Lightning Fast Delivery: Indian speed trading apps are revolutionizing online shopping

“I know Amazon Fresh delivers in about two hours, but Blinkit’s (delivery within) 10 minutes is just amazing,” said Advani, a dentist and mother of two. “I don’t have to plan meals in advance or be super organized. If I’m missing an ingredient, it will be available within minutes. It reduces my stress.”

While some industry players were initially skeptical about the new delivery model, consumers have welcomed the apps due to their ease of use and convenience.

There is no minimum spending amount – a customer can, for example, buy one avocado and have it delivered to their door – and with other benefits such as discounts on large orders and greater selection, these apps have the potential to disrupt the apple cart of traditional retail companies.

One of the pioneers of the so-called India’s fast commerce industry is Swiggy, which started as a food delivery aggregator and later launched Instamart in 2020.

The company said it has noticed more older people using the app over the past year or two, with many of them doing a large portion of their grocery shopping through the app, not just last-minute purchases.

Instamart, Blinkit and Zepto, another delivery service, have expanded their offerings beyond groceries to other categories such as electronic devices, toys, personal care, stationery, cleaning products and kitchenware.

The online shopping revolution has created thousands of delivery drivers who roam around major Indian cities on small electric scooters, many made by manufacturer Yulu, to make deliveries.

Instamart worker Alok* said he usually spends about 14-15 hours on the road and earns about 30,000 rupees ($360) a month.

“But what I like is the flexibility. If I don’t mind working fewer hours and earning less, that’s up to me. There’s no pressure.”

But for Blinkit employee Davinder*, the constant pressure to deliver products to customers on time can be tiring.

“Sometimes I’m a few minutes late because of traffic jams or the wrong address, and the customers get angry. Why can’t they wait? Is popcorn a matter of life and death?”

Arvind Singhal, chairman and managing director of consulting firm Technopak, called the high-speed trading model “revolutionary.”

It combines available cheap labor, advanced analytics and the high population density of major Indian cities to enable consumers to purchase goods stored in warehouses within a 3 km radius.

“They use advanced analytics to predict purchasing patterns to keep inventories low. They know whether more orders are likely to come in at a particular time of day and what the shopping habits of consumers are like,” Singhal said.

Artificial intelligence is used to plan the best routes for delivery drivers and optimize their deployment, and apps such as Instamart and Blinkit can source labor from specialized labor supply companies, he added.

“Nowhere else in the world can you order something for, say, $5 and have it delivered to your doorstep for just over $5 within minutes.”

It is India’s unique market conditions that have enabled this business model to succeed, Singhal said, and demand for instant delivery services is only set to increase.

According to Deloitte India, the Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow from $70 billion in 2022 to $300 billion in 2030.

The number of people shopping online in the country will also increase, from 250 million in 2023 to about 500 million to 600 million in 2030, according to Invest India, the country’s investment promotion agency.

Singhal predicts that India’s estimated 11 million small shopkeepers will see their sales decline with the advent of instant delivery services.

Ashish Verma, owner of a grocery store called Verma Stores in New Friends Colony in south Delhi, said the apps have already attacked his business.

“We survived Amazon only to face another challenge,” he said.

“I can’t compete on price with instant delivery apps. I only buy enough goods to supply my neighborhood, they buy huge quantities for the entire city, so suppliers offer them lower prices.”

*Names changed at the request of the interviewees