Flikart’s entry into the quick commerce space may trigger a price war among incumbents Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto with the Walmart-owned ecommerce major making an aggressive discounting play
Analysts at UBS Research said prices on Flipkart Minutes are 10% lower while noting that it could be an initial market entry strategy
The quick commerce war is set to further intensify with Ola looking to cash in on the $5 Bn opportunity by automating dark store operations
Quick commerce players like Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart face an uphill battle as pricing war intensifies with the new entrant Flipkart, which launched its quick delivery service Flipkart Minutes earlier this month, in the lead.
“Prices on Flipkart were around 10% lower…..While the lower pricing could be an initial market entry strategy, we will keep an eye on prices as Flipkart expands this offering,” international brokerage UBS Research said in its latest note.
A comparison of prices of a sample list of products across Flipkart and Blinkit showed a price difference of as much as 24% on items such as Britannia Milk Bread.
Further, while Blinkit charges a delivery fee of INR 16, as well as handling fees of INR 4 for an order of INR 1,205, Flipkart levies only a platform fee of INR 5 for the same order.
The competition in the quick commerce is set to heat up further with Ola looking to cash in on the $5 Bn opportunity by automating dark store operations.
During the Ola Sankalp 2024 event, company founder Bhavish Aggarwal said, “We have built tech that makes warehousing completely automated…(it will) completely change the state of warehousing with robot-first warehousing.”
(The story will be updated soon)