Quick Commerce: Groceries in Ten Minutes

How apps like Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart deliver groceries in minutes using dark stores, why investors backed them, and the concerns about profits, workers and kiranas.

In Indian cities, you can order milk, vegetables, snacks or even a phone charger and receive it in ten or fifteen minutes. This is quick commerce, one of the fastest-growing parts of Indian retail.

The players

Blinkit, owned by Zomato’s parent company Eternal.
Zepto, a start-up founded in 2021.
Swiggy Instamart.
Others, including Flipkart Minutes, BigBasket and Amazon, entered too.

How it works: dark stores

Quick commerce relies on dark stores: small warehouses located close to customers, often within 2 to 3 kilometres, not open to walk-in shoppers.

Each dark store stocks a few thousand fast-selling items.
When an order arrives, staff pick and pack it in a couple of minutes.
A delivery rider covers a short distance quickly on a two-wheeler.

Why it grew

Dense cities with many customers close together.
Cheap labour for picking and delivery.
Busy urban households valuing convenience.
Investor funding that subsidised growth.

The unit economics

Making money is hard:

Orders are small, so delivery costs are a large share of each order.
Companies earn from margins, delivery fees, advertising by brands and higher-margin products like electronics.
Average order values must rise and dark stores must be busy to break even.

Concerns

Kiranas: distributors’ associations complained to the CCI that quick commerce firms used deep discounts that harm small shops and traditional distribution.
Delivery workers: pressure to deliver fast raises safety concerns; workers are gig workers with limited protections. Some platforms dropped “10-minute” branding after criticism.
Food safety: regulators inspected dark stores after hygiene complaints.
Sustainability: heavy spending on discounts may not last.

Consumer behaviour

Quick commerce has changed habits: more frequent, smaller orders and impulse purchases.

The late-night order

At 11 pm, a student realises he needs printer paper for an assignment due tomorrow. He orders it on an app and receives it in 12 minutes from a dark store two kilometres away. The convenience comes with a delivery fee and a gig worker's late-night ride.

Thinking quick commerce is just faster e-commerce

It relies on dense networks of dark stores near customers, a different model from large central warehouses.

Key takeaways

Quick commerce delivers groceries in 10 to 15 minutes using nearby dark stores.
Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart lead the market.
Small orders make profitability challenging.
Concerns include kiranas, delivery worker safety and food hygiene.