Quick commerce firms don't display items' best before dates: 57% shoppers

Six out of ten consumers told a survey that most quick commerce and some ecommerce platforms were failing to display the 'best before date' as mandated by law

About 57 per cent of Indian ecommerce and quick commerce shoppers reported that they are unable to find the ‘best before date’ for consumable products displayed on most platforms, a survey released by LocalCircles, said on Thursday.

Six out of ten consumers told the survey that most quick commerce and some ecommerce platforms were failing to display the ‘best before date as mandated by law, and were often shipping products that were very close to their expiry date. The report said that popular platforms like Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, Blinkit, Jiomart, Meesho, Lenskart, and several others are not compliant with regulations.

The survey, conducted via LocalCircles, gathered over 24,000 responses from validated online shoppers across 305 districts in India. The sample featured about 61 per cent men and 39 per cent women. Tier-I cities accounted for 48 per cent of the respondents, while Tier-II cities represented 31 per cent.

Key highlights of the survey:

1) Of the more than 12,000 respondents, only 14 per cent said that the ‘best before date’ was displayed on all online platforms they encountered in the last 12 months.

2) About 17 per cent of online grocery buyers rely on quick commerce sites for all their grocery needs, while the majority use it primarily for last-minute purchases.

3) About 35 percent of the shoppers surveyed reported that they are unable to find the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) displayed on most platforms.

4) LocalCircles found that a comparison of the latest data with results from 2023 revealed a seven per cent increase in complaints regarding the ‘best before dates’, indicating a decline in compliance.

5) The report said that while Tata Neu, Flipkart, Myntra, Ajio, Big Basket were compliant with the ‘best before date’ rules, bbnow, Amazon, Milkbasket, and AmazonFresh were partially compliant. It also said that Meesho, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, Lenskart, Jiomart, Snapdeal, MyGlamm, Decathlon were non-compliant.