Will the revised QC delivery timelines impact the larger retail eco-system?

In an industry where consumer behaviour and lifestyle changes can cause shifts in the whole business eco-system, will the latest move by quick commerce players to drop the delivery timeline from their tagline make a difference?  And does it mean anything for the retail eco-system as a whole?   

Between the last day of last year and the second week of this year, a lot seems to have happened in the context of India’s apparently booming quick commerce (QC) industry. News media has been going on an overdrive hailing it as a big step in regulating delivery models and working conditions.

In a nutshell, this is what happened. Following a protest by Gig workers serving QC companies, the government appealed to leading QC players such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart to remove their popular “10-min” delivery as it placed undue pressure on the delivery workers, affecting their safety. Blinkit in fact was the first to comply, revising its key tagline from “10,000+ products delivered in 10 minutes” to “30,000 products delivered at your doorstep”. The others have reportedly followed suit.

Will revising delivery timeline really make a difference?

On the surface of it, merely changing the timeline tagline may not change much because the essence of quick commerce is that it is…well.. quick! While delivery workers may be spared of the 10-minute delivery pressure, they are still under pressure to deliver quickly and it remains to be seen how much of their other demands with respect to pay and other working conditions are being fulfilled.

Also, in the consumer mind, a Blinkit or a Zepto or a Swiggy Instamart is associated with instant gratification. Someone used to the comfort of having their purchases delivered immediately at the doorstep with just a click, will not mind waiting another 10 minutes.

So, what’s the competitive edge now? 

But the change of timeline is one aspect, among others, that could have ramifications for the QC industry and for the retail eco-system as a whole.

The first question is, in the absence of a clearly defined timeline edge, are QC brands now set to compete on a wider ground with many more players in the fray? Remember it’s not just the early movers such as Zepto, Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart who are dominating the space. Large e-commerce players such as Flipkart , Amazon and Reliance entered the q-comm party, launching services such as Flipkart Minutes, Amazon Now and JioMart respectively.

JioMart seems to be already betting big on its QC business, announcing that it is India’s second largest QC player by order volume. According to reports, JioMart reached a daily order run rate of 1.6 million by end of December 2025, while Blinkit’s was 2.4 million orders per day during July -September quarter and Swiggy Instamart’s was 1.1 million orders.

Besides, Amazon Now doesn’t even charge a delivery fee while still maintaining an 8 -10 minute delivery timeline. In a price sensitive market like India, this makes a big difference. Other major QC players have in fact begun to go easy on their delivery charges, hoping to compete better.

Shifting QC dynamics

These moves are inevitable for an industry that came into the limelight on the back of a digital wave during the pandemic and has since continued to ride on a habit that many urban, convenience/speed/indulgence-loving Indians have quickly gotten used to.

The quick commerce industry was estimated around $3.05 - $7 billion in 2024, with projections reaching $5.38 billion to over $9 billion by 2029, with some reports pegging its current worth at $11.5 billion. With more players joining the fray, the QC industry dynamics are surely likely to shift, with the delivery timeline revision being another change catalyst

Tech savvy kiranas and small retailers - a force to reckon with?

So even as the QC space sees tighter competition and shifting dynamics, the big question is what all of this means for India’s traditional retail – the country’s economic back bone – and for brick and mortar retail at large?

According to a Deloitte and FICCI report released last year, India’s retail industry was valued at US$1.06 trillion in 2024 and is projected to nearly double to US$1.93 trillion by 2030 at a 10 percent CAGR. It adds that online retail in India will grow from US$75 billion in 2024 to US$260 billion by 2030, expanding its share from 7 percent to 14 percent of total retail and Tier II and III cities now account for over 60 percent of all ecommerce transactions in India.

Well, if there’s one obvious fact about India, it is that it’s a market big enough for all to co-exist. Added to it is the fact that India’s brick and mortar retail is very resilient and adaptable too, as the post Covid phase showed us.

Remember, even as question mark loomed large over the future of India’s GT (including kiranas) with FMCG majors reducing this offline shelf space and increasing their focus on QC, a whole new eco-system emerged, offering digital capability to small retailers and kirana store owners.

First there was the Government initiative called ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), started specifically by the DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) with the stated aim of creating an open, democratized e-commerce. According to the ONDC website, more than 12 million sellers earn their livelihood in India by selling or reselling products and services. Kiko Live, a SaaS solution for neighbourhood stores and a Seller Network Participant on ONDC Network, announced back in 2024 that it had successfully unlocked a major milestone for local kirana stores and retailers on the back of ONDC Network by processing over 100,000 total orders on the ONDC Network. 

Most recently, there was the quiet launch of ‘Grojet’, a retail enablement platform that has announced its mission to “rescue India's traditional kirana stores from the brink of obsolescence”. An initiative of Daffodils Enterprises, Groje says that instead of building 'dark stores' that compete with local merchants, it provides the digital backbone for kiranas to fight back. The platform statedly provides local retailers with digital discovery, smart inventory, and margin protection through efficiency rather than unsustainable price-cutting.

There are many other players in the retail tech space with the stated mission of empowering kiranas and small retailers with the right digital solutions to help them compete on equal footing with the growing presence of QC players.

Evolving roles for brick & mortar stores

On the other side, even as QC penetrated categories beyond essentials and groceries, with more and more Indians not thinking twice before ordering a piece of jewellery, a gift, bottle of perfume or a home décor item on QC platforms, the brick and mortar store space has been quietly evolving, necessitated by new shopper behaviour, while leveraging omnichannel capabilities and immersive technologies to create spaces that are not just transactional, but experiential. This means stores are designed as community spaces that don’t just nudge aspirations but lend social meaning to those aspirations too - spaces that generate awareness and drive social interactions. This entails a distinct purpose for physical stores even in a dynamically changed shopping eco-system.

So, going back to the matter of QC and the revised delivery timelines, while it may not mean much in the immediate context, it has the potential to throw into momentum changes that are inevitable in the long run.