Speed vs. Steed: Quick Commerce’s Delivery Dreams Face a Rider Reboot

India's lightning-fast commerce business, with delivery times comparable to light, is running low on delivery partners in the midst of a demand boom. While pioneers such as Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and new entrants such as Amazon and Flipkart are scaling fast, competition for dependable delivery workers is increasing—potentially jeopardizing the 10-minute delivery guarantee.

 

Key Highlights:

 

•⁠  ⁠The quick commerce has been growing very fast, currently contributing 20% to India's e-commerce and is expected to reach $35–40 billion by FY26, growing faster than the increase in available delivery partners.

 

•⁠  ⁠It is becoming increasingly difficult to hire with manpower supply lagging demand, as bikers are demanding improved remunerations and work conditions.

 

•⁠  ⁠Major cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad are centers of jobs, but even there the firms cannot recruit and retain enough employees.

 

•⁠  ⁠Reducing per-order rewards and increasing competition are provoking most of the delivery partners to doubt their jobs, resulting in delays and longer delivery times.

 

•⁠  ⁠The crunch in hiring is not yet out of hand but is increasingly an issue of operational effectiveness and customer satisfaction.

 

Prospects: Unless rapidly expanding commerce businesses address pay, retention, and working conditions, the shortage of delivery partners could become more severe, potentially slowing down delivery and losing customers. Industry hyper-growth now rests on fixing this last-mile man-power issue.

 

Source: Economic Times, New Indian Express, Startup News FYI