NEW DELHI: Quick commerce (Q-commerce) has reshaped India’s e-retail landscape, cornering over two-thirds of all e-grocery orders and accounting for a tenth of e-retail spending in 2024, according to a report by Flipkart and Bain & Company.
With its promise of deliveries in under 30 minutes, Q-commerce is growing at a blistering pace and is set to expand at over 40 per cent annually through 2030, driven by category diversification, geographic expansion, and wider customer adoption.
“The meteoric rise of Q-commerce is one of the most defining shifts in India’s e-retail market over the last two years,” the report stated. Unlike global markets where profitability remains a challenge, Indian Q-commerce players have scaled profitably, thanks to high population density and the widespread presence of low-rent dark stores.
What started with grocery deliveries has rapidly expanded – 15-20 per cent of Q-commerce’s gross merchandise value (GMV) now comes from electronics, apparel, mobile phones, and general merchandise. While the top six metros still dominate in terms of GMV, expansion into smaller cities is adding momentum.
Supply chain costs cut
Q-commerce players have steadily improved unit economics by increasing order values, cutting supply chain costs, and boosting gross margins through direct sourcing and monetisation strategies like advertising and platform fees.
“To sustain profitable growth, companies must refine their business models for markets beyond major metros, manage rising competition, and optimise supply chains as the market evolves into a ‘two-speed proposition’- delivering select products in under 15 minutes and a broader assortment within an hour,” the report suggested.
The Flipkart-Bain report, How India Shops Online 2025, highlighted that India has emerged as the world’s third-largest retail market in 2024. The country’s e-retail sector has surged to nearly $60 billion in GMV, with the second-largest online shopper base globally.
However, private consumption stress slowed e-retail growth in 2024 to 10-12 per cent, down from historical highs of 20 per cent. A strong rebound is expected from the festive period of 2025, with the sector projected to grow beyond 18 per cent annually over the next six years, reaching $170-$190 billion in GMV by 2030 -when nearly one in every ten retail dollars will be spent online.
