The Rise of Quick Commerce in India: Logistics Challenges and Solutions

India’s ecommerce landscape is evolving rapidly, and the newest disruptor in this space is quick commerce—the promise of delivering products within 10 to 30 minutes. From grocery essentials to personal care and electronics, customers are increasingly expecting ultra-fast delivery experiences. Unlike traditional ecommerce that takes hours or days for delivery, quick commerce provides instant service for time-sensitive purchases.

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With platforms like Zepto, Jiomart, Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart leading the charge, India’s Q-commerce market is projected to reach $5 billion by 2025 and nearly $10 billion by 2029, outpacing traditional ecommerce growth by a wide margin. Traditional ecommerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart are also entering the quick commerce business through their platforms. But with this growing demand comes a new set of complex challenges.

In this blog, we'll explore the key challenges of quick commerce in India and examine practical solutions that help companies stay competitive in this rapidly evolving market.

What are the quick growth drivers of quick commerce?

Quick commerce didn’t grow by chance—it’s a result of strong consumer trends, technology shifts, and market momentum coming together. Here are the key drivers:

1. Urban demand for speed

Modern Indian consumers—especially in tier-1 cities—are short on time and high on expectations. Whether it’s running out of milk or ordering last-minute snacks before a party, there’s a growing desire for instant gratification. This need has created fertile ground for quick commerce platforms promising 10–30 minute delivery windows

2. Technological advancements

Improvements in technology have helped businesses deliver orders faster and more smoothly. From easy-to-use apps to systems that track stock and help ship from the nearest location, everything works together to reduce delivery time, minimize errors, and increase customer satisfaction—all essential to sustaining the quick commerce model.

3. Pandemic acceleration

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reshaped consumer habits. Lockdowns forced even hesitant consumers to try online shopping for daily essentials. As people got used to fast and safe deliveries, they began expecting that convenience to continue, even post-pandemic. This shift in consumer behavior gave quick commerce a powerful push.

4. Investment and intense competition

Startups like Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Dunzo raised significant funding rounds to aggressively expand infrastructure, warehousing, and delivery fleets. This competitive landscape led to a race-to-the-top in speed and customer service, further popularizing the model and driving consumer adoption.

What are the challenges of quick commerce in India?

1. Logistical complexities

Managing hundreds of daily orders in densely populated cities like Mumbai or Delhi means navigating traffic, narrow roads, and delivery timing constraints. Quick commerce requires decentralized warehousing, smart routing, and impeccable coordination—something traditional ecommerce models weren’t built for.

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India’s need for dark retail space is projected to rise from 24 million sq. ft. in 2023 to 37.6 million sq. ft. by 2027, reflecting the scale of infrastructure required for Q-commerce

2. High operational costs

Quick commerce isn’t cheap to run. Setting up small delivery hubs, hiring staff, managing returns, and paying for fast shipping all add up. For many growing brands, these costs can quickly eat into profits—especially without large-scale operations in place.

3. Supply chain vulnerabilities

With limited buffer times, even minor supply chain delays like vendor issues, last-mile disruptions, or stock-outs can halt delivery promises. Unlike traditional ecommerce, there’s no room for rescheduling or delay.

4. Rising consumer expectations

Customers now expect fast, clear, and reliable deliveries. Even one late order can lead to bad reviews or lost trust. Meeting these high expectations can be tough and put a lot of pressure on your team and systems.

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69% of Indian consumers now prefer 10-minute delivery over next-day shipping, underscoring the pressure on platforms to deliver consistently

5. Penalties due to missed timelines

B2B logistics are complex—retailer compliance, fixed delivery slots, bulky shipments, and detailed documentation, every step requires precision. Missed timelines can result in penalties, lost shelf space, and increased costs without freight optimization or real-time visibility.

How can you ace the quick commerce game?

To keep up with the pace of quick commerce, brands are increasingly turning to third-party logistics (3PL) partners. These providers help manage everything from warehousing and inventory to fulfilment and last-mile delivery, allowing brands to stay focused on growth.

One such 3PL making quick commerce seamless for modern brands is Eshopbox. With a tech-enabled approach and a nationwide fulfilment network, it helps businesses scale operations, reduce delivery times, and improve overall efficiency.

Here's how Eshopbox helps solve the toughest logistics challenges in quick commerce:

1. Wider reach through strategic warehousing

One of the key advantages of working with a 3PL is the ability to distribute your inventory across multiple fulfilment centers, without the overhead of building and managing them yourself. This approach reduces the distance between your products and your customers, resulting in faster deliveries and lower shipping costs.

With a partner like Eshopbox, brands get access to a network of strategically located warehouses across the country. This allows you to store inventory closer to your customers, fulfill orders faster, and offer express delivery options as a standard, critical in a quick commerce setup where speed can be a deal-breaker.

2. Smarter deliveries with carrier flexibility

Fast and reliable delivery is at the heart of quick commerce. To meet this expectation, brands need the flexibility to choose from multiple delivery partners based on speed, cost, and performance. That’s where 3PLs offer a major advantage.

With Eshopbox, brands can integrate with a wide network of courier services through a single platform. Orders are automatically assigned to the best-suited carrier using real-time data, like delivery location, service level, and past performance. This intelligent allocation helps reduce delivery failures, manage peak volumes, and ensure customers receive their orders on time, every time.

3. Cut bulk shipment costs

In quick commerce, managing logistics cost-effectively is just as important as speed. Even small inefficiencies can scale into major expenses over time.

There are many ways a brand can cut down the extra shipping cost. Eshopbox helps brands lower shipping costs through multiple means. For instance, if a product is in high demand in a region but stocked far away, you're paying more just to fulfill that demand.

Eshopbox helps you fix that. With regional utilisation reports, you can identify which products are bestsellers in which regions—and stock them closer to where they’re needed.

This cuts down shipping costs and delivery times. And when demand spikes, you can rely on Eshopbox’s strategically placed fulfilment centres across India to fulfill orders swiftly and affordably.

4. Speed up COD remittance and payment tracking

Despite the rise in digital payments, Cash on Delivery (COD) still holds a significant share in ecommerce transactions. Nearly 65% of consumers used cash on delivery to make payments in their last online transactions. However, delayed remittance cycles can lock up working capital and disrupt operational cash flow to make payments in their last online transactions.

Through Eshopbox, brands can streamline COD management with transparent tracking and faster remittance timelines. Payments are automatically reconciled and released on a predictable weekly cycle, helping brands plan better and reinvest funds without waiting on settlements.

5. Sync orders across quick commerce channels

Managing quick commerce orders across platforms like Instamart and Blinkit can quickly become chaotic—especially when you're scaling. Inventory mismatches, order delays, and manual errors only slow you down.

That’s where Eshopbox simplifies things.

With seamless integration between your ERP and quick commerce platforms, all orders are automatically synced and managed from a single dashboard. No toggling between systems, no manual data entries just complete visibility and control in one place.

This unified view helps reduce fulfilment errors, improves order accuracy, and ensures your brand keeps pace with the speed of quick commerce, no matter how many platforms you're live on.

Bottom line

Quick commerce in India is no longer a luxury—it’s becoming a necessity. But while customer expectations rise, the operational challenges are mounting. To succeed, brands need to go beyond just fast delivery—they need reliable fulfilment, deep tech integration, and cost control.

Eshopbox offers the infrastructure, intelligence, and innovation required to thrive in this high-speed ecosystem. For brands serious about conquering the challenges of quick commerce in India, Eshopbox is not just a vendor—it’s a strategic growth partner.

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