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The all-India strike by riders on December 31 focussed attention on whether the 10-minute model of quick commerce is necessary, at the cost of riders risking their lives to deliver orders fast.
Social media is divided on whether India needs milk, bread, dish cleaners, mobile phones, and air fryers in just 10 minutes, in addition to concerns about the pay and work conditions of delivery personnel.
So, how is this 10-minute delivery system, which did not exist a few years ago, actually executed?
ETtech dives in.
Quick recap: On December 31, over 200,000 delivery people working for platforms such as Zomato, Blinkit, Swiggy, Instamart, Zepto, Amazon, and Flipkart went on strike across the country, according to gig worker unions, demanding better pay, social security benefits, and the removal of 10-minute deliveries.
Soon after, Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal took to X to share multiple posts on the debate surrounding the country's gig workforce. “Our 10-minute delivery promise is enabled by the density of stores around your homes. It’s not enabled by asking delivery partners to drive fast,” Goyal wrote.
“I understand why everybody thinks 10 minutes must be risking lives, because it is indeed hard to imagine the sheer complexity of the system design which enables quick deliveries,” he added.
So, how do 10-minute deliveries work?
When you order your daily essentials on any quick commerce app that promises to deliver the order in 10 minutes or less, a lot happens behind the scenes.
Within seconds of you placing the order, a dark store receives the same and a delivery partner is assigned to pick it up. While the order is being packed, the rider reaches the store and scans a QR code to notify that he has arrived.
“Inside a dark store, there are a few roles — store manager, assistant manager, shift in-charge, pickers, and packers — who are the backbone of this system,” explained Angad Singh of the founding team of B2B quick commerce startup Zippee. “A picker and packer gets anywhere between a few seconds to two minutes to pack the order.”
For an order that has only a few frequently ordered items, they have anywhere between 30-45 seconds to pack, and then scan a QR code to indicate that its done.
The design of a dark store is crucial to ensure faster packaging. For instance, a typical quick commerce order would include milk, curd, bananas, bread, sugar, coffee, etc. According to industry executives, these items are placed towards the front of the store.
After picking up the order, the rider scans another QR code to notify that he has collected it. Then she / he typically has about 7–8 minutes to deliver the order within a 2-3 km radius.
Each of these notifications from the QR code scans go to the customer’s app. “These updates are only sent to the customer to create excitement and keep him / her engaged,” said Singh.
According to experts, the key to ensuring faster delivery for quick commerce platforms is the density of dark stores; this is why companies are expanding their store count even in metros.
How much do riders make?
One of the riders' major demands is better pay. Over the years, their compensation has gradually increased, but according to industry watchers, it has not kept pace with inflation.
“Generally, riders earn about Rs 1,000 per day after working for 10 hours. This varies depending on the location, season, incentives, and hours of work. On average, they make between Rs 26,000 and Rs 30,000 per month,” said Balasubramanian A, senior vice-president at the staffing firm Teamlease.
After accounting for vehicle maintenance and other expenses, their take-home is about Rs 22,000-25,000 per month, say industry insiders.
In 2021, food delivery and quick commerce riders earned about Rs 21,000 per month on average.
Speaking to multiple riders across different quick commerce platforms, ET found out that they get Rs 10-15 minimum per order. “It’s not a lot of money. If the demand is good, I do 50 orders per day and earn about Rs 2,000. But other days, I barely make Rs 1,000,” said a rider with a quick commerce firm in Bengaluru.
Social media is divided on whether India needs milk, bread, dish cleaners, mobile phones, and air fryers in just 10 minutes, in addition to concerns about the pay and work conditions of delivery personnel.
So, how is this 10-minute delivery system, which did not exist a few years ago, actually executed?
ETtech dives in.
Quick recap: On December 31, over 200,000 delivery people working for platforms such as Zomato, Blinkit, Swiggy, Instamart, Zepto, Amazon, and Flipkart went on strike across the country, according to gig worker unions, demanding better pay, social security benefits, and the removal of 10-minute deliveries.
Soon after, Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal took to X to share multiple posts on the debate surrounding the country's gig workforce. “Our 10-minute delivery promise is enabled by the density of stores around your homes. It’s not enabled by asking delivery partners to drive fast,” Goyal wrote.
“I understand why everybody thinks 10 minutes must be risking lives, because it is indeed hard to imagine the sheer complexity of the system design which enables quick deliveries,” he added.
So, how do 10-minute deliveries work?
When you order your daily essentials on any quick commerce app that promises to deliver the order in 10 minutes or less, a lot happens behind the scenes.
Within seconds of you placing the order, a dark store receives the same and a delivery partner is assigned to pick it up. While the order is being packed, the rider reaches the store and scans a QR code to notify that he has arrived.
“Inside a dark store, there are a few roles — store manager, assistant manager, shift in-charge, pickers, and packers — who are the backbone of this system,” explained Angad Singh of the founding team of B2B quick commerce startup Zippee. “A picker and packer gets anywhere between a few seconds to two minutes to pack the order.”
For an order that has only a few frequently ordered items, they have anywhere between 30-45 seconds to pack, and then scan a QR code to indicate that its done.
The design of a dark store is crucial to ensure faster packaging. For instance, a typical quick commerce order would include milk, curd, bananas, bread, sugar, coffee, etc. According to industry executives, these items are placed towards the front of the store.
After picking up the order, the rider scans another QR code to notify that he has collected it. Then she / he typically has about 7–8 minutes to deliver the order within a 2-3 km radius.
Each of these notifications from the QR code scans go to the customer’s app. “These updates are only sent to the customer to create excitement and keep him / her engaged,” said Singh.
According to experts, the key to ensuring faster delivery for quick commerce platforms is the density of dark stores; this is why companies are expanding their store count even in metros.
How much do riders make?
One of the riders' major demands is better pay. Over the years, their compensation has gradually increased, but according to industry watchers, it has not kept pace with inflation.
“Generally, riders earn about Rs 1,000 per day after working for 10 hours. This varies depending on the location, season, incentives, and hours of work. On average, they make between Rs 26,000 and Rs 30,000 per month,” said Balasubramanian A, senior vice-president at the staffing firm Teamlease.
After accounting for vehicle maintenance and other expenses, their take-home is about Rs 22,000-25,000 per month, say industry insiders.
In 2021, food delivery and quick commerce riders earned about Rs 21,000 per month on average.
Speaking to multiple riders across different quick commerce platforms, ET found out that they get Rs 10-15 minimum per order. “It’s not a lot of money. If the demand is good, I do 50 orders per day and earn about Rs 2,000. But other days, I barely make Rs 1,000,” said a rider with a quick commerce firm in Bengaluru.
