According to observers, Flipkart Minutes has not significantly influenced the q-commerce scene despite offering the lowest prices on its marketplace because of its subpar inventory. According to research by Axis Capital, Flipkart Minutes, the newest player in the Q-Comm space, was the priciest of its competitors in September after launching in August. After three months, it still has the worst q-commerce platform, but its prices are now the lowest. Given its late arrival, analysts from Axis Capital stated that “it continues to lag on competitive assortment, which we believe is more important in competing to gain users,” even though the difference with its peers is small at only 1% to 2%.
According to the survey, the average price differential between the q-commerce firms has decreased from 5% (the difference between the highest and lowest prices) to 1%. According to Axis Capital, Blinkit’s dominant position in q-commerce indicates that assortment is the key to expanding the company. The assortment is the quantity of distinct items (SKUs or stock-keeping units) that a platform offers. According to the survey, Blinkit has maintained its dominance on this parameter for the last three months, and its selection is comparable to slotted commerce.
As q-comm/slotted-comm customers are less price-sensitive, we do not think the players would engage in fierce pricing competition. Platforms are, therefore, reluctant to increase their user base at the expense of their profitability. We still think selection is more important than price in online forms,” analysts continued. The grocery delivery module known as slotted commerce, which is dominated by BigBasket and JioMart, allows customers to choose certain delivery time slots.
As it moves from slotted commerce to q-comm, BigBasket is focusing on its assortment analytics and price. In November, it raised its discount to kirana retailers from 10% in September to 13%. “BigBasket’s selection appears to have improved since September. We think this is to make it competitive when it moves from slotted to q-comm. According to Axis Capital’s most recent analysis, “Assortment is ahead of other Q-comm players and largely on par with Blinkit’s.”
“In general, we think that Flipkart Minutes’ reduced prices won’t work, but BigBasket’s improved assortment should help it gain traction in q-comm,” the brokerage continued. In addition, the pricing difference between Kirana shops and Q-comm platforms grew from 2–6% in September to as much as 8% in November. According to a different JP Morgan research, Blinkit and Zepto increased the number of dark stores they opened during the October–December quarter by 30–50% by the end of November as compared to early September.
Sixty percent of the additions were focused in the top three metro areas: Greater Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, and Mumbai Metropolitan Area. According to the brokerage’s analysis, “these cities are still >50% of DS count and likely >70% of GOV given higher AOV, store maturity, and frequency.”
