Quick was successfully launched in Bengaluru in 2020 as the e-commerce giant tested the waters for a quicker grocery delivery service. Today, Bengaluru seems to be the testing ground for another idea from one of India's most famous startups.
According to reports in the Economic Times, Flipkart Quick has been trialling a new 45 minute delivery, and this service will be ramped up to other cities by next month. This seems to be in line with comments made by Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy in an interview to ET last month where he said that the organisation doesn't believe that 10-20 minute deliveries are right for the Indian market.
In the interview, Krishnamurthy had said, “we would look at a more sustainable business which offers it [grocery delivery] in 30-45 minutes with good value and selection. That is the way we look at the convenience business, rather than force-fitting a consumer need which is actually not there in the market.”
Companies like Swiggy's Instamart, Reliance-backed , Zomato-backed , and all seem to disagree with this assessment as they are fighting to be the fastest to the doorstep. Instamart and Zepto even operate dark stores where they stock 1,000-3,000 different products that can be delivered within 15-20 minutes.
With the longer delivery time, Flipkart Quick can offer a wider range of goods, which they will hope is a differentiator.
While Flipkart has so far denied to comment on the story, they will be up against well-funded competitors. seems to have allocated $500 million for BlinkIt, while has settled upon $700 million for Instamart and Zepto raised $160 million last year.
Flipkart Quick currently operates in 14 cities, but has ambitions to be in over 200 cities this year.
Edited by Rajiv Bhuva