Hyper Local And Quick Commerce

The expectations for doorstep deliveries have changed. We are a pampered lot today and last minute is no longer the 11th-hour decision-making taboo, writes Ashish Bhatia.

- Ashish Bhatia

Doorstep deliveries with just a phone call to the local grocery store or baniyas have deep-rooted into our culture for decades. There was no minimum billing required and our grandparents pulled it off with aplomb. No need for upskilling and no annoying push notifications by e-commerce and quick commerce apps.. Just a surname worked its magic akin to the delivery address pinned today. As I write this piece an Apple iPhone 16, an Apple MacBook Air, and an Apple iPad are all available for delivery in nine minutes on the bigbasket app., to cater to the festive demand. Blinkit’s delivering Diwali kits in 11 minutes. Instamart has arranged quick picks to be delivered in nine minutes with free delivery on orders above 99 for ‘one’ members. Zepto is offering free cash in the Zepto wallet and a postpaid account with up to Rs. 5000 interest-free repayments to sweeten the deal. Zepto cafe is delivering Bhelpuri in 11 minutes to a Maggi 2-Minute Instant Masala noodles pack at the same time as a testimony to the new normal.

A flashback to the launch of e-commerce apps. Flipkart in 2011 and Amazon in 2013, the convenience at your fingertips phrase came to life. From there on deliveries were made possible in one day as part of the loyalty programmes - The Prime Membership, for instance, which flummoxed the generation used to purchase with all their senses - smell, sight, touch and feel. Today a truck full of goods leaves from a warehouse in Bhiwandi at night and reaches a micro hub near your pin code for the parcel to reach you. The senses are activated only when the carton is cut through before making its way back to the seller in return logistics.