Quick commerce is already a $3.5 billion market and is projected to grow at over 40 per cent CAGR for the next 4-5 years to reach close to $9 billion by 2028. Quick commerce, a sub-class of e-commerce, has benefitted from rising shopping frequency and extra commercial time post orders. Loyal quick commerce consumers shop on an average of 10-12 times a month, purchasing mostly groceries while products within beauty & personal care, household care, kitchen appliances, and gifting items are gradually gaining traction. Unlike the browsing-heavy nature of platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, quick commerce consumers exhibit a distinct behaviour – they often know exactly what they want. Here are key trends in the quick commerce space, as listed by Elara Capital…
Targeted purchases > category exploration
Quick commerce consumers usually go for a direct product search as against the e-commerce users – it forms 40 per cent of searches on quick commerce; 60 per cent are via category exploration, sharply distinct to e-commerce platforms, stated the analysis report by Elara Capital. For example, search volumes for Lay’s chips are higher than for the Chips category. This is similar for other categories also, underscoring a use case for targeted purchase on quick commerce platforms. “Data-backed micro understanding of consumers’ habits within the operating area of the dark store would be essential for a healthy throughput per store/ lower payback period. Right assortments at the right price shall separate the performance of two dark stores in the same area. Micro level data intelligence is crucial, especially to maintain robust SSSG and breakeven the delivery costs,” the brokerage firm stated.
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Ad revenue
Ad income is a big incremental lever for quick commerce platforms than traditional retail that relies solely on trade commission. “Per our checks, ad revenue ARR for three major QC platforms together would have already reached Rs 30-35 billion, half of Amazon India’s FY24 ad revenue (Rs 67 billion). Blinkit’s share is 45 per cent, Zepto’s 35 per cent and Instamart’s 20 per cent,” Elara Capital stated. This is noteworthy given that per Redseer analysis, quick commerce shoppers form just around 8 per cent (18 million in CY23) of online commerce users (excluding quick commerce at 230 million).
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