India’s quick commerce battle is entering a sharper phase, with pricing emerging as the latest lever in a rapidly intensifying race. Blinkit, the country’s largest instant delivery platform, has quietly removed delivery charges in select micro-markets across cities such as Gurgaon, Bengaluru and Mumbai, according to industry sources familiar with the development.
The move is seen as a targeted response to heightened competition from newer and aggressively expanding rivals, particularly Amazon Now and Flipkart Minutes, both of which are scaling up dark store networks and offering low or zero delivery fees in key urban pockets. Sources indicate that Blinkit’s fee rollback is not a nationwide policy change but a calibrated step aimed at defending high-value customer cohorts in strategically important locations.
Over the past three to four months, rival platforms Zepto and Swiggy Instamart had already eased cost pressures on consumers. Zepto, following its $450 million fundraise in October, eliminated handling and surge fees and lowered the minimum cart value for free delivery to ₹99. Instamart soon mirrored similar incentives. Blinkit had, until recently, held its pricing line.
Quick commerce has become a critical sales channel for packaged food and daily essentials brands, many of which credit the segment for incremental volume growth over the past two years. Industry executives note that fee waivers tend to accelerate consumer adoption, particularly when a new player enters a market. Amazon Now’s zero-delivery-fee strategy has been a notable catalyst in cities where it has launched operations.
Amazon has been expanding aggressively, adding roughly two dark stores a day in December and crossing 300 micro-fulfilment centres by the end of the year. Company leadership has said that Prime members in launch zones typically migrate to Amazon’s quick commerce service within three months of a dark store opening.
According to BofA Research, Blinkit continues to lead the segment with over half the market share. The remaining share is split among Zepto, Instamart, Tata Digital backed BigBasket, Flipkart Minutes and Amazon Now. Flipkart, owned by Walmart, is also accelerating its presence and is expected to scale its dark store network to around 800 locations.
As platforms race to lock in users through pricing and proximity, the next phase of quick commerce growth is likely to be shaped as much by operational discipline as by how long companies can afford to keep deliveries free.
