Multiple players can co-exist in Quick Commerce India's retail market: Report

New Delhi [India], January 6 (ANI): India's Quick Commerce retail market is on a remarkable growth trajectory. A report by Anand Rathi suggests that multiple player can co-exist in India's Quick Commerce retail market.
The retail market in India stood at Rs 76trn - 78trn in 2023 and is expected to reach to Rs 116trn-124trn by 2028. Of this, Quick Commerce's contribution is expected to increase from 0.3 per cent (Rs 224bn) in 2023 to 2-3 per cent (Rs 2320bn-4240bn) in 2028, expanding at a CAGR of 60- 80 per cent.
Quick Commerce in India is changing in both the supply side and delivery side. In supply side platforms are expanding their offerings to include new categories, along with tech-led distribution, which helps in planning and forecasting for the brands.
The Delivery side, the pace of delivery at lower prices, compared to Kirana stores is in focus on most of the platforms. Overall, Quick Commerce is not only providing consumers convenience but also creating a habit zone. This strategy is attracting buyers and would continue to attract consumers, amid increasingly busy and digitally evolving lifestyles.
Further, with increased online penetration, housewives and senior citizens are also getting attracted to QuickCommerce for their purchases.
Over 90 per cent of the current Quick Commerce contribution is coming from the top eight cities (metros and tier-1 cities) due to mid-high-income households.
Now all the players have started expanding to Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities as well. This shows that the companies are focusing on undiscovered markets beyond the top eight cities to tap into its growth potential and cater to value buyers.
Blinkit scaled its presence to 45-50 cities in last two years, with its store count at 791 in Q2 FY25. New stores are now being opened in cities like Kochi, Ajmer, Alwar, Nagpur, Vishakhapatnam, along with the latest openings in Lonavala, Khandala and Hisar. The target is to reach 1,000+ stores by end FY25 and 2,000 by end CY26.
Instamart currently has a presence in 54 cities with the target of going to 75 cities. They increased their dark stores count from 523 in FY24 to 609 in Q2 FY25 with an aim to reach 1000 dark stores by FY25 end.
Zepto has 650 dark stores (75 per cent in top 10 metro cities) as of Dec'24 from 340 in FY24. It is seeing a positive traction from its stores in the Tier 2 cities like Nashik, Jaipur & Chandigarh which are hitting 1000 order per day.
Flipkart Minutes is only present in 3 cities, Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. It currently has 100 dark stores with plans to penetrate more in Tier 1 cities and Metros.
Companies are expanding their assortments from groceries and FMCG products to toys, gaming, luggage, sports, home improvement, electronic items, etc.
They are also looking to explore and test returns/exchanges for apparel, footwear and lifestyle products. It will be an expansion from food to everything commerce. (ANI)