Two years after launch, Walmart’s Flipkart is closing in on India’s quick-commerce leaders
Two years after launch, Walmart’s Flipkart is closing in on India’s quick-commerce leaders
沃尔玛旗下 Flipkart 推出两年后，正逼近印度即时零售巨头
Indian startups spent years getting consumers accustomed to having groceries and everyday goods delivered within minutes. Now Walmart-owned Flipkart is rapidly closing the gap with those quick-commerce pioneers, as global rival Amazon mounts its own push into instant delivery. 印度初创公司花费多年时间，让消费者习惯了在几分钟内收到杂货和日常用品。如今，沃尔玛旗下的 Flipkart 正在迅速缩小与这些即时零售先驱之间的差距，与此同时，全球竞争对手亚马逊也在积极推进其即时配送业务。
Flipkart Minutes, which debuted in August 2024 as the e-commerce giant’s foray into quick commerce, is now delivering 1.1 million to 1.2 million orders a day, up from about 390,000 to 400,000 in November, people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. That puts the two-year-old service close to Swiggy’s Instamart, which is delivering about 1.4 million orders a day, according to a person familiar with its operations. 据知情人士向 TechCrunch 透露，Flipkart Minutes 作为这家电商巨头进军即时零售的业务，于 2024 年 8 月首次亮相，目前日订单量已达 110 万至 120 万单，高于 11 月份的约 39 万至 40 万单。据一位熟悉其运营情况的人士称，这使得这项推出两年的服务已接近 Swiggy 旗下的 Instamart，后者目前的日订单量约为 140 万单。
The gap is notable as Flipkart is a relative latecomer to a market whose top ranks have been dominated by Instamart, Blinkit, and Zepto. Food-delivery giant Swiggy launched Instamart in 2020 and Zepto arrived the following year, both during the pandemic, while Blinkit traces its roots to online grocery platform Grofers, founded in 2013. The three have since established themselves as India’s top quick-commerce players. 这一差距引人注目，因为 Flipkart 在这个市场中属于相对的后来者，而该市场长期由 Instamart、Blinkit 和 Zepto 占据主导地位。外卖巨头 Swiggy 于 2020 年推出了 Instamart，Zepto 则在次年疫情期间问世，而 Blinkit 的前身则是成立于 2013 年的在线杂货平台 Grofers。自那时起，这三家公司已确立了其作为印度顶级即时零售商的地位。
Blinkit continues to dominate the market with around 3.4 million to 3.6 million daily orders, followed by Zepto at about 2.4 million to 2.6 million, per recent estimates from market research firm Datum Intelligence. Flipkart is now rapidly narrowing the gap with Instamart, the smallest of the three established leaders by order volume. 根据市场研究公司 Datum Intelligence 的最新估算，Blinkit 继续以每日约 340 万至 360 万单的订单量占据市场主导地位，紧随其后的是 Zepto，日订单量约为 240 万至 260 万单。Flipkart 目前正在迅速缩小与 Instamart 的差距，后者是这三家老牌巨头中订单量最小的一家。
Instamart still has substantial scale. Earlier this month, Swiggy said the quick commerce service has more than 14 million monthly transacting users and operates over 1,200 dark stores across over 130 cities. The company has also been narrowing Instamart’s contribution-margin losses, with more than 45% of its dark-store network now contribution-margin positive. Instamart 仍具备相当大的规模。本月初，Swiggy 表示，该即时零售服务拥有超过 1400 万月度交易用户，并在 130 多个城市运营着超过 1200 个“暗店”（即专门用于快速配送的小型仓库）。该公司一直在缩减 Instamart 的边际贡献亏损，目前其超过 45% 的暗店网络已实现边际贡献盈利。
Nonetheless, Flipkart has fueled that growth with an aggressive expansion of its delivery infrastructure. Minutes now operates about 1,020 to 1,050 micro-fulfillment centers — essentially small warehouses located close to customers specially to handle quick deliveries — up from 600 in January and about 340 a year ago, one of the sources told TechCrunch. The company is adding around 100 such facilities a month, the source said, aiming to have 1,500 by the end of 2026. 尽管如此，Flipkart 通过积极扩张其配送基础设施推动了这一增长。据一位消息人士告诉 TechCrunch，Minutes 目前运营着约 1020 至 1050 个微型履约中心（本质上是靠近客户、专门处理快速配送的小型仓库），而这一数字在今年 1 月为 600 个，一年前约为 340 个。该消息人士称，公司每月增加约 100 个此类设施，目标是在 2026 年底前达到 1500 个。
Flipkart’s advantage goes beyond adding dark stores. The company can tap an enormous pool of existing e-commerce customers it has already spent years and billions of dollars acquiring, giving Minutes a ready audience for faster deliveries, Satish Meena, an adviser at Datum Intelligence, told TechCrunch. “Flipkart is already a serious player,” Meena said. “Once you open 1,000 dark stores and [are] doing a million orders per day, it’s serious enough.” Flipkart 的优势不仅在于增加暗店。Datum Intelligence 的顾问 Satish Meena 对 TechCrunch 表示，该公司可以利用其花费多年和数十亿美元积累的庞大现有电商客户群，为 Minutes 提供现成的快速配送受众。“Flipkart 已经是一个重量级玩家了，”Meena 说，“一旦你开设了 1000 家暗店，并且每天处理 100 万个订单，这就足够说明问题了。”
Minutes is also seeing customers return and shop more frequently. About 65% to 70% of customers making purchases on the service each month are repeat buyers, while transactions per customer have increased 50% to 60% from a year earlier, people familiar with the matter said. Those customers are spending an average of about ₹400 to ₹500 (about $4.20–$5.20) per order, with fruits and vegetables, staples, dairy, and meat among the fast-growing categories, the sources said. Flipkart is also expanding its selection of higher-end gourmet products, including organic and artisanal items, as it looks to capture more of customers’ spending on Minutes. 据知情人士透露，Minutes 的客户回购率和购物频率也在增加。每月在该服务上购物的客户中，约有 65% 至 70% 是回头客，而每位客户的交易量较一年前增长了 50% 至 60%。消息人士称，这些客户每单平均消费约 400 至 500 卢比（约 4.20 至 5.20 美元），其中水果蔬菜、主食、乳制品和肉类是增长最快的品类。Flipkart 也在扩大其高端美食产品的选择，包括有机和手工制品，旨在通过 Minutes 捕获更多客户的消费支出。
Even as Minutes has expanded, its average delivery time has fallen to about 11 minutes, from 13 minutes a year ago, one of the sources told TechCrunch. 尽管 Minutes 规模不断扩大，但据其中一位消息人士告诉 TechCrunch，其平均配送时间已从一年前的 13 分钟缩短至约 11 分钟。
A battle for India’s shoppers
印度购物者争夺战
Flipkart’s growth comes as quick commerce takes a bigger role in how Indians shop online, even as broader consumer demand has shown signs of weakness. In a recent report, Bernstein analysts said while the country’s consumption growth softened in July, a shift toward quick commerce and e-commerce continued, with quick-commerce platforms recording healthy growth in monthly active users. Flipkart 的增长正值即时零售在印度人在线购物方式中扮演越来越重要的角色之际，尽管更广泛的消费需求已显现出疲软迹象。伯恩斯坦（Bernstein）分析师在最近的一份报告中指出，虽然印度 7 月份的消费增长有所放缓，但向即时零售和电商的转变仍在持续，即时零售平台的月活跃用户录得了稳健增长。
Similar to Flipkart, Amazon is striving to gain its share in the Indian quick-commerce market. The Seattle-based company has been expanding Amazon Now, its quick-commerce service, as it seeks to bring the instant-delivery model to its existing e-commerce customer base. During CEO Andy Jassy’s visit to India in June, Amazon stated that Now became its fastest-growing business in India, with orders doubling every quarter since launch. The company also laid out plans to take the service to more than 300 cities and set up a network of more than 1,000 micro-fulfilment centers, alongside larger facilities aimed at expanding the range of products it can deliver within minutes. 与 Flipkart 类似，亚马逊也在努力争取其在印度即时零售市场的份额。这家总部位于西雅图的公司一直在扩大其即时零售服务 Amazon Now，试图将其即时配送模式引入现有的电商客户群。在首席执行官安迪·贾西（Andy Jassy）6 月份访问印度期间，亚马逊表示 Now 已成为其在印度增长最快的业务，自推出以来订单量每季度翻一番。该公司还制定了计划，将该服务扩展到 300 多个城市，并建立一个由 1000 多个微型履约中心组成的网络，同时配套更大的设施，旨在扩大其能在几分钟内配送的产品范围。
Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, Zepto, and Blinkit parent Eternal did not respond to requests for comment. 亚马逊、Flipkart、Swiggy、Zepto 以及 Blinkit 的母公司 Eternal 均未回应置评请求。
The quick commerce expansion is increasingly defensive as well as offensive for both Flipkart and Amazon, Meena told TechCrunch. As consumers grow accustomed to receiving certain purchases almost immediately, the e-commerce giants risk losing those transactions to specialist quick-commerce platforms if they cannot offer comparable speed. “Can you go back to scheduled delivery now in grocery? No,” Meena said. “You will not go back.” Meena 对 TechCrunch 表示，对于 Flipkart 和亚马逊而言，即时零售的扩张既是进攻，也日益成为一种防御手段。随着消费者习惯于几乎即时收到某些商品，如果电商巨头无法提供相当的配送速度，他们就有可能将这些交易流失给专业的即时零售平台。“你现在还能回到杂货的预约配送吗？不能，”Meena 说，“你回不去了。”