With apologies to none at all
First, a confession. I got it all wrong. About two years ago when quick commerce delivery started, I was sceptical. Indeed, I was a naysayer. My thinking was in a straight line. How many times would one need quick delivery? Why would we need things in 15-20 minutes over and over again. After all quick commerce will have a minimum order delivery benchmark. So, every time, I need a soap or a vegetable or a dal, will I be ready to spend not just for that one item but also a delivery charge as I may not fulfill the minimum order criteria. And then we got hooked onto ecommerce not just for convenience but also for the discounts. So, will the quick commerce guys give me discount similar to traditional ecommerce (never thought, would call ecommerce traditional, but we live in exciting times)? And boy, was I wrong? Just in two years, quick commerce controls a third of the e-grocery market, up from one-fifth.
To add to this what surprised me was that the quick commerce players were not ecommerce players but either new ones or food delivery people. At best they had mastered the art of quick delivery. But not about warehousing, stocks, discounted pricing etc. During the pandemic when food delivery app like Zomato and Swiggy were out of play as restaurants etc were closed, they switched onto grocery deliveries. Like food, they tied up to pick groceries, vegetables etc from kirana shops, supermarkets etc and like food, delivered it. So, yes, they could deliver speedily but where was the experience of trading, stocking, pricing etc of groceries and fruits and vegetables? Wasn’t that more critical.
I was an avid ecommerce shopper. Even before the pandemic, my monthly grocery etc shopping would be through Amazon or Big Basket. And the scales were tilting more towards Big Basket as that was a one-stop shop for groceries, knick-knacks, fruits and vegetables, packaged foods etc. Plus, their delivery time slot system was also a good attraction.
So, when BlinkIt opened in Doon, their first dark centre or warehouse hardly 3.5 kms from my house, I ignored it. I would see the riders zipping in and out and standing in cluster outside the dark centre. What caught my attention was that the number of delivery people huddled around the dark centre kept on increasing exponentially, till the place started becoming a traffic menace.
I dismissed this as an initial craze which would pass soon. I did download the app and was not too impressed with the offerings or the price. It was cheaper than MRP but in my biased view not as cheap as a typical ecommerce player. I did however notice that they also stocked socks and bedsheets and cookware and other homecare stuff. They also had electronics and pet items. But when the announced 15-minute delivery of iPhone 15 on its launch, I did start taking notice.
And then on the day of Diwali when my wife asked me to get some fresh flowers and I could not find them in the neighbourhood, I checked on Blinkit. Not only were they delivering fresh flower but also a complete Puja thali with or without a small statue of Laxmi. I was really intrigued and I ordered.
The app experience was wonderful. Once I registered my credit card, I did not even have to enter my PIN and BlinkIt has a tie up with MyGate. So, when my order was picked up by the delivery executive, Blinkit sent me a preapproval message and at a click, his entry was approved. All this from my locked home screen. The delivery was seamless in a neat bag, in 15 minutes. And the whole deal was not at all expensive.
Now, I wanted to try more. So next week when we required household groceries etc including two bulbs, I looked at BlinkIt. The whole operation – from ordering to delivery – took around 20-25 minutes and the deal was worth it. The interesting thing I discovered was that whenever I needed something which does not fit into traditional grocery or vegetables, BlinkIt would have it. We needed some woollen socks and cap for our trip to Kashmir. I found it on BlinkIt without having to go to Myntra or Amazon.
And I think this is the main reason why all naysayers of quick commerce have been proved wrong. It’s not about quick delivery only. What makes it interesting is that it goes beyond traditional grocery, fruits and vegetables and also stocks much more. Till now, I would rely on Amazon for anything other than groceries or vegetables. Then came Big Basket, and I could now get groceries, food, vegetables etc from one source. But I still required Amazon for everything else. BlinkIt, for me, is a combination of Amazon and Big Basket. And delivered quickly. And at competitive prices. Not at a premium.
So, for me, BlinkIt works as follows. One source where I find almost 95% of what I need usually. Prices competitive to other ecommerce players. A superior app experience. And finally, all that I need gets delivered in 15-20 minutes. I do not have to wait or follow up or even chase. This is as close to a offline personal shopping experience. You decide, you buy and it gets delivered. The shopping experience is complete. The circle is closed.
I do not know much about Zepto or Instamart as they still do not deliver in Doon, but BlinkIt has, in my mind cracked the quick commerce code by not just focusing on speed of delivery but also on the range of products. I remember reading somewhere how some head honchos of quick commerce companies had spoken about opening many small dark stores storing about 2-3,000 SKUs. Each dark store would cover about 5-7 square kms. The thinking was that most households only need a limited range of goods quickly. So, the focus was not the width of goods available but the number of stores for quick delivery.
This is exactly where the quick commerce companies could have gone wrong. And I see this happening with BBNow. They too are 3 kms away from my house but their range is quite limited. Indeed, I can find stuff on BigBasket but not BBNow. This is where I think BlinkIt has cracked the quick commerce code. As I write this, I get a notification that BBNow is delivering electronic items like chargers, power banks, phone covers etc in 15 minutes. So, they too are on a course-correction.
It’s not about delivering a few products quickly, for that will be far and few per customer. But making available as wide a range as possible and delivering it all quickly. This also ensures a bigger order size. And psychologically it’s about completing the shopping process in real quick time. Threfore, if weekly offline shopping was a regular habbit, regular weekly quick commerce shopping is also now a habit
So, convenience is not just about sitting at home and shopping or getting a missing product quickly. BlinkIt has added the dimension of completing the shopping loop in quick time. As I said, this imitates the complete offline shopping experience .
And I know that it is working because I see more delivery guys, more two-wheelers and more yellow BlinkIt bags around. I have also, for the first time heard the local kirana shop owners complain as BlinkIt is eating into the traditional small buyer too. And most importantly I know that BlinkIt has found the successful formula when sometimes, even at 9 am, I open the app and I see an apology saying that they are overburdened with orders so I should try after sometime. And when they do accept the order, after sometime, they levy a traffic surge surcharge.
Deja vu!