The rise of quick commerce has left us with a bagful of questions

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₹201.4 on 10 May. The recent fall notwithstanding, a major reason for the rise lies in the very fast growth of the company’s quick commerce business, which delivers vegetables, groceries and other products—from lipsticks and pen drives to floral bouquets and branded kurtas—in a matter of minutes. In 2023-24, the adjusted revenue of the company’s quick commerce business grew by 186% to ₹2,302 crore.

In comparison, the adjusted revenue of the company’s mainstay food-delivery business grew by a significantly lower 27% to ₹7,792 crore. Swiggy and Zepto are the other major players in the field of quick commerce. Swiggy recently filed for an initial public offering.

Experts and analysts believe that the company’s success as a listed entity will depend on how well its quick commerce business does. Further, a Mint Long Story published on 22 May points out that the e-commerce major Flipkart “after failing in 2015 and 2020… is attempting a quick commerce venture yet again". This rise of quick commerce raises a few interesting points.

First, economics is all about second-order effects. So, will the rise of quick commerce lead to expansion of India’s economic output, or will it simply take away business from traditional players that were servicing this demand? Or will it be a bit of both? How will it impact street-corner kirana stores and supermarkets? This point isn’t just important in the context of quick commerce companies, but applies to e-commerce as a whole too. In their book, Breaking the Mould: Reimagining India’s Economic Future, Raghuram G.

Rajan and Rohit Lamba, mention that Lenskart, which is in the spectacles business, sells 50,000 frames a day. How is this impacting India’s 50,000 eyewear shops. Is Lenskart taking away