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Breaking the time barrier: How will Quick Commerce work?

Ever since the delivery startups including Zomato have announced ten minutes delivery, there have been a lot of questions on the feasibility of Quick commerce and its impact on delivery partners. BestMediaInfo.com speaks with industry experts to understand the upside, downside and full potential of quick commerce

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BestMediaInfo Bureau
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Breaking the time barrier: How will Quick Commerce work?

Food delivery major Zomato is facing major criticism over social media after it announced its 10-minutes delivery feature. The situation is akin to what Domino’s experienced in 2013 when it announced its 30-minutes pizza delivery.

Nine-years later the idea of food, including pizza, being delivered in 30-minutes sounds a bit dated and the time limit is further being trimmed down to 10-minutes.

Claiming that a detailed plan is in place, Deepinder Goyal, Founder, Zomato, told Twitterati that the 10-minute food delivery will be safe for the delivery partners and it will not put any extra pressure on them for the same.

Despite multiple clarifications on the service being available at specific locations with standardised menu items, no penalties for late delivery and no incentives for on-time delivery the new announcement has led to a new wave of memes and trolling on social media.

BestMediaInfo.com reached out to brand consultants to understand whether the instant delivery rush makes sense, and how viable is the move?

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Samit Sinha

Samit Sinha, Founder and Managing Partner, Alchemist Brand Consulting, said that 10-minute food delivery is possible by networking with food outlets that are very close to where the consumer is going to order from. He compared the situation to that of a local snacks shop, which are present in every locality, that usually delivers snacks in a very timely manner.

“So, if you call them and ask to deliver samosas or jalebis, they have a guy who will deliver your order on a bicycle, probably in 10-minutes approx. So, 10-minutes delivery is possible for sure provided the outlets are very close to where the consumer is ordering from,” Sinha said.

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Lloyd Mathias

Lloyd Mathias, Business Strategist and Investor, while speaking with BestMediaInfo.com said data intelligence and predictive analytics will play a major role in the success of Zomato’s 10-minute delivery plans.

He said, “It’s not about delivery guys riding fast and risking their lives. In fact, it is about data and predictive analytics. Zomato knows what people are likely to order, at what time of the day they make an order so that they can prepare it in advance and store it in hubs only to deliver in 10-minutes.”  

Mathias further said that the food delivery app is planning to run a pilot in Gurugram, and everyone else should wait-and-watch whether it is a success or Zomato shuts it down.

The downside

One of the most controversial points in the new announcement is whether proper measures have been taken to ensure the safety of delivery partners.

Sinha said, “Is it really a useful service? I mean think of the tremendous pressure on delivery boys and restaurants. The person who is going to face the brunt of this is the poor delivery boy. And it is exploitation of delivery boys,”

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Harish Bijoor

Harish Bijoor, Brand Guru & Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, took to Twitter to express his concern. He said, “iTHINK: #QuickCommerce needs to re-think its model altogether! The 10minute delivery promise is causing tumult! With road-accidents! With delivery-angels flouting traffic rules on 2wheelers! #PatientCommerce is a better way to go folks! Saves lives! And livelihoods! #FoodCommerce”

Further, another major drawback with the 10-minute food delivery is that it might impact the quality of food being served, and this was the second most important downside being pointed out by netizens.

Other categories in Quick commerce

While grilling Zomato’s decision, a lot of people highlighted the fact that in India, ambulances take longer time to reach than a pizza.

The twittterati also urged players in the medical space to quicken up their service be it timely arrival of an ambulance, or doorstep delivery of medicines.

Mathias also said that medical services should be considered as emergency services and should enter into the quick commerce space.

As of now, only Apollo Pharmacy claims to deliver medicines within 2 hours.

Adding to it, Prabhdeep Singh, Founder & CEO, StanPlus, said that they want to be India’s 911 for healthcare mobility response.

“Stanplus responds to emergency calls within 6 seconds and aims for the ambulance to reach the patient within 15 minutes of the call. We are also working to further reduce ETA to 8 minutes in case of true emergencies of cardiac, neurological, multi-trauma and other etiologies. Currently, we are backed by a fleet of over 3,000 ambulances that work 24/7 in 5 cities and are planning to expand in 10 cities by the end of this year,” informed Singh.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Zomato Breaking the time barrier Quick Commerce work
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