Q-commerce is sacheting purchases, Marketing and Advertising News, ET BrandEquity

India is one of the fastest growing high-speed trade markets in the world. E-commerce itself is seen as convenient around the world, but Q-commerce is giving e-commerce a run for its money in India. I see some cultural and infrastructural reasons for Q-commerce to flourish.

Indians are impatient. Even if they place an order on e-commerce, Indians expect delivery within 2 hours. Moreover, Indians return 37 percent of what they order, second only to the UAE. Our time gap between desires and consumption decreases. We show cultural impatience in several ways – jumping traffic lights, jumping queues, making a U-turn in the middle of the road if we see slow traffic, finding a connection to speed up results, and greasing our palms to get moving. Indians are also most likely to search for the double tick on Whatsapp.

Indians are forgetful. Indians regularly forget their keys, wallets, cell phones and sunglasses in taxis, according to a recent survey by a ride-sharing platform. Delhi is the most forgetful city and Indians tend to forget more between 7 pm and 9 pm. Indians are also more forgetful during and around the festive season. Every household forgets to stock up on what they need. Q-commerce helps Indians seize the opportunity to gift without embarrassment.

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Indians love discounts. On an average, 80 percent or more of Indians want a discount on every purchase. It is one of the highest in the world. Consumers in India, Egypt and Turkey are the three best negotiators. Haggling on one level is about managing your budget, on another it shows how you outsmarted the seller. Everything in Q-commerce revolves around opportunities.

The weather is Q-commerce’s greatest ally. Every rainy day, every hot day makes households stay at home and order from Q-commerce. Dust and pollution problems in every crowded city make it possible for people to shop at home. In most cities, public transportation is not reliable. The situation will only worsen in this decade, which represents an opportunity for Q-commerce.

India has high population density in all its major cities. This enables quick and effective order processing. Mumbai ranks 5th in the world’s list of densely populated cities, close to Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore. Among the tier 2 cities, Asansol and Muzaffarnagar are closer to Delhi.

Affluent India is increasingly experimenting with fruits, branded foods, etc. This individual choice drives the housewife towards Q-commerce. A friend’s 6-year-old daughter came to stay with us for a week. One day she wanted cherries for breakfast, another day she was reserved for pancakes, the third day for dosa and so on. When each family member has a different choice, then the choice and convenience of Q-commerce wins. The Indian housewife has always preferred fresh food over packaged food and Q-commerce allows her to choose fresh fruits and vegetables. More working women also lead to increased use of Q-commerce as they limit their visits to retail stores only to make significant purchases.

The Indian housewife is productivity conscious. Q-commerce helps her not to fill her pantry and buy only when she needs something. Q-commerce is therefore space productivity and consumption productivity in one.

All these factors do not automatically mean a profitable business. The business has scale, but its profitability will be questioned. The supplier attrition is 20 percent per month. This effectively means that you have a new set of delivery agents every five months! The average cost of transporting a kilogram in India is over INR 60. The average bill size is around INR 600, so finding a viable business model will be a recurring theme.

That said, Q-commerce is about bagging your purchases.