Every business these days is customer-centric. Since customers always come first, organizations must cater to their needs. As per a study conducted by PwC, 80% of the participating members preferred speed and convenience over everything else when it comes to shopping. Considering this factor, the ecommerce industry needs to adapt its business models accordingly. Q-Commerce is the perfect solution in this scenario. While it is true that Quick Commerce has existed for quite some time now, with the rise of the pandemic, it has become widely popular.
Restaurants have practiced the concept of Q-Commerce for years. Customers receive the placed orders at their specified locations within an hour. Shifting this concept of quick delivery to focus on the delivery of groceries, pharmacies, and other necessary items is a game-changer for all.
In the coming years, the need for speed, convenience, and efficiency will keep increasing because of busy lifestyles, the aging population, and other similar demographics. As per the OECD research, in 2021, 19% of the people who ordered their groceries online were above 65 years. Ecommerce businesses that have incorporated Quick Commerce have reaped the maximum benefits.
What is Quick Commerce?
Quick Commerce refers to businesses that manage the orders placed by customers through the internet and follow the instant delivery model. As the name suggests, such business ventures revolve around speed and agility. There are no differences between the business models of ecommerce and quick commerce organizations except for logistics. Speediness plays a pivotal role in defining the value proposition of quick commerce businesses and provides them with a competitive edge.
Instead of keeping large warehouses on the outskirts of urban areas, organizations have developed micro-warehouses. These small locations serve as the point of delivery for a particular region. The customers in the vicinity receive the products available in the micro-inventory. It helps ensure that the products reach the customer within 30 minutes of the order being placed.
Famous Organizations Implementing the Q-Commerce Model
The number of organizations moving towards quick commerce is rapidly increasing worldwide. Doordash, UberEats, Instacart, and Shipt are some prominent names that follow the quick-commerce model. However, these organizations usually serve as the intermediary parties dedicated to delivering services between businesses and customers.
Ecommerce businesses are quickly shifting towards this quick commerce model after identifying the potential for fast delivery to the customer. Amazon Prime Now is an excellent example. It utilizes its widespread logistic network to deliver the available products in its inventories in different areas.
Best Products to Deliver via Quick Commerce
Customers ordering products from a business that follows the quick commerce model expect to receive their order within an hour. It may seem like a daunting task, but most offered products by Q-Commerce businesses are convenience products. For example, medicines, fruits, vegetables, CPG, and other small household items work best when delivered quickly.
Benefits of Q-Commerce
Speed and convenience are the obvious and widely discussed benefits of Q-Commerce. But apart from these two, there are multiple advantages that an organization can gain by implementing the Q-Commerce model. Here are a few of them.
Competitive Advantage
We live in a fast-paced world, and there are hundreds of options for any item available in the market. Organizations can gain the upper hand over competitors by delivering groceries and medicines in a few minutes. Businesses that offer quick deliveries capture the competitors’ market in the nearby brick-and-mortar grocery or pharmacy shops.
Q-Commerce helps capture the market share quickly because quick deliveries result in satisfied customers. It also helps in attracting new customers and maintaining the old ones.
Enhanced Consumer Experience
Quick commerce truly captures and eradicates the pain points of the consumer. They deliver the product that is required urgently and within a specific time frame. For example, a diabetic person has a time constraint to inject insulin into their blood. A pharmacy following the Q-Commerce model can deliver the required insulin injection on time, saving the customer’s life in this scenario.
Receiving the products on time in critical situations creates a very positive impact on the customer. The enhancement of user experience results in loyalty for the customer.
Better Inventory Management
One of the most beneficial parts of Q-Commerce is the management of inventory. Organizations do not need to buy a product in large quantities. Instead, they can create small places, like warehouses, and manage the products from those places.
Why is Q-Commerce Trending?
As per the insights presented by Roland Berger, nearly 14 million USD has been collected in terms of venture capital for online grocery shopping over the past two years of the pandemic. The amount of investment itself indicates that the potential for Q-Commerce is vast and will increase over the coming years. The success and profits of pioneering organizations like Delivery Hero and Glovo are excellent examples. They have distinguished themselves from competitors by adopting Q-Commerce and have reaped maximum profits in a short period.
As customer demands for instant delivery increase, organizations that do not switch to the quick commerce model for the delivery of goods will miss out on large profit shares. Apart from the monetary loss, such companies are more likely to lose loyal customers, who prefer to receive goods at their doorstep.
How does Q-Commerce Facilitate e-Businesses during Holidays?
Holidays are special occasions when people like to send gifts to one another. Valentine’s day and Christmas are two of the most important holidays for e-Businesses. Many individuals may forget to buy their loved ones something special for Valentine’s Day, but they can order their last-minute gifts with the Q-Commerce services, ensuring a happy partner.
Final Words
Q-Commerce was already quite popular in the pre-covid times, but the pandemic has accelerated the demand for this concept. Core Sight Research had estimated at the start of 2021 that the retail sales of quick commerce would reach $20-$25 billion in the United States. This number is only bound to increase over the passage of years. There has also been a boom in the funding for Q-Commerce businesses because of its advantages. Ecommerce organizations need to adopt and implement this strategy to get the most out of their sales. Check out other popular ecommerce trends in our other blog posts.
At UpStart Commerce, we recognize and understand the importance of Q-Commerce. As a result, we help organizations build or replatform their ecommerce websites to Q-Commerce-centric platforms.
