Amazon has expanded its 10-minute delivery service, Amazon Now, to Delhi after its initial rollout in Bengaluru, intensifying the battle in India’s rapidly growing quick commerce space. With players like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart already in fierce competition, India stands out as one of the few global markets where ultra-fast delivery is gaining strong traction.An April report by ICICI Securities highlighted how quick commerce platforms are creating strong user habits, moving beyond just fast deliveries and snack-based purchases. These platforms are now driving high-frequency engagement and expanding into curated categories, fundamentally transforming consumer retail behaviour.Amazon has expanded its ultra-fast delivery service, ‘Amazon Now’, to select pin codes in Delhi, offering a “curated selection of everyday essentials” delivered within 10 minutes. The service, which first launched in Bengaluru in December last year, now features as a separate tab within the app for areas where it is active. Amazon plans to roll out the service to more cities in the near future.Amazon’s 10-minute delivery service, Amazon Now, offers a wide range of daily essentials — from groceries, fruits and vegetables to personal care items, beauty products, wireless accessories, and small appliances. The service provides free delivery on orders above ₹99 for Prime members and ₹199 for non-Prime users.Industry experts note that quick commerce platforms have effectively replicated the convenience of local kirana stores in a digital format. With hectic lifestyles and demanding schedules, consumers increasingly prefer the ease of browsing diverse product categories online and getting them delivered to their doorstep in minutes.Moreover, the rapid rise of quick commerce in India is being fueled by widespread smartphone use, affordable data, and a predominantly young population.A joint report by Flipkart and Bain & Company earlier this year highlighted this shift, revealing that over two-thirds of all e-grocery orders and nearly 10% of total e-retail spending in 2024 occurred through quick commerce platforms — a clear sign of how QCom is transforming consumer buying behavior across the country.In a recent report, Jefferies observed that quick commerce has firmly entered the mainstream. The entry of horizontal giants like Flipkart and Amazon, the report noted, appears to be a response to shifting consumer behavior, as users and their spending are increasingly gravitating toward quick commerce platforms.”The market in some pockets may get cluttered, as in certain places, there may be as many as six different quick commerce platforms, with some trying to woo users via aggressive discounts. Specifically, on Amazon, we think these are early days and the offering needs to have enough scale in terms of coverage to be a meaningful player in the overall Q/C (quick commerce) market.”This may require serious effort including burn given Amazon lacks brand recall for Q/C unlike incumbents – currently, Q/C is part of main Amazon app while experience suggests higher traction in case of verticals like Blinkit (Swiggy too has launched separate app for Q/C),” Jefferies had said in a note in June this year.Indians are estimated to have spent ₹64,000 crore on quick-commerce platforms like Blinkit and Instamart in the financial year 2024–25 — more than double the ₹30,000 crore spent the previous year, according to a report by a division of domestic rating agency CareEdge Ratings. The gross order value (GOV) for this sector is projected to more than triple, reaching ₹2 lakh crore by FY28.A separate report by Datum Intelligence projects the quick-commerce market to grow to a massive USD 40 billion by 2030, up from USD 6.1 billion in 2024 — highlighting the segment’s rapid expansion and increasing consumer reliance.However, despite its explosive growth and positive outlook, the quick-commerce sector has also faced criticism and regulatory attention. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has scrutinized the industry for issues related to food safety, misleading claims, and gaps in regulatory compliance.Late last year, the CCPA issued notices to multiple quick-commerce companies for violating rules regarding the display of mandatory information on packaged products. The law requires that both online and offline retailers disclose key details such as the maximum retail price (MRP), expiry date, net weight, manufacturer details, and customer grievance redressal contact on all packaged goods.
