E-commerce firms focusing on quick deliveries this festival season

The e-commerce industry is poised for a 35 per cent surge in sales during the upcoming festive season, according to a TeamLease report

Quick commerce may steal a march on traditional e-commerce players this festival season.

The e-commerce industry is poised to witness a 35 per cent surge in sales this festival season, marking a substantial increase from the previous year, according to a TeamLease report.

To meet the anticipated demand, e-commerce firms are planning to hire additional personnel to ensure smooth operations and on-time deliveries during festival rush. It reflects the sector’s robust expansion and the rising consumer confidence in online shopping.

The quick commerce segment has heated up with Flipkart’s launch of ‘Minutes’. Ahead of its upcoming flagship sale event – Big Billion Days 2024 – in October, the firm is reportedly planning to open nearly 100 dark stores across top cities.

Blinkit has plans to reach the 2,000 dark store count by the end of 2026, from 639 currently. The company added as many as 113 dark stores in Q1FY25, and Blinkit is expected to launch a similar number in the September quarter as well.

In June, Zepto announced plans to reach 700 dark stores by March 2025, up from 350 currently. It would have to add roughly 80 stores every quarter to achieve this.

Delivery partners and logistics unicorns like Shiprocket, Ecom Express, and Xpressbees, are also bolstering infrastructure to cater to fast deliveries.

For instance, Shiprocket has launched Shiprocket Quick in key cities, including Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Kerala, Hyderabad, and Pune. The service will be launched in multiple cities in the next 30 days.

“Shiprocket Quick is designed to meet the growing demand for faster deliveries, providing a tailored solution for local merchants who wish to offer expedited shipping options,” said Saahil Goel, CEO and MD, Shiprocket.

The company has also partnered with several hyperlocal logistics platforms such as Porter, Ola, Borzo, Rapido, and Shadowfax to aggregate and optimise delivery fleets, for faster and more efficient deliveries.

Logistics unicorn Ecom Express, introduced same-day and next-day delivery services in 10 major Indian metros in February this year.

 “We expect (quick commerce) to experience substantial expansion during the festive season and beyond… Our infrastructure supports effective inventory management for 7-15 day’s stock for the quick commerce businesses,” said Vishwachetan Nadamani, chief operating officer, Ecom Express.

“This year, we have seen a significant increase in activity (in quick commerce), with the number of inquiries doubling majorly for the electronic goods, mobiles segment. The market itself has grown approximately 45 per cent year over year,” said Harshal Bhoi, chief business officer, Xpressbees.

Meanwhile, Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brands are looking to boost their sales by reaching customers quicker.

Gifting platform FNP (Ferns N Petals), has curated a special range of products specifically for quick commerce, in partnership with the top companies.

“Our focus on quick commerce has significantly increased over the past year. We are confident that our enhanced focus will drive substantial sales growth during the festive season,” said Avi Kumar, chief marketing officer of gifting platform FNP (Ferns N Petals).

Logistics major Delhivery announced a new service whereby the company plans to provide a network of shared dark stores to e-commerce companies for rapid same-day deliveries, in a bid to address the needs of D2C brands.

“We will provide dark stores and we will also provide delivery services from those dark stores to the extent that e-commerce companies want to use them on a multi-tenant basis, to help them make that cost variable in nature,” said Sahil Barua, CEO of Delhivery, in the recent earnings call.

Delhivery already has “mother warehouses” for quick commerce, where it provides fulfilment services from these warehouses to dark stores. The new service, which Barua termed ‘Rapid Commerce’, will also connect the last mile.

A quick but small bite

According to human resource firm TeamLease Digital, there has been a 50 per cent increase in the gig worker hiring in quick commerce between 2022 and 2024.

 “The current gig worker headcount is estimated at 2.5 million, which is a 38 per cent increase from last year. This number is expected to grow further, given that most of these quick commerce companies plan to add more dark stores to the  portfolio,” said Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital.

While a majority of these gig roles (close to 66-70 per cent) will be delivery partners, the remaining can be attributed to warehouse/dark store roles like pickers, and packers.

Despite the apparent surge in gig roles, hiring in the nascent quick commerce space will make up a small portion of the much larger e-commerce sector.

Stepping up
 

Flipkart plans to open nearly 100 dark stores across top cities
 

Blinkit has plans to reach the 2,000 dark store count by the end of 2026, from its current 639 stores
 

In June, Zepto announced plans to reach 700 dark stores by March 2025, up from 350 currently 
 

Shiprocket has launched Shiprocket Quick in key cities
 

Ecom Express introduced same-day and next-day delivery services in 10 major metro cities in February this year
 

Delhivery plans to provide a network of shared dark stores to e-commerce companies for rapid same-day deliveries