No 10-min Race

What do we urgently need in 10 minutes? An ambulance or medical support, fire-fighters, maybe the police? Basically, anything critical that involves life and death. Groceries, cold drinks, and snacks are not essential services. Of course, getting something instantly feels amazing. Human beings today are tuned to demand instant gratification. Who has the patience to wait for something that can come immediately at the click of a button? After voices were raised to review the inhuman demands on gig workers to deliver in 10 minutes or less, the Union Labour Ministry has put the brakes on the sector. Prior to the diktat, gig worker unions had protested against 10-minute deliveries by launching nationwide strikes on December 25 and 31.

Heeding the government’s advice, quick commerce players such as Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, and others have dropped the “10-minute delivery” marketing. In spite of several explanations defending the sector and promises of no undue pressure on delivery personnel, all companies willingly removed the 10-minute guarantee without a fight. Delivery workers, however, are heaving sighs of relief while consumers don’t seem too miffed either. As per a countrywide survey conducted by LocalCircles, 74 per cent of quick commerce customers supported the government decision; 62 per cent voted yes for certain items to be delivered within 10 minutes. The upgraded consumer behaviour further indicates that quick commerce players have already established a fast service and hooked customers to expect prompt deliveries. Therefore, a change in branding won’t do much to dent the market.

But did we ever really need quick commerce? Or was it not the fake privilege of the upwardly mobile who could literally order things at will and have them served up within 10 minutes? We have all received calls from helpless riders marking deliveries as done even though they are still on their way, pleading for some extra time, praying that you don’t report them. A modern-day exploitation of people who regularly endanger their personal safety to meet the delivery deadlines, while also facing income uncertainty and pressure from platform algorithms. Bad roads, chockablock traffic, air and sound pollution, extremes of climate — the delivery person navigated all the obstacles to get us our groceries on time.

This unwarranted hunger for speed was pretty much created by a bunch of companies and valuation-hungry investors. India wasn’t the first to start revving up deliveries. The US started it as early as the dot-com era; some of the experiments failed, some sustained. US, China, Europe — all have quick commerce with the focus largely on same-day or between 15-30 minute deliveries. UAE, Brazil, Chile, Japan, Australia, South Korea, among others, are emerging as Q-commerce hotspots. Turkey started the under-10-minute deliveries, but no one did it as well as India; we definitely showed the world how to scale up quick commerce. With weak job creation, the gig economy has been one of the spearheads of employment generation in India. Availability of cheap labour was one of the biggest drivers of the segment here as compared to First World nations. The customer’s desire for convenience, smartphone penetration, and use of digital payments additionally contributed to the sector boom.

With the removal of the “10-minute” caveat, what changes is basically expectation and perhaps even competition. Consumers can be more realistic about delivery timings while still preferring expediency. Various quick commerce companies can now compete on quality of service and range of products, relieving the riders from carrying the burden of speed, though most riders may continue to meet an unspoken delivery deadline. From the investors’ purview, little may have altered. The quick commerce market size has burgeoned rapidly, touching USD 6-7 billion in 2024 to a projected USD 57 billion by 2030, according to Morgan Stanley. Removing the marketing phrase is simply semantics, as moneybags still remain invested in services that provide convenience and hyper-local service. Quick commerce companies have largely maintained a guarded silence over the government directive, huddling to ensure that there is no fallout on future growth; insiders say that the business models will remain the same.

A few months ago, my mother had a stroke. Between the ambulance arriving and the navigation of perilous road conditions, coupled with a general lack of medical preparedness in most Indian cities — it took 2 hours to get her to the hospital. Now there’s a quick service that I can get behind. The milk and bread can come in its own sweet time for all I care.

Views expressed are personal. The writer is an author and media entrepreneur