Aditya Kalra, Abhirup and Roy

NEW DELHI (Reuters] – Indian grocery entrepreneurs are luring tech-savvy consumers with promises of delivery in 10 minutes. The promise sparks a boom for “quick Commerce”, spurring a boom, but raising concern about road safety.

India’s 600-billion-dollar grocery retailing market is already in intense competition. This industry includes Flipkart’s Flipkart (NASDAQ:), Walmart’s Flipkart (NYSE:) and Indian billionaire Mukesh Amanbani’s Reliance.

Blinkit is now owned by SoftBank and Zepto. In their race to get a slice of the market, they are looking to hire staff to open stores. Zepto’s delivery time of 10 minutes is much faster than that of competitors.

They have one mission. To pack groceries in a matter of minutes at “dark stores”, or smaller warehouses located within densely populated areas, and then send the bikers to other locations in about seven minutes.

Ashwin Mehta (a leading IT sector analyst for India’s Ambit Capital) told Reuters that “it’s a menace to the larger players.” “If customers get used to waiting 10 minutes for their deliveries, companies that deliver 24-hours will find it difficult to decrease their delivery times.”

RedSeer, a research company, says India’s rapid commerce sector is expected to grow 10-15 fold over the past year. The industry was valued at $300 million. By 2025, it will be worth $5 billion.

Blinkit, and Zepto were founded by two Stanford dropouts aged 19 years old. They satisfy consumers’ cravings for food, impulse shopping and daily supply needs.

Sharmistha said, “This is very convenient. It has made a life change.” She now uses Blinkit when she runs out of ingredients in her kitchen, whether it’s tomatoes to make soup or chocolate frosting to decorate cakes.

He lives in Gurugram, near New Delhi. The 75-year old was an avid user of Amazon’s BigBasket online grocery store and Indian conglomerate Tata. But he values Blinkit’s quick response to such emergencies.

It is easy to get fast deliveries in Europe and America. Companies such as Turkey’s Getir or Germany’s Gorillas expand quickly. But, India’s accidents-prone roads make rapid commerce dangerous.

Vijay Chhibber, a former road secretary said that ten minutes was very short. This is not a unique selling point for a company if there were a regulator of road safety.

Reuters reached out to Zepto and Blinkit but they did not reply.

RISKY ROADS – DRIVERS’ WOES

Many roads in urban areas are filled with potholes. Cattle and other animals that stray into the traffic lane pose a problem for drivers, many of whom often break basic rules.

According to the World Bank, India saw a loss of life every four minutes last year. Each year, around 150,000 are killed in crashes.

All 13 Blinkit/Zepto drivers interviewed by Reuters in key cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, and Gurugram stated that they were under pressure to deliver on time. This often resulted in speeding up to avoid being rebuked from store managers.

One anonymous Blinkit driver said, “We only have five to six minutes. I feel anxious and afraid for my life.”

Blinkit’s CEO stated that riders weren’t penalized and could still deliver their goods on Twitter (NYSE 🙂 in August. Dark stores are located near destinations sites so they don’t have to be late.

The delivery riders were not happy. Many delivery drivers told Reuters they are in a rush and mark the order as being delivered long before they arrive at their destination.

A customer could be penalized with 300 Indian rupees ($4.03) if they complained. One driver provided a screenshot from Blinkit that showed MDND (Marked Delivered but Not Delivered) as he used the term to describe such items.

Frustration was evident in the conversations on a WhatsApp Group of Blinkit Riders in Mumbai that were reviewed by Reuters.

After photos were uploaded of riders who had been hurt in rushes to meet deadlines, one user suggested that “Ban this 10-minute delivery”.

This is a reflection of India’s growing gig economy. Many workers feel undervalued and face harsh working conditions.

BULLISH

Blinkit describes its service as “indistinguishable form magic” and claims it hopes to grow into a $100 billion business.

Zepto was valued at $570million and is now aiming to become a $20 billion company. Investors such as Glade Brook Capital in the U.S. have already supported Zepto.

Reliance India is India’s largest offline retailer and has invested $50 million in Dunzo. Dunzo offers an instant delivery service that delivers within a matter of minutes.

However, Indian startup deliveries are usually free, unlike foreign businesses that can charge anywhere from $2-3 per delivery. This is a country with over 1.4 billion people.

T.N. said, “With free shipping, the business will not be financially viable.” Hari heads the human resources department at BigBasket online grocery, where most orders are delivered within 5 hours.

The market is small if there’s a reasonable delivery charge.

The Indians seem to be hooked for now.

New Year’s Eve deliveries included 43,000 fizzy drink cans, according to a Blinkit investor. He also added, “33.440 condoms ordered today on @letsblinkit.” One person ordered 80 condoms at once.