How quick must quick commerce be?

New Year resolutions are mostly as short-lived as the impact of any chief executive’s New Year address to employees.

- NIVEDITA MOOKERJI

Whatever the longevity of such inspirational activities, some of them do strike a note for their timeliness. One such New Year resolution came from a journalist colleague who has been tracking developments in the quick-commerce space with interest, especially when a section of gig workers (mostly delivery partners) went on strike to protest their inadequate compensation and demanding an end to the 10-minute delivery model while asking for social security.

He announced on the first day of the year, after an editorial meeting, that he would not order through quick commerce anymore. The unique resolution drew some attention before others attending the meeting got into a debate on the merits and demerits of the gig workers’ strike.

The debate on quick-commerce and the labour practices in this segment of retail reached new levels ever since gig workers’ unions knocked on the doors of ministers and bureaucrats recently, calling out some of the top companies in this space for “unfair practices”. But why has this strike triggered so much reaction even though deliveries ordered through online platforms were not as badly disrupted as anticipated on peak-demand days such as New Year’s Eve? Perhaps, the numbers explain why anything to do with gig work is now core to our lives.