A gig worker waits to pick an order outside a Swiggy's grocery warehouse at a market area in New Delhi. For representational purposes.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
Bengaluru: Quick commerce platform Instamart on Monday said it took only 60 seconds to deliver items such as mixer grinder, handheld gun massager, earbuds, tawas and bedsheets to cities such as Noida, Delhi, Aurangabad, Lucknow and Trivandrum.
Its ‘Quick India Movement’ sale (QIM) is going on till September 28 on the Swiggy and Instamart apps. According to the platform, on the first day, within the first hour, the platform traffic surged five-fold and overall orders crossed highest-ever volumes by the end of the day, reflecting unprecedented consumer excitement to get deals in minutes.
With the launch of the new iPhone 17 Series, the platform said ‘iPhone’ topped search charts, hitting its highest-ever search levels. The platform is delivering the iPhone 17 in select locations. For phones, Instamart saw nearly 20x growth in orders within the first two hours of the sale. In the electronics category, earbuds witnessed a 30x surge in just two hours of launch.
Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai together accounted for a significant share of Day 1 sales. Interestingly, tier-2 cities delivered growth in orders when compared with regular days.
Bathinda (18x), Ludhiana (15x), Kota (12x), Meerut (12x), and Amritsar (12x) witnessed a significant growth - led by earbuds, energy drinks, and dishwash products.
Udaipur led as the fastest city for 10-minute deliveries, followed by Panipat, Goa, Thrissur, Madurai, Meerut, Palakkad, and Kanchipuram.
The platform also said that home essentials saw a massive surge in demand. In the first two hours of the sale going live, Bedsheets were the most snagged item in 124 cities, while Yoga Mats grew 100x and were snapped up in 62 cities.
All top ecommerce companies have announced their festive sales. Recently, Redseer in its report said quick commerce is projected to grow at about 150 per cent y-o-y (or even more) during the festive period.
Also, hiring during the festive period is up by 20–25 per cent compared to last year. Due to demand for quick deliveries, delivery roles such as delivery riders and logistics coordinators are always most sought after.
Commenting on festive hiring, Sachin Alug, CEO, NLB Services said, “Over 35 per cent of businesses are now rethinking festive hiring as a component of their long-term talent strategy. We’re seeing companies invest in pre-festive skilling initiatives, revisit their workforce diversity goals, and increasingly view seasonal demand as a testing ground for agile workforce models.”
“While metros like Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi continue to lead in demand by volume, the real growth momentum is clearly shifting to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities—where talent supply is strong, operational costs are lower, and attrition rates remain minimal,” he added.