StatsGuru: Race against time - the quick-commerce economy never sleeps

As quick-commerce drops the 10-minute promise, India still leads the world in q-commerce firms, even as funding cycles and productivity trends shift

Following a government directive, quick-commerce platforms have removed the 10-minute delivery promise from their branding. As quick-commerce firms mushroomed across the country, there was a race against time to deliver quickly. However, average delivery times varied across companies, ranging from 8 to 30 minutes in 2025.

 

The number of quick-commerce firms founded in a year fluctuated during the 2011-25 period, with recent years showing double-digit growth. India’s share of global funding grew sharply during the period, though there was some volatility in between. 

 

India led the world in hosting quick-commerce firms, with a 42 per cent share in the 24 years ended 2025, followed by the US and the UK. 

 

Stage-wise funding has shifted significantly over the years, with seed-stage funding dominating in 2023, late-stage in 2024 and post-initial public offering (IPO) financing in 2025. 

 

Orders placed every hour with listed quick-commerce firms rose sharply from FY22 to FY25, with Meesho recording 200 per cent growth and Instamart 584 per cent. 

 

Firms that deliver the fastest typically maintain a higher delivery-person-to-minute ratio, with Zepto and Blinkit leading the race in FY25. 

 

Revenue per employee growth slipped across major firms in FY25, with Blinkit and Instamart reporting declines, and Zepto and BigBasket reporting declines in earnings.