Flipkart set to foray into quick commerce in 6-8 weeks: Sources

Bengaluru: Walmart-backed e-commerce major Flipkart is expected to launch its own quick commerce service within the next six-eight weeks, sources privy to details of the plans told DH, a move which will put the player in direct competition with the likes of Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto and others.

The company is currently moving employees internally to constitute a team for the latest initiative, said a person aware of the developments. In light of a strict mandate within the organisation barring employees from sharing information with the media, the sources requested anonymity.

The quick commerce space in India is currently dominated by a trio of Zomato’s Blinkit, Swiggy’s Instamart and later entrant Zepto. These players have over time steadily expanded their offerings, with Zepto crowned last year’s first unicorn in August, 2023.

In 2020, Flipkart had launched hyperlocal service Flipkart Quick, which attempted to deliver electronics and groceries in a 90-minute timeframe. While this failed to gain sufficient traction, the company has ‘serious plans’ this time around, another source said. The new quick commerce initiative is likely to focus on grocery delivery.

When contacted, a Flipkart spokesperson in a statement said: “We are committed to meeting evolving customer expectations and delivering excellence in value, selection and speed, with more initiatives expected on this front in the coming months.” 

“We constantly work towards delivering a wide range of products to customers with speed. Over the past few months, we have made several investments to enhance our delivery capabilities, including adding same-day delivery in 20 cities,” the spokesperson added.

Flipkart earlier this year announced plans to roll out same day delivery across 20 cities. More recently, the ecomm major launched its own Unified Payments Interface (UPI) handle in collaboration with Axis Bank last week.

“Considering Flipkart's current strengths, one could expect it to gain a dominant position primarily on the back of a powerful product and service pricing strategy,”  Nirav Karkera, who heads research at financial services provider Fisdom, told DH.

Karkera said that Flipkart’s move towards quick commerce is aided by a variety of macros like rapid digital adoption, higher per capita income, increased propensity to consume and the overall demography graduating into a middle income-heavy one with consumption and convenience taking centre-stage. 

“Spillover effects can be expected to be seen in the hyperlocal delivery segment as quick-logistics players like Dunzo, Porter and similar seek to collaborate or compete in this fast-growing segment,” he said.