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A look at quick commerce’s new focus: Instant delivery of gadgets and electronics

As India’s quick commerce landscape evolves at an unprecedented pace, here’s a look at what electronics are being delivered on-demand, within minutes.

6 min read
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Customers can get larger, high-value electronics delivered in under 10 minutes.Customers can get larger, high-value electronics delivered in under 10 minutes. (Image: Pixabay)

At the launch of the Redmi Note 14 in December last year, Muralikrishnan B, the president of Xiaomi India, stopped mid-presentation to order the newly released smartphone on Flipkart Minutes. Moments after, a delivery worker handed him the device on stage.

While other brands have run similar demos, it underscores the trend of quick commerce apps expanding their rapid delivery services to include smartphones and other electronic goods.

According to a recent Bernstein report, quick commerce in India will enter into newer categories (beyond grocery) in 2025, with strong growth driven by making inroads in new cities (Tier 2+). It further estimated a 75 per cent YoY growth in the segment, driving share gains.

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Quick commerce apps are also giving online electronics shopping a boost. Online channels accounted for 34 per cent (Rs 11,000 crore) of consumer electronics sales in the previous financial year, according to a Nielsen IQ report.

But it’s not just new smartphones, earbuds, and smart watches that are being delivered to customers’ doorsteps in under ten minutes. Larger, high-value electronics such as monitors, printers, refrigerators, air-conditioners, washing machines, and kitchen appliances are also available for delivery in under ten minutes.

Festive offer

As India’s quick commerce landscape evolves at an unprecedented pace, here’s a look at how key players such as Swiggy Instamart, Zomato’s Blinkit, and Zepto are redefining what can be delivered on-demand, within minutes.

BlinkIt

“We’re expanding our electronics range to cover more use cases and have partnered up with leading brands in this category,” the Zomato-owned quick commerce platform said in a press release this month.

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BlinkIt announced that users in Delhi-NCR, Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Lucknow can now get the following delivered in 10 minutes:

– Laptops from HP
– Monitors from Lenovo, Zebronics and MSI
– Printers from Canon and HP

“Most of these products will be delivered by our large order fleet,” the Gurgaon-based startup said.

It is partnered with Unicorn Infosolutions, an authorised Apple re-seller, to deliver iPhone 16s and iPhone 16 Pros to customers’ doorsteps within minutes. South Korean electronics major Samsung tied up with the platform last year to offer the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24 smartphones in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

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Blinkit customers in the same regions can also get their hands on the Sony PlayStation 5 Slim editions and controllers. Additionally, the all-new Amazon Echo Spot is available for purchase in Black and Blue on Blinkit.

The platform further offers no-cost EMI and low-cost EMI payment options for orders above Rs 2,999, along with cashback offers on eligible credit cards.

Swiggy Instamart

While the high-demand items on Swiggy Instamart are still grocery staples, stationeries, and over-the-counter medicines, users’ top choices also include gaming earphones, smartwatches, and other home appliances such as induction cooker, sandwich maker, hair straighteners, table fans, toaster, and more.

An Instamart customer in Chennai ran up an eye-popping bill of Rs 1.25 lakh by ordering 85 items, most of which were electronics, electricals, and home appliances, according to the company’s annual ‘How India Swiggy’d 2024’ report.

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Some of the major brands that have tied up with Instamart include Boat, Zebronics, JBL, Amazon, and Philips. Its electronics catalogue features:

– Computer Accessories: Keyboards, mouse, printers and cartridges, storage devices, chargers, laptop stand, etc.
– Speakers and soundbars: Outdoor soundbars, bluetooth speakers, and smart devices like Amazon Echo Pop, Echo Dot, FireTV stick, etc.
– Powerbanks and cables: Powerbanks, charging cables, adapters, phone holders, car chargers, etc.
– Smart wearables
– Healthcare and personal care appliances

Recently, Instamart was expanded to over 75 cities in India and became available as a standalone app for download. “The Instamart app provides users an even more direct experience, offering greater convenience by ensuring quicker access to Swiggy’s pioneering quick-commerce service,” the Bengaluru-based startup said in a press release.

Swiggy also launched its bulk order service known as the Swiggy XL EV fleet last year, to serve large orders in one go.

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Zepto

Zepto has quickly emerged as a key competitor to BlinkIt and Swiggy Instamart in the quick commerce sector. It raised $350 million at a $5 billion valuation in its funding round last year.

The unicorn startup reportedly has plans of an IPO in 2025. It has a 28 per cent share of the quick commerce market and operates around 350 dark stores across major cities, according to analysts at Motilal Oswal.

Some of the major tech brands that have partnered with Zepto are Ambrane, Boat, Boult, Zebronics, Portronics, Philips, Park+, and iTel, among others. Recently, Taiwanese tech giant ASUS announced that it has joined hands with Zepto for rapid delivery of its product lineup such as keyboards and mouse for customers in Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, and NCR.

Zepto’s electronics catalogue includes:
– Tablets
– Earbuds and Headsets
– Speakers
– Smart Watches
– Projectors
– Mouse, keyboards, and other computer peripherals
– Cables and chargers
– Power banks and other accessories
– Networking devices like Wifi routers, dongles, and range extenders

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Tablets and mobile phones are also part of the category but appear to be currently out of stock. Zepto customers can also get a Qubo smart air purifier delivered in under 10 minutes.

Zepto also offers ‘buy now pay later’ options to select customers through its partnership with fintech startup Simpl.

Can quick commerce keep up 10-minute delivery of electronics?

Quick commerce apps took off in India during the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted supply chains.

The business model is largely that of rapid delivery of small-ticket, high-demand items like groceries and medicines. While e-commerce companies like Amazon have traditional warehouses on the outskirts of cities, quick commerce firms set up micro-warehouses or ‘dark stores’ within a 2 km radius of key delivery points, ensuring rapid delivery.

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While the sale of electronics can help quick commerce companies improve their average bill value and achieve higher gross margins, they are likely to focus on top-selling electronics based on customer ratings due to constraints such as the lack of warehousing space and four-wheeler delivery.

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