Indian startups spent years getting consumers accustomed to having groceries and everyday goods delivered within minutes. Now Walmart-owned Flipkart is rapidly closing the gap with those quick-commerce pioneers, as global rival Amazon mounts its own push into instant delivery.

Flipkart Minutes, which debuted in August 2024 as the e-commerce giant’s foray into quick commerce, is now delivering 1.1 million to 1.2 million orders a day, up from about 390,000 to 400,000 in November, people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. That puts the two-year-old service close to Swiggy’s Instamart, which is delivering about 1.4 million orders a day, according to a person familiar with its operations.

The gap is notable as Flipkart is a relative latecomer to a market whose top ranks have been dominated by Instamart, Blinkit, and Zepto. Food-delivery giant Swiggy launched Instamart in 2020 and Zepto arrived the following year, both during the pandemic, while Blinkit traces its roots to online grocery platform Grofers, founded in 2013. The three have since established themselves as India’s top quick-commerce players.

Blinkit continues to dominate the market with around 3.4 million to 3.6 million daily orders, followed by Zepto at about 2.4 million to 2.6 million, per recent estimates from market research firm Datum Intelligence. Flipkart is now rapidly narrowing the gap with Instamart, the smallest of the three established leaders by order volume.

Instamart still has substantial scale. Earlier this month, Swiggy said the quick commerce service has more than 14 million monthly transacting users and operates over 1,200 dark stores across over 130 cities. The company has also been narrowing Instamart’s contribution-margin losses, with more than 45% of its dark-store network now contribution-margin positive.

Nonetheless, Flipkart has fueled that growth with an aggressive expansion of its delivery infrastructure. Minutes now operates about 1,020 to 1,050 micro-fulfillment centers — essentially small warehouses located close to customers specially to handle quick deliveries — up from 600 in January and about 340 a year ago, one of the sources told TechCrunch. The company is adding around 100 such facilities a month, the source said, aiming to have 1,500 by the end of 2026.

Flipkart’s advantage goes beyond adding dark stores. The company can tap an enormous pool of existing e-commerce customers it has already spent years and billions of dollars acquiring, giving Minutes a ready audience for faster deliveries, Satish Meena, an adviser at Datum Intelligence, told TechCrunch.

“Flipkart is already a serious player,” Meena said. “Once you open 1,000 dark stores and [are] doing a million orders per day, it’s serious enough.”

Minutes is also seeing customers return and shop more frequently. About 65% to 70% of customers making purchases on the service each month are repeat buyers, while transactions per customer have increased 50% to 60% from a year earlier, people familiar with the matter said.

Those customers are spending an average of about ₹400 to ₹500 (about $4.20–$5.20) per order, with fruits and vegetables, staples, dairy, and meat among the fast-growing categories, the sources said. Flipkart is also expanding its selection of higher-end gourmet products, including organic and artisanal items, as it looks to capture more of customers’ spending on Minutes.

Even as Minutes has expanded, its average delivery time has fallen to about 11 minutes, from 13 minutes a year ago, one of the sources told TechCrunch.

A battle for India’s shoppers

Flipkart’s growth comes as quick commerce takes a bigger role in how Indians shop online, even as broader consumer demand has shown signs of weakness. In a recent report, Bernstein analysts said while the country’s consumption growth softened in July, a shift toward quick commerce and e-commerce continued, with quick-commerce platforms recording healthy growth in monthly active users.

Similar to Flipkart, Amazon is striving to gain its share in the Indian quick-commerce market. The Seattle-based company has been expanding Amazon Now, its quick-commerce service, as it seeks to bring the instant-delivery model to its existing e-commerce customer base.

During CEO Andy Jassy’s visit to India in June, Amazon stated that Now became its fastest-growing business in India, with orders doubling every quarter since launch. The company also laid out plans to take the service to more than 300 cities and set up a network of more than 1,000 micro-fulfilment centers, alongside larger facilities aimed at expanding the range of products it can deliver within minutes.

Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, Zepto, and Blinkit parent Eternal did not respond to requests for comment.

The quick commerce expansion is increasingly defensive as well as offensive for both Flipkart and Amazon, Meena told TechCrunch. As consumers grow accustomed to receiving certain purchases almost immediately, the e-commerce giants risk losing those transactions to specialist quick-commerce platforms if they cannot offer comparable speed.

“Can you go back to scheduled delivery now in grocery? No,” Meena said. “You will not go back.”

By Sumaila Ogbaje

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) says troops rescued at least 59 kidnapped victims and neutralised 11 terrorists during operations nationwide between Aug. 14 and Aug. 20.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Michael Onoja, said this in a statement on Saturday, on the military’s operational activities across the country during the period.

Onoja said the troops of Operation HADIN KAI rescued eight kidnapped victims during the week in the North East.

He said troops also rescued three victims from Gwamnare Forest in Bauchi and one 63-year-old Cameroonian national abducted along the Gwoza-Cameroon axis.

According to him, troops also neutralised three terrorists, recovered weapons and other war materiel, while 47 family members of terrorists and six fighters surrendered to troops in Borno.

In the North-West, Onoja said the troops of Operation FANSAN YAMMA rescued 28 abducted persons across Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto states between Aug. 17 and Aug. 19.

He said the troops also neutralised four terrorists, arrested an explosives courier and other suspected terrorist collaborators, and recovered weapons, ammunition, motorcycles and cash.

He said that the operation further led to the arrest of six suspected informants linked to the abduction of an immigration officer’s family and staff and students of Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda.

“In the North-Central, troops of Operation WHIRL STROKE compelled kidnappers to release 13 victims, comprising two men, five women and six children, in Kogi state.

“The troops also neutralised two suspected criminals, arrested an arms courier and recovered an AK-47 rifle, ammunition and other weapons during separate operations in Taraba and Benue.

“Similarly, troops of Operation ENDURING PEACE recovered several firearms, fabricated rifles, Dane guns and ammunition during a raid on suspected criminals in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau.

“In Kwara, troops of Operation SAVANNAH SHIELD neutralised one terrorist and recovered an AK-47 rifle, while seven kidnap victims were rescued during a night patrol in Patigi Local Government Area,” he said.

Onoja said that troops of Operation DELTA SAFE arrested suspected kidnappers and an arms trafficker, recovering seven locally made pistols, ammunition and a camouflage vest in the South-South.

He said that troops also disrupted three illegal refining sites in Rivers, recovering about 85,000 litres of products suspected to be illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil.

The defence spokesman said the troops of Operation UDO KA dismantled suspected secessionist camps, recovered weapons and safely cleared multiple improvised explosive devices across Imo, Anambra and Abia in the South-East.

He said the troops also dismantled an illegal bunkering site in Abia, arrested suspects and recovered suspected stolen Automotive Gas Oil, motorcycles and a vehicle.

“On Aug. 20, troops conducting clearance operations towards “Mother Valley” in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra cleared 11 IEDs.

“Meanwhile, the Nigerian Navy commissioned a solar-powered water project for residents of Ward F2 in Surulere, Lagos, as part of the AFN’s civil-military cooperation initiatives,” he said.

Onoja said the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, commended troops for their sustained successes in rescuing abducted citizens, neutralising terrorists and degrading criminal networks.

He said that Oluyede also commended the synergy between the military, other security agencies and local security groups, while urging Nigerians and community leaders to continue providing useful information to troops.

“He also appreciated the media for its professionalism and balanced reportage of military operations, assuring Nigerians that the military will sustain the tempo of operations until peace and security are restored nationwide,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Kadiri Abdulrahman