The market of Quick Commerce has grown rapidly. Photo- freepik
Technology Desk, New Delhi. While preparing breakfast in the kitchen, Sanjana from Delhi notices that there is no mustard oil and green vegetables at home. She picks up her smartphone and orders the items she needs from Blinkit. They get the goods in hardly seven-eight minutes. His daughter, who is getting ready for school, says, this is amazing, mummy. Sanjana smiles at this. She knows that this miracle is not hers, but that of the app, which often helps her. However, they do not know much about the strength, technology and methods of the quick commerce fabric hidden behind this app.
These days, 10-minute Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit Quick Commerce have become quite popular in the metropolitan lifestyle. Through their app, everything from green vegetables, fruits, clothes, shoes, soap etc. to mobiles and other gadgets can be ordered in just 10 minutes. A big online market has been created in which there is a strong game of speed. This is the wonder of UPI QR scanner along with data management and GPS facility through AI, while the role of efficient management and warehouse is also important in this.
Actually, this is the result of the lockdown imposed due to the disaster of the Corona era, which became common for Indian startup companies between August 2020 and December 2021. Instamart launched its brand Swiggy on August 10, 2020 in Gurugram, Delhi NCR, promising to deliver food items in 30 to 45 minutes. At that time there were only cooked puds and groceries in it. Its ordering started being done through the app. When the second phase of Covid arrived, Instamart changed this facility and reduced the delivery time to 10 to 15 minutes. This impressed the consumers a lot, due to which Jeshto launched a similar initiative in June 2021. After this, Blinkit, a company established in Gurugram in 2013, also jumped into the field in December 2021. In this way, competition started between these three companies in the market of quick commerce to provide better service, which was happily accepted by the urban people.
With Quick Commerce, the process takes a total of six steps from the time the order is placed. When an order is placed through the app, its information immediately goes to the customer's nearest 'dark store' i.e. small warehouse. This is one to three km. Are made within the scope of. Packing of online orders is done here. With AI and data, companies know in advance whether milk and bread will be sold more in the morning or evening. Similarly, chips, cold drinks, noodles in rains and puja-related items will be sold more on weekends and during festivals. These dark stores hold thousands of items.
As soon as the order arrives in the dark store, its packing timer starts. This is the third stage of Quick Commerce. Only 30 to 60 seconds are available to confirm the order. Then the work of picking and packing is completed in two to three minutes. After this, under the fourth phase, the delivery partner has to reach the orderer on bike in six to seven minutes. For this they get help from some GPS and auto route. For this purpose, delivery persons are already prepared with the dark store. Many times they prepare their bags and remain alert even before the order arrives. In this way the delivery person reaches the orderer within a radius of one to one and a half kilometers within 10 minutes.
The biggest benefit of instant convenience to the urban consumer from Vivak Commerce is the saving of time. This has brought great relief to office goers, students, single families etc. As a good experience, companies also provide them with discounts or offers from time to time. However, due to this, people are now developing the habit of buying now and hence, the habit of making small but frequent purchases under high order probability has started. Many people make impulse purchases and spend more than necessary. People often get stressed by opening the app even for small things and constantly checking the notifications of offers on it, when it is said that the prices may increase as soon as the price ends.
There are many misconceptions about quick commerce, like 10 minute delivery does not mean superhuman speed. The nearest dark store already has them. There is also a misconception about the cheapness of the goods there, which are often found to be more expensive than those available from nearby shops. Yes, the starting prices are definitely cheap.
There is also a misconception about the earnings of delivery partners that they earn a lot. Along with this, it is believed that this is only a trend of youth i.e. Genji, whereas its users are also working professionals, nuclear families, senior citizens etc.
There are some side effects too
This has had side effects on small grocery shopkeepers. The neighboring shop has started remaining vacant. Even in terms of price, they are facing huge competition from big platforms.
The biggest difficulty comes with the delivery partner. They live under extreme pressure. Their fast pace to meet the company's 10-minute time promise is fraught with safety risks, including the risk of road accidents, and their incentive-based earnings are also fraught with the worry of additional income.
They provide service under extreme stress due to traffic, rain and high demand time. There is also a disadvantage regarding the environment. The reason is also the increase in carbon emissions and plastic packaging waste due to the use of more vehicles in small deliveries, as well as traffic and chaos which affects normal transportation.
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