India embraces quick commerce

Kirana shops have been a hardy tribe, thriving and growing despite challenges from new retail formats since 1991.

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But now, they face real competition with quick commerce (QC) spreading its tentacles. Flipkart Minutes, the newest entrant in this space, says it will take the game to small towns and others will probably follow suit.

QC is the old kirana on steroids. In their heyday, kiranas were the original QC backbone of India. Ubiquitous and next door, they delivered your phoned-in orders immediately, or you could send someone to the shop and back in under 10 minutes. They offered customer intimacy that helped them easily hold their own against impersonal modern trade. My regular kirana owner of those days called to ask if I was buying from someone else, noticing five expensive food items were absent from my purchases (a child had left home for college). He offered credit, kept two packs of my rare but favourite tea brand, and while he took every chance to make an extra buck off me if I wasn't vigilant, we shared a deep bond.