Indian startups spent years getting consumers used to receiving everyday groceries and products in a matter of minutes. Now Walmart-owned Flipkart is rapidly closing the gap on those fast-commerce pioneers, as global rival Amazon pushes its own push toward instant delivery.
Flipkart minutes, which debuted in August 2024 as the e-commerce giant’s foray into express commerce, it now delivers between 1.1 million and 1.2 million orders per day, up from about 390,000 to 400,000 in November, people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. This brings the service closer to two years old Instamart by Swiggywhich delivers about 1.4 million orders a day, according to a person familiar with its operations.
The gap is notable as Flipkart was a relatively latecomer to a market whose top spots have been dominated by Instamart, Blinkit and Zepto. Food delivery giant Swiggy launched Instamart in 2020 and Zepto came the following yearboth during the pandemic, while Blinkit trace your roots to online grocery platform Grofers, founded in 2013. Since then, the three have established themselves as India’s Top Fast Trade Players.
Blinkit continues to dominate the market with around 3.4 million to 3.6 million daily orders, followed by Zepto with around 2.4 million to 2.6 million, according to 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 saying The fast commerce service has over 14 million monthly transacting users and operates over 1,200 dark stores in over 130 cities. The company has also been reducing Instamart’s contribution margin losses, with more than 45% of its dark store network now with a positive contribution margin.
However, Flipkart has fueled that growth with an aggressive expansion of its delivery infrastructure. Minutes now operates between 1,020 and 1,050 micro-fulfillment centers (essentially small warehouses located near customers especially 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 about 100 such installations per month, the source said, with the goal of have 1,500 by the end of 2026.
Flipkart’s advantage goes beyond adding dark stores. The company can tap into a huge pool of existing e-commerce customers that it has already spent years and billions of dollars acquiring, giving Minutes an audience ready for faster delivery, Satish Meena, an advisor at Datum Intelligence, told TechCrunch.
“Flipkart is already a serious player,” Meena said. “Once you open 1,000 dark stores and [are] Making a million orders a day is pretty serious.”
Minutes also keeps customers coming back and buying more frequently. About 65% to 70% of customers who make purchases on the service each month are repeat buyers, while transactions per customer are up 50% to 60% from a year ago, people familiar with the matter said.
Those customers spend an average of 400 to 500 rupees ($4.20 to $5.20) per order, with fruits and vegetables, staples, dairy and meat among the fast-growing categories, sources said. Flipkart is also expanding its selection of high-end gourmet products, including organic and artisanal items, as it looks to capture a larger share of customer spending on Minutos.
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 Indian buyers
Flipkart’s growth comes as quick commerce takes on 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 that while the country’s consumption growth softened in July, a shift toward fast commerce and e-commerce continued, with fast commerce platforms posting healthy growth in monthly active users.
Like Flipkart, Amazon is striving to gain share in the Indian fast-commerce market. The Seattle-based company has been expanding Amazon Now, its quick commerce service, as it looks to bring the instant delivery model to its existing e-commerce customer base.
During CEO Andy Jassy’s visit to India in June, Amazon fixed that Now became its fastest-growing business in India, with orders doubling every quarter since its launch. The company also unveiled plans to bring the service to more than 300 cities and establish a network of more than 1,000 microfulfillment centers, along with larger facilities aimed at expanding the range of products it can deliver in minutes.
Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, Zepto and Blinkit parent Eternal did not respond to requests for comment.
The rapid expansion of commerce is increasingly defensive and offensive for both Flipkart and Amazon, Meena told TechCrunch. As consumers become accustomed to receiving certain purchases almost immediately, e-commerce giants risk losing those transactions to specialized fast-commerce platforms if they cannot offer comparable speed.
“Can you go back to scheduled delivery now at the supermarket? No,” Meena said. “You won’t come back.”
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