The landscape of quick commerce (Q-Com) is evolving rapidly, offering consumers unparalleled convenience and choice. But behind the scenes, brands face significant challenges as they try to align their operations with the unique demands of these platforms. A recent LinkedIn post by the founder of Urban Space sheds light on some of these pressing concerns, particularly around the cost structures imposed by platforms like Blinkit.
Navigating the Challenges of Quick Commerce: A Founder’s Perspective
The founder highlighted a specific charge imposed on brands: a 2% fee for delivering multiple purchase orders (POs) on the same date. For a brand like Urban Space, delivering goods worth ₹5 lakh could mean an additional ₹10,000 in fees for just one location. Multiply that by 10 locations, and the numbers become staggering. This fee structure, the founder argued, lacks rationality and puts undue strain on brands already grappling with the high cost of logistics and commissions.
To provide context, the quick commerce model often requires brands to fulfill small, fragmented POs across a wide geographic area. Warehouses are frequently located far from city centers, inflating first-mile logistics costs to as much as ₹50–60 per unit. Even for brands with higher-than-average selling prices (ASPs), these costs are unsustainable in the long run.
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Urban Space’s founder acknowledged that the decision to operate on such platforms is ultimately a brand’s own, but stressed the importance of collaboration to ensure the ecosystem thrives. Quick commerce leaders, they argued, must address these structural issues, particularly as brands cannot afford to implement differential pricing across channels without alienating customers.
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In a follow-up edit, the founder praised Blinkit’s team for their proactive response. Sanatan Chhibber from Manish Saini’s team reached out promptly to discuss the concerns and explain the rationale behind the charges. While partial solutions were explored, the fundamental issue of strained unit economics remains. The founder called for Q-Com platforms to invest more in scaling their logistics and first-mile operations to create a sustainable environment for small and mid-sized brands.
The post ends on a pragmatic note: the initial excitement around quick commerce might attract brands for the next couple of years, but without addressing core inefficiencies, the model risks becoming unsustainable. To truly enable a wider choice for consumers while ensuring profitability for brands, platforms like Blinkit must evolve their approach.
