Why your quick commerce orders are getting slower

On Thursday, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs asked quick commerce companies in India to prove that they actually deliver in "10 minutes or less", as claimed in their advertisements, Moneycontrol reported. The ministry has ordered industry leaders Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, and BigBasket to share data to establish their median delivery times in big cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai.

The report quoted a senior government official who said that the step was taken due to rising complaints from customers about delayed deliveries. These complaints, though, for those who’ve tracked or used these services since their inception during the pandemic, are nothing new.

Indeed, each year, complaints about quick commerce delivery timelines tend to peak during the summer season. “It is a high-demand quarter,” explains a senior executive from one of the big quick commerce companies. “You have Navaratri, Ugadi, Eid, and you have the IPL.” The end result is delivery timelines of 30-45 minutes—a far cry from platforms’ speedy USP—with services sometimes even going offline in various regions as platforms struggle to keep up with orders.