Quick Commerce: 71% of Diwali Shoppers Rank Value Above Speed

Speed is no longer the main selling point

India's quick-commerce apps grew by promising groceries in minutes. With less than two weeks to go before Diwali, a large consumer survey suggests that promise no longer decides where shoppers spend. A LocalCircles study found that 71% of quick-commerce users will pick a festive shopping platform based on the best prices or overall value. Another 65% named product quality, and 43% said they want low or no extra charges.3 Fast delivery, the feature the whole category was built on, was cited by only 22% of respondents.1

The study drew more than 204,000 responses from users in 130 districts, along with 11,275 ratings across seven platforms.2 Respondents could pick up to three factors. Fast delivery came last on the list, behind product availability (46%), offers and discounts (38%), a wide festive range (31%) and reliable delivery (28%).3

The outlets that covered the study read it the same way: speed is now seen as a basic feature that every app offers, not a reason to choose one over another.10 One wire report linked this to an earlier move this year, when Blinkit and reportedly Zepto dropped their explicit "10 minutes" delivery messaging.5 My reading is that the category has hit a familiar point in consumer technology. When every major player offers the defining feature, competition shifts to price, trust and range.

Extra fees are the biggest complaint

The survey's sharpest finding is about cost, not speed. Six in ten users said delivery, handling, small-cart or other fees often push their final bill above what they expected.2 This matters more because quick commerce is still mostly a small-basket habit. About 69% of users typically spend between ₹200 and ₹999 per order, and only 16% regularly go above ₹1,000.7

Company figures back this up. Blinkit reported a net average order value of ₹518 for April–June 2026, Amazon Now reports about ₹575, and Swiggy Instamart reported ₹708 for July–September.3 On orders that size, even a modest handling fee is a large share of the bill. The 27% of users who usually spend under ₹400 per order feel it most.3

Some coverage aimed at investors spells out the dilemma. If platforms cut these fees, margins per order shrink, because the cost of running dark stores and riders stays the same. If they keep fees high, customers may leave for rivals with clearer pricing.13 LocalCircles founder Sachin Taparia put it plainly: shoppers want a final bill that matches the price they first saw, and platforms that show all charges upfront will win the last stretch of festive orders.3 The survey's recommendations include showing the full price, with every fee, on the product page rather than only at checkout.1

Shoppers use different apps for different needs

The platform preferences show users splitting their spending across apps. For everyday buying, Blinkit leads with 31%, and Amazon Now is close behind at 25% despite launching late. For last-minute festive shopping, the order changes: Amazon Now leads at 22%, followed by Blinkit at 19%, Zepto at 14% and BigBasket at 12%.3 LocalCircles interprets the gap as evidence that users switch apps for festive purchases based on value, range and fees.3

The platform ratings point the same way. Amazon Now and Zepto shared the top overall score of 27.5 out of 35. Blinkit scored a perfect 5 on speed but only 2.5 on both value and transparency of charges.6 For the market leader, that is the uncomfortable result. Blinkit is best at the thing shoppers now say matters least, and weakest on the issues they say matter most.

With four platforms each drawing 12% or more of festive preference, no single app controls festive buying. Many users may simply pick an app at the moment they order, based on price, fees and stock.1 For a sector that has spent heavily on customer loyalty, this suggests that loyalty is weaker during the festive rush than it looks in everyday use.

Demand is still growing fast

None of this means demand is falling. Blinkit's net order value rose 79% year on year to ₹20,940 crore in July–September 2026. Swiggy Instamart's gross order value rose 31% to ₹9,230 crore. Zepto's revenue more than doubled to ₹22,624 crore in the year ended March 2026.3

Forecasters still expect quick commerce to take a bigger share of festive spending, though their numbers differ. Datum Intelligence projects that festive online sales could reach ₹1.55 trillion, with quick commerce at about 16%, up from 12% last year.11 A Google and Redseer study is more bullish. It expects quick-commerce festive sales to grow 110% and make up about 18% of online festive shopping.19 Redseer's figures also put quick commerce at around 11% of festive e-commerce spending in 2025, compared with Datum's 12%.14 The forecasts disagree on the exact size, but they agree on the direction.

The networks have grown to match. Blinkit has passed 2,750 dark stores, Swiggy Instamart runs 1,240, Flipkart Minutes has about 1,200 micro-fulfilment centres, and Amazon Now is in more than 120 cities.5 Zepto had 1,139 dark stores as of March 2026, and JioMart delivers groceries in under 30 minutes across 5,500 PIN codes.1 Advertising on quick-commerce platforms during the festive season is expected to reach ₹2,200 crore, up 50% from last year.8

The big marketplaces have caught up on speed

The most important context is that the large e-commerce marketplaces now offer quick delivery too. Amazon is including Amazon Now in its Great Indian Festival sale for the first time. Flipkart Minutes is offering more than 77,000 products across more than 1,400 categories. Myntra's M-Now will deliver 1.5 lakh styles, with delivery starting in 30 minutes.17 As one business daily put it, the marketplaces are keeping their huge product range while adopting quick commerce's speed.17 Amazon Now alone has reached $1 billion in annualised gross sales in India, and Amazon expanded it to four times as many cities in under 10 weeks.11

This explains the survey better than any change in shopper attitudes. When a shopper can get diyas, sweets or a phone charger within minutes from Amazon, Flipkart or a specialist quick-commerce app, speed stops being a reason to choose one. What remains is price, fees and whether the item is in stock. Amazon Now's lead in festive preference, and its high scores for value and clear charges, fit this explanation.6

Not every report agrees

The reporting is not unanimous. Kantar's Anand Parameswaran predicts that convenience will outrank price as the main driver of festive demand. He argues that shoppers now count time, speed and availability as part of value, and that quick commerce shows people will pay a little more for a fast, reliable service.19 On the surface, this contradicts LocalCircles.

The two views can be reconciled. Kantar describes value broadly, with convenience included. LocalCircles asked users to choose between platforms that all already deliver fast. In my reading, both are right: convenience brings shoppers to quick commerce, and price and fee transparency decide which app gets the order. The LocalCircles numbers are stated preferences from a survey, not purchase data, so they should be treated as a signal rather than proof.

There are also signs of strain in the wider economy. Kantar describes a festive shopper who is under pressure from inflation, a weak monsoon and higher borrowing costs, and who is buying smaller pack sizes.19 Trade experts quoted by The Tribune said early festive sales suggest higher prices are hurting discretionary spending.8 A report from October 20 suggested that big retail sites were seeing strong festive traffic while quick-commerce growth was more muted. In that climate, it makes sense that shoppers are reading checkout totals more carefully.

What to watch

This festive season may be the first real test of quick commerce as a mature business rather than a novelty. The industry has already shown it can deliver in minutes. Now it has to show it can charge clearly and fairly. The coverage points to three things to watch after Diwali: whether platforms show full prices earlier in the shopping process, whether Blinkit cuts its fees to defend its lead, and whether Amazon Now's festive gains last into everyday ordering. The apps that adjust their pricing are likely to fare better than the ones that only compete on speed.