How to fast trade becomes India’s next e-commerce battlegroundWalmart-backed Flipkart said on Wednesday that its Minutes service has built a network of 1,000 micro-fulfillment centers (small, strategically located warehouses designed to enable deliveries in minutes) less than two years after its launch, a milestone that Amazon is also targeting as it expands its express delivery business in the South Asian nation.
Flipkart said it plans to expand the network to 1,500 micro-fulfillment centers by the end of 2026, a rapid expansion that would further strengthen its position in India’s fiercely competitive fast-commerce sector, where Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Amazon are racing to add infrastructure and customers.
Based on the current number of stores and announced expansion plans, Flipkart could emerge as India’s second-largest quick-commerce network by number of micro-fulfillment centers, behind Blinkit, which operates 2,243 such centers, according to a recent Jefferies note. Rivals Zepto and Swiggy Instamart are also expanding their networks.
India has become one of the fastest-growing fast-commerce markets in the world, with companies racing to build networks that can deliver everything from groceries and beauty products to electronics in minutes. Blinkit, owned by food delivery company Eternal, remains the market leader, while Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, Flipkart and Amazon are investing heavily to expand their reach and gain customers.
Competition has intensified in recent months as Amazon accelerates the launch of Amazon Now, which is currently available in more than 15 cities and operates more than 500 microfulfillment centers. The company plans expand the service to 100 cities with more than 1,000 microfulfillment centers while expanding its assortment beyond groceries to categories such as apparel, electronics and home products.
The change is also manifesting itself in purchasing patterns on Flipkart Minutes, which launched in August 2024. Demand is increasingly coming from categories such as electronics, beauty and personal care products, rather than just groceries, Kunal Gupta, director of Flipkart Minutes, told TechCrunch. Orders on the platform have grown about 400% from the previous year, while customer retention has increased 20% year over year, he said. Both figures come from the company and could not be independently verified.
“What started as a way to meet everyday needs has become a fundamentally new shopping habit for millions of Indians,” said Gupta. “Customers are not only ordering more, they are also ordering differently.”
Flipkart said it has expanded Minutes to more than 130 cities and 8,000 zip codes, with growth increasingly coming from smaller cities beyond India’s largest metropolitan areas. Those markets saw growth of more than 4,000% from the previous year, helped by expansion into 90 new cities, according to the company.
The trend, Gupta said, is visible in the pace at which newly launched marketplaces are maturing. He cited cities like Patna, Guwahati and Siliguri as examples of where new stores are ramping up faster than expected and described Lucknow as one of Flipkart Minutes’ best-performing markets even though the company is yet to cover the entire city with its network.
Amazon is also betting on demand outside of India’s largest cities. The company told TechCrunch that 70% of new Prime members come from smaller markets and that it remains on track to double its Prime membership base from 2023 levels by the end of the year. Amazon added that everyday essentials now account for one in every two units shipped on Amazon.in, with Amazon Now increasing purchasing frequency among customers.
Gupta told TechCrunch that Flipkart is seeing customers using Minutes alongside its main e-commerce platform rather than replacing it, leading to more frequent purchases and helping it expand into categories like fresh produce and daily essentials. The company said the average order value for fruits and vegetables increased 30% year over year.
Flipkart, Gupta said, plans to continue opening 75 to 100 microfulfillment centers per month as it expands to other cities across the country.
The rapid expansion of Flipkart and Amazon underscores how India has become a testing ground for the next phase of e-commerce, with companies racing to turn quick commerce from a grocery delivery service into a broader shopping platform. The country already has more than 5,500 dark stores, according to Bernstein, and industry analysts expect that number to increase. will increase to around 7,500 by 2030 as companies expand to smaller cities and expand their product offerings.
“We will continue to expand rapidly, we will not slow down after 1,000 stores and we are going to go all out,” Gupta said.
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