What is Q-Commerce and its Future in Marketing?

What is Q-Commerce?

In today’s time, people want most things to be lightning fast: be it their internet speed, their coffee at the favourite café, groceries and more.

Q−Commerce, or "quick commerce," is the newest entrant into this fast−paced market, promising to satisfy customers’ demands in 30 minutes or less. The global Q−Commerce market was estimated at $25 Billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $72 Billion by 2025. The Covid−19 epidemic has played a significant role in this, since it has not only accelerated the digital transformation of enterprises by decades but also transformed customer behaviour, a change that will last for years to come.

The phenomena of Q−Commerce are widespread. A recent study shows that in only the last ten months, India has seen the emergence of at least 10 new Q−Commerce businesses. Specialty firms in India are going after this market with the promise of 10− to 15−minute deliveries, while established delivery start−ups are restructuring their operations and supply chain to serve this market.

What are the Components of Q-Commerce?

In the Q−Commerce ecosystem, one will find −

Use of Third-Party Delivery Systems

The present platforms delivering goods from nearby stores are often limited to either delivering the items or picking those up from the store. They originally promised next−day delivery but have now lowered their time estimate to within 30 minutes.

Involvement of Popular Retail Giants

With the advent of more streamlined procedures, retail and online behemoths alike have kicked off the transition to Omni channel experiences and Q−Commerce.

For example, JioMart (Reliance) and Big Basket (Tata) have emerged as big players in the field.

Setting up Local Warehouses

Known as "dark shops," these help in providing same−day or next−day delivery of frequently ordered commodities to customers. Many of these businesses in India are aimed at eliminating the inefficiencies of the traditional corner shop in order to attract the "top−up and unexpected purchases" of the younger generations.

Enhanced Capability to Manage Stock Levels and Supply Chains

Inventory and supply chain management play a crucial role due to the time pressure of fast shipping. In the coming years, the delivery partner will be able to verify in real time the closest next−store alternative in case of out−of−stock products, resulting in more streamlined supply and inventory management for dark shops.

To make sure the delivery partner doesn't spend time figuring this out, real−time inventory management technologies will play a crucial role by continually updating the state of inventory, calculating and projecting delivery times and product freshness (particularly for perishable goods).

Creation of Unique and Personalized Interactions

If you want to stand out in a market where your competitors provide essentially the same products and services at similar pricing, you need to focus on providing exceptional customer service.

AI and ML allow for the recommendation of products and services to customers based on their individual tastes and the frequency with which they shop. Users might feel more engaged to the company and more likely to stick around if they get personalised messages and alerts. User retention may also be influenced by a unique user interface, an intuitive design, and a simple user path.

Longevity and Environmental Friendliness

Q−Commerce businesses, in light of the increasing prominence of sustainability and netzero emissions programmes throughout the world, must seek out possibilities to reduce their environmental impact at every level of the supply chain. Possible low−hanging solutions include switching to electric delivery trucks and adopting recyclable or reusable packaging.

Some of the prominent Indian Q−Commerce companies have already incorporated these. The delivery partners are given e−bikes and paper packaging is promoted instead of plastic bags.

Examples

Unlike Big Bazaar and Walmart, Quick Commerce is not trying to mimic the convenience of a traditional supermarket. Its only goal is to use the "dark shop" format to become the largest kirana in its urban colony. These stock the necessary SKUs and may be found in close proximity to housing complexes. Companies like Dunzo, Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, and Zepto, which provide delivery within 10−20 minutes in the top 10 cities, each have 20−30 of these "dark stores" catering to customers within a 2−kilometer radius.

What are the Benefits of Q−Commerce?

• Quickness − Q−commerce firms can deliver products to clients in much less time than it would take in a traditional store.

• Guaranteed availability of products − Investing in AI and technology that track demand and alter stock levels in real time increases the likelihood that customers will be able to purchase things, in addition to the faster shipping times that are advertised.

• 24*7 Availability − Dark stores are not constrained by traditional business hours as brick−and−mortar shops are, thus they are always open for business.

• Ease − If you had the option of leaving what you were doing, fumbling for your keys and credit cards, tying your shoes, walking a block or two, searching the store for your items, asking a staff member for help if you still couldn't find them, standing in line, paying, bagging your purchases, and walking them back home, which would you choose?

Q−commerce businesses' primary selling point, and a major draw for clients with little free time, is convenience.

Future of Quick Commerce

This decade has been marked by a premium placed on ease of use. Consumer expectations have been irrevocably altered by technology to the point that we now anticipate rapid satisfaction. Whether you type a query into Google and the answer appears on the screen in seconds, or you use an app to buy dessert and it arrives at your door ten minutes later, instant pleasure is becoming more commonplace.

To choose one specific instance of this technology−induced impatience, consider the fact that shoppers on e−commerce sites will abandon a site if it takes longer than 2 seconds to load each page (Google's target load time for a web page is 0.5 seconds).

Considering all these, let us look at the future of Q−Commerce.

Additive approach

Is q−commerce the death knell for traditional stores? The future of both is uncertain, although q−commerce is often considered as a complementing answer rather than a direct replacement.

The issue is that this change, which we have been anticipating for some time, is coming all of a sudden, catching conventional merchants off guard and making it difficult for them to match the increased demand. Some q−commerce businesses are marketplaces rather than traditional shops, meaning they do not have any inventory on hand. As an alternative, people depend on what large supermarkets like Walmart and Carrefour have in stock.

During the peak of the Covid−19 outbreak, numerous brick−and−mortar stores allied themselves with online delivery services. These partnerships benefited both parties since they helped to fill a need left by the closure of stores. Markets now have more things to offer consumers and supermarkets have a larger team of people to make deliveries.

Infrastructural components of urban areas

It has been shown that ridesharing has an effect on urban mobility, since an increase in the number of cars on the road causes congestion to build up and last longer in major cities. However, existing roads, particularly in urban areas, lack the necessary infrastructure to handle this increase in delivery volume.

Congestion zones with related levies or outright bans on vehicle admission to specified regions may be proposed as solutions by local governments.

Whenever you need it

Even while many q−commerce businesses now focus on food delivery, this is just the beginning. The victor will be the one that adopts new technologies first.

Q−commerce was born in the digital age, and it will only continue to flourish with the help of technology.

Conclusion

Consumers who used to go out to local shops or shopping malls increasingly want to remain put. Consumers nowadays are also ready to pay a premium for on−demand fast delivery due to a number of factors, including the rise of the gig economy, the rise of the elderly population, and the rise of the work−from−home professionals. This figure will increase as social trends like urbanisation, increased disposable incomes, and single homes continue to expand.