India's millions redefine shopping for essentials

In India’s sprawling financial hub of Mumbai armies of “dabbawalas” have for decades crisscrossed the city by foot and bicycle, delivering home-cooked food to office workers who are keen to avoid the searing heat and traffic-snarled streets.

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Now, across the country, young entrepreneurs are taking that tradition to the next level with the explosion of shopping apps that allow customers to get hold of not only food and drink but anything else from clothes to iPhones -- within minutes. The so-called quick commerce apps are redefining the retail game, not only disrupting e-commerce titans such as Amazon with their speed and efficiency but also long-established “mom and pop” stores which are no longer convenient enough.

At a warehouse managed by online grocer BigBasket in central Mumbai, employees work with military-like precision to pull off deliveries in just 10 minutes. These warehouses are known within the industry as “dark stores”, a reference to being closed off to customers, according to Agence France-Presse. When a new order is received, a worker leaps into action, darting through aisles filled with everything from fizzy drinks to vegetables, packing a bag of groceries handed to a motorbike rider - the modern-day “dabbawala”, Hindi for “lunchbox man”.