Indian startups spent years convincing consumers that having groceries appear at their doorstep in minutes was a perfectly normal thing to expect. Now Walmart-owned Flipkart, the e-commerce giant that apparently missed the memo on patience, is closing the gap with those quick-commerce pioneers. Meanwhile, global rival Amazon is also trying to crash the instant-delivery party, because why not?

Flipkart Minutes, which launched in August 2024 as the company's foray into quick commerce, is now delivering 1.1 million to 1.2 million orders a day, up from about 390,000 to 400,000 in November, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to TechCrunch. That puts the two-year-old service right on the heels of Swiggy's Instamart, which is delivering about 1.4 million orders daily. Not bad for a latecomer in a market dominated by Instamart, Blinkit, and Zepto.

For context, Swiggy launched Instamart in 2020, Zepto arrived in 2021 (both pandemic babies), and Blinkit traces its roots to Grofers, founded in 2013. These three have long been the top dogs, but Flipkart is now nipping at Instamart's heels. Blinkit still leads with around 3.4 million to 3.6 million daily orders, followed by Zepto at about 2.4 million to 2.6 million, per estimates from market research firm Datum Intelligence. Flipkart is rapidly narrowing the gap with Instamart, the smallest of the trio by order volume.

Instamart isn't exactly withering on the vine, though. Earlier this month, Swiggy said the service has more than 14 million monthly transacting users and operates over 1,200 dark stores across more than 130 cities. The company has also been trimming Instamart's contribution-margin losses, with over 45% of its dark-store network now contribution-margin positive. But Flipkart is fueling its growth with an aggressive expansion of delivery infrastructure. Minutes now operates about 1,020 to 1,050 micro-fulfillment centers - essentially small warehouses near customers for quick deliveries - up from 600 in January and about 340 a year ago, one source told TechCrunch. The company is adding around 100 such facilities a month, aiming for 1,500 by the end of 2026.

Flipkart's advantage goes beyond sheer store count. It can tap into an enormous pool of existing e-commerce customers it has spent years and billions acquiring, giving Minutes a ready audience, said Satish Meena, an adviser at Datum Intelligence. "Flipkart is already a serious player," Meena said. "Once you open 1,000 dark stores and [are] doing a million orders per day, it's serious enough."

And customers are coming back for more. About 65% to 70% of monthly buyers are repeat customers, and transactions per customer have jumped 50% to 60% from a year earlier. They're spending an average of about ₹400 to ₹500 (about $4.20 - $5.20) per order, with fruits, vegetables, staples, dairy, and meat among the fast-growing categories. Flipkart is also expanding into higher-end gourmet products, including organic and artisanal items, to capture more spending. And they're getting faster: average delivery time has dropped to about 11 minutes, from 13 minutes a year ago.

This growth comes as quick commerce plays a bigger role in Indian online shopping, even amid broader consumer demand weakness. Bernstein analysts noted that while consumption growth softened in July, the shift toward quick commerce and e-commerce continued, with platforms seeing healthy monthly active user growth.

Amazon, not to be outdone, is expanding Amazon Now, its quick-commerce service. During CEO Andy Jassy's visit to India in June, Amazon said Now became its fastest-growing business in India, with orders doubling every quarter since launch. The company plans to take the service to more than 300 cities and set up over 1,000 micro-fulfillment centers, plus larger facilities to expand product range. Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, Zepto, and Blinkit parent Eternal did not respond to requests for comment.

The quick-commerce expansion is both offensive and defensive for Flipkart and Amazon, Meena said. As consumers get used to instant gratification, the giants risk losing those transactions to specialist platforms if they can't match speed. "Can you go back to scheduled delivery now in grocery? No," Meena said. "You will not go back." Indeed, once you've had your groceries in 11 minutes, waiting a day feels positively archaic.