The world around us is speeding up continuously. So is the internet and consequently e-commerce. Customer loyalty has become extremely volatile: a slightly higher price or non-intuitive interface may cause immediate cart abandonment. While deciding to purchase or not you consider the convenience of placing your order and the delivery time. Customer pressure for the shortest delivery time has resulted in the creation of q-commerce, i.e. quick commerce – an ultra-fast version of e-commerce.
How fast is q-commerce?
The COVID-19 pandemic contributed significantly to the development of q-commerce. The exponential increase in orders for food products with home delivery was the main driver for speeding up deliveries. And it is the instant delivery of small parcels which quick commerce is about.
Next day or same day delivery is no longer enough: in the case of e-grocery, hours and even minutes count. For this type of goods, the shortest delivery time is much more crucial than free delivery or bargain prices. If the same or very similar goods are offered by many suppliers at a comparable price, the customer will not choose those with a long delivery time or complicated purchase process. Therefore, for many companies, q-commerce is a matter of keeping them in business – to stay on the market or fall out of it.
Quick commerce requires quick logistics
To implement instant deliveries, it is necessary to change the way you think about your assortment and logistics. You are challenged by the time limit of an hour – this is how long people in large cities are willing to wait for the delivery of groceries. Exceeding this limit by even five minutes increases the risk of losing a customer.
To win the race against time, it is necessary to move inventory close to potential customers. Local warehouses dispersed proportionally throughout urban areas (micro-fulfilment centres or micro-warehouses) are ideal for this role. A small warehouse space can be easily found in the desired location and means lower maintenance costs. Micro-fulfilment centres can operate alongside existing stores, often as dark stores.
To further speed up the order fulfilment process, the number of products offered should be reduced. A limited range allows you to decrease the storage space needed, to speed up the work of packers and to mitigate the risk of errors. As to the particular nature of the products offered, it is also crucial to handle order fulfilment carefully so as not to damage delicate or fragile products.
Differences between e-commerce and q-commerce
As mentioned above, the most distinctive feature that sets q-commerce apart from traditional e-commerce is time of delivery, which, instead of days, is now counted in hours or even minutes. Another key difference noted above is the wide variety of goods offered in e-commerce and the limited range available in q-commerce.
Another difference between both sales models is the size of warehouses: classic e-commerce prefers large central warehouses, while q-commerce is based on stores and micro-fulfilment centres or micro-warehouses located in the vicinity of densely populated areas such as large housing estates or close to those making orders like business or academic centres.
Another distinction is the mode of transportation used. In e-commerce, most often it is a van which is the basic delivery vehicle while in q-commerce, two-wheeled vehicles are gaining momentum. A bicycle, a motor scooter, a scooter or a motorbike allow couriers to efficiently avoid traffic jams and reach places inaccessible to cars.
Is q-commerce limited to foodstuffs?
The demand for instant deliveries is so great that the q-commerce model will probably spread to industries other than the food sector. Currently, it is difficult to imagine machines and devices being delivered on the same day or within a few hours after placing an order. However, the use of artificial intelligence to predict the size and types of orders can remove barriers that currently seem difficult to overcome.
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