Samreen Ahmad · · 4 min readFlipkart’s push to reclaim its edge
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In focus
- Flipkart’s race to catch up with quick commerce, food delivery
- A look at the 2027 tech IPO pipeline in Asia
- From our archives: what’s propping up India’s quick commerce boom
Hello reader,
Imagine opening a quick commerce app and seeing milk priced at 1 rupee (US$0.01). I shop on these apps regularly, and even I would have assumed it was a typo. But the offer on Flipkart Minutes, which I saw in March, was no mistake.
The Walmart-backed ecommerce company is using aggressive discounts to gain ground in India’s quick commerce battle. The cost of competing, however, is steep. Flipkart is burning around US$31 million a month on the business.
It wants to become one of the country’s top two quick commerce players by the end of this year. It’s also piloting food delivery in Bengaluru, hoping lower restaurant commissions and an existing customer base will help it break into a market dominated by Swiggy and Zomato.
Both bets put Flipkart up against established competitors. In our latest premium story, we explore the firm’s strategy to challenge established players and get ahead in two of India’s most competitive markets: quick commerce and food delivery.
Meanwhile, Flipkart has also put its IPO plans on hold indefinitely, citing market uncertainty.
Our second featured story takes a broader look at Asia’s tech IPO pipeline through a tracker that follows upcoming listings across the region. They range from AI startups to data center operators, each with different conditions shaping their market debut plans.
Samreen Ahmad, journalist
Top Stories
1️⃣ Flipkart’s costly late push into quick commerce and food delivery
Illustration by: Ulla
The ecommerce innovator, which has features like cash-on-delivery and flexible returns, helped bring millions of Indians online. But in recent years, rivals have gained ground in emerging segments, with Meesho building a value-commerce business and Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart reshaping quick commerce.
Now, Flipkart is catching up. Can its deep pockets help reel in rivals?
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