source was quoted as saying.

Recently, Flipkart’s marketplace arm also received a cash infusion of INR 924 Cr ($111 Mn) in two parts from its related entities based in Singapore.

The marketplace arm’s operating revenue zoomed 42% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 14,845.8 Cr while loss declined 9% YoY to INR 4,026.5 Cr in FY23.