Athira Sethu
Kochi, 13 February 2025
Amazon has started rolling out its 10-minute delivery service, Amazon Now, to a few Bengaluru neighbourhoods beyond the initial employee-only pilot. Additional locations are to be added in the coming weeks, reported Economic Times.
Internally known as ‘Tez’, Amazon is prioritising the inclusion of products from beauty, home and kitchen categories to its service as part of its strategy to expand rapidly in the fast delivery space.
Although Amazon joined the market later than others, they have been preparing for months. Their competition is growing, and the quick commerce industry is expected to expand from $21 billion to $31 billion by 2027, as per a report by Citi Research. This expansion indicates that the number of products available for 10-15 minute deliveries is increasing, with quick commerce companies now selling over 20,000 products.
Amazon Now’s foray is in sync with Flipkart ramping up its own delivery network, Minutes, which expanded from 120-150 stores to a target of 500-550 stores by the time it hosted its Big Billion Days sale this year. Flipkart is also launching products of higher value such as electronics, appliances, and smartphones for instant delivery, and even medicines via a tie-up with PharmEasy.
In this fast-expanding market, Swiggy Instamart is experiencing increased competition from Zomato’s Blinkit and Zepto, both of which are competing to hold on to their spots. While Swiggy has expanded its stores, Blinkit has beaten Swiggy with over 1,000 stores, while Swiggy boasts over 800.
As per Citi Research, Blinkit enjoys the biggest market share of 41%, followed by Swiggy at 23%. Zepto, too, has grown very fast and has witnessed an increase in its market share.
In spite of the expansion in the industry, Citi pointed to concerns regarding the profitability of quick commerce firms since they are focusing on acquiring market share rather than short-term profit. The report indicates that Swiggy will concentrate on expanding its quick commerce business up to FY26 in order to catch up with peers.
Looking at sales numbers, Blinkit has a gross sales run rate of $3.7 billion, Zepto has $3 billion, and Swiggy Instamart is at $1.8 billion.
A report from Bofa Securities forecasts continued competition and growth in the quick commerce sector over the next three to six months, predicting the market could grow to $31 billion by FY27, making up 2.4% of India’s retail market.
