Indians increasingly turning to quick commerce for daily necessities: Report

Mainstream retailers such as Reliance Retail and Spencer’s Retail have recognized this shift in consumer behavior and are focusing on expediting online orders and reducing delivery times.

Indians are increasingly purchasing daily necessities and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) more frequently, driven by a growing trend of seeking instant gratification through burgeoning quick commerce, according to a report by The Economic Times.

Mainstream retailers such as Reliance Retail and Spencer’s Retail have recognized this shift in consumer behavior and are focusing on expediting online orders and reducing delivery times. E-commerce giant Amazon is accelerating its order turnaround, while rival Flipkart has launched its quick commerce service, Flipkart Minutes.

According to data from research firm Kantar, released this month and cited by ET, Indians are now shopping for FMCG products 156 times a year — or once every 56 hours. This is a significant increase from the 80-90 times recorded around five years ago. Over the past year, the number of FMCG packs purchased per quarter ranged between 199 and 202, compared to 163-179 two years ago.

“The size of the monthly grocery shopping basket is decreasing annually as consumers opt for need-based purchases due to the convenience of quick commerce and other e-commerce platforms reducing their delivery times,” said Krishnarao Buddha, senior category head for marketing at Parle Products. He noted a 15-20 percent annual increase in FMCG shopping trips or orders, attributing this to need-based consumption habits and the challenge of limited storage space in smaller homes in metropolitan and large cities.

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Amazon has introduced same-day grocery delivery, while Flipkart has soft-launched Flipkart Minutes. These services are competing in a market currently dominated by Zomato’s Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket’s BBNow, and Zepto. Both Reliance Retail and Spencer’s Retail are enhancing their order fulfillment speeds.

Dinesh Taluja, Reliance Retail’s chief financial officer, announced that the country’s largest retail chain plans to expand significantly into hyperlocal deliveries, encompassing not just groceries but other products as well. Last month, Reliance launched its hyperlocal venture through the JioMart shopping app, promising grocery deliveries within 45-60 minutes.

“We're leveraging our hyperlocal presence for customer acquisition and targeting them for grocery and cross-selling other categories through targeted interventions,” Taluja explained. “We have a significant advantage with our pan-India store network compared to other online players who spend heavily on customer acquisition.”

Spencer’s Retail chief executive Anuj Singh recently told analysts that consumers now expect their planned online purchases to be delivered within an hour. The retail chain has been offering this express delivery service in Kolkata for the past nine months, resulting in a 30% increase in e-commerce orders. Spencer's has since expanded the service to Uttar Pradesh, including Varanasi and Lucknow, with plans to extend it to other states.

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