Provide Tech Platform To Help Retailers Fight Q-Commerce Giants: FRAI To Centre

The Federation of Retailer Association of India (FRAI) has urged the government to build an “enhanced technology platform” to help brick-and-mortar stores compete with the onslaught of quick commerce platforms. 

“Such support would enable the kirana stores to remain competitive amidst the increasing encroachment into their space by quick commerce companies like Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit or Zepto,” the retailers’ body said, as per news agency PTI. 

The FRAI lauded the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) but said that there is a need for a specific solution to make local kirana stores discoverable and accessible to customers. This, the body said, would help mom-and-pop stores compete on an equal footing with “10 minute” delivery platforms and create a level-playing field. 

“With new technologies brought in by the government, like ONDC, what is now required is a more focused approach in creating a specific solution for kirana stores that makes them as discoverable and accessible to customers, much like the way quick commerce companies are operating,” FRAI’s honorary spokesperson Abhay Raj Mishra was quoted as saying.

Training guns at quick commerce players, MP and secretary general emeritus of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Praveen Khandelwal reportedly said that kirana stores are “facing steep challenges” due to the growing tide of quick commerce players. 

Noting that it is crucial for the retailers to “stay updated and embrace all channels” to meet the evolving expectations of customers, Khandelwal said that quick commerce platforms are undercutting local stores with their deep pockets, large warehouses and a huge customer base.

He also said that these online marketplaces have “unfair advantage” over kirana stores, adding that increased competition from quick commerce players has resulted in stagnant sales for retailers, especially during the high-demand festive season.

The comments come at a time when the quick commerce players have rapidly expanded their presence and operations in the past one year on the back of growing demand. While Zepto raised over $1.3 Bn in 2024 this year, Zomato, which operates Blinkit, also raised nearly $1 Bn earlier via qualified institutional placement (QIP) this year to fuel quick commerce plans. 

Such has been the rush that Flipkart entered the “10 minute” delivery fray earlier this year with Minutes, while Amazon is lining up plans to debut its quick commerce platform early next year.

That said, quick commerce platforms have been under the radar of retailer bodies for some time now. In September, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) referred a complaint filed by the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF) against quick commerce players to the Competition Commission of India.

Last month too, CAIT accused quick commerce players of manipulating FDI rules, violating competition laws, promoting aggressive pricing, and establishing near-monopolistic control over supply chains.