India’s online shopping industry is quietly creating a third channel — rapid commerce — that sits somewhere between quick commerce and e-commerce.

The emerging new model promises deliveries within two to four hours for products consumers don’t necessarily need immediately but don’t want to wait for days either.

One of the biggest misconceptions about rapid commerce is that it is simply quick commerce with a longer delivery window.

Industry executives argue that the two models are fundamentally different.

As Abhishek Chakraborty, CEO, DTDC Express, explains, “It occupies a sweet spot in between, where consumers are willing to wait just enough so that brands can consolidate orders, optimise logistics and reduce costs, without giving up on the immediacy.”

In effect, it is less about urgency and more about balancing convenience with economics.

Unlike with groceries or medicines, consumers shopping for a shirt, necklace or skincare product are often willing to wait a couple of hours if it gives them greater choice and a better shopping experience.

That subtle shift, Chakraborty says, is expanding the overall e-commerce market rather than redistributing existing demand.

“The overall pie has increased,” he says. “Yes, some share of traditional e-commerce is shifting towards rapid commerce, but total buying has gone up. Consumers are entering new categories.”

So, a buyer may not need a necklace or handbag in the next 15 minutes, but is increasingly unwilling to wait three or four days either.

Quick commerce — which thrives on emergencies and replenishments for groceries, medicines, snacks or other household essentials — relies on compact dark stores carrying a limited assortment of fast-moving products.

Rapid commerce, on the other hand, caters to planned yet immediate purchases — last-minute gifts, an outfit for an evening event, jewellery for a celebration, or a beauty product before a weekend trip. Speed matters, but so does choice.

Ravi Kapoor, Partner and Leader–Retail and Consumer at PwC India, says, “Now they expect speed across categories. After food and grocery, apparel is the next biggest retail category, and that wasn’t really being served by quick commerce. That’s where rapid commerce is likely to make the biggest difference.”

This behavioural change is forcing brands to rethink fulfilment.

Hyperlocal action

“For quick commerce, there is a very limited assortment — typically 80 to 200 SKUs,” says Anirudh Kudva, Chief Revenue Officer at GIVA. “That doesn’t work for jewellery.”

The Bengaluru-headquartered direct-to-consumer jewellery brand has turned its network of over 360 retail stores into hyperlocal fulfilment centres. Customers can receive products within two hours while still choosing from the 1,500-2,000 designs available at their nearest store.

“The advantage is that customers don’t have to compromise on selection,” Kudva says. “When you’re willing to wait two to four hours instead of 10 minutes, you can access a much wider catalogue.” So while quick commerce optimises for speed above everything, rapid commerce attempts to balance speed with assortment.

That balance is especially crucial in categories where consumers prefer to browse extensively before buying.

Demand creation

Jewellery brand Palmonas is already seeing results. According to Pallavi Mohadikar, co-founder and CEO, rapid commerce now contributes 25-30 per cent of the company’s online sales, making it one of its fastest growing channels.

The demand is driven by gifting occasions, festivals and last-minute purchases — shopping moments that rarely existed in traditional e-commerce.

“Same-day delivery has increasingly become a need rather than a want,” Mohadikar says. “Rapid commerce is driving incremental demand while also shifting some purchases from conventional online channels. Customers value speed and convenience.”

Meeting that need, however, requires brands to reorient operations.

Palmonas has redesigned its inventory planning, demand forecasting and warehousing strategy to place bestselling products closer to consumers.

Technology-led inventory visibility and third-party warehousing partnerships have become critical to delivering within hours rather than days.

The logistics race

The delivery business is remoulding itself to suit the specific needs of the rapid commerce channel.

Praharsh Chandra, co-founder and Chief Business Officer at Shadowfax, says rapid commerce is creating new consumption occasions and not merely cannibalising existing e-commerce demand.

“Faster fulfilment unlocks urgent purchases, replenishment needs and buying behaviour that traditional delivery timelines simply couldn’t capture,” he says.

To support rapid commerce demand, Shadowfax has expanded its network of mini fulfilment centres across major cities while piloting dark stores that enable deliveries within 30-45 minutes in a seven-km radius.

The benefits extend beyond customer satisfaction, says Chandra. Faster fulfilment reduces return-to-origin rates and order cancellations by 5-9 per cent while improving repeat purchases, he explains. Customers who receive their orders quickly tend to trust the platform more, increasing both engagement and loyalty.

Although rapid commerce carries higher fulfilment costs than conventional e-commerce, Chandra argues that there comes a point where speed begins to improve profitability.

“Higher conversion rates, lower cancellations and stronger customer retention ultimately create a virtuous cycle,” he says.

For brands, the economics increasingly appear to justify the investment. Higher inventory costs are offset by improved conversion rates, fewer returns and more frequent purchases.

More importantly, rapid commerce is spurring added purchase decisions. A customer who may have abandoned a cart because delivery would take four days is now willing to place an order knowing it will arrive before dinner. This behavioural shift could prove to be the biggest disruption of all.

Over the past decade, Indian e-commerce players competed on assortment and price. Quick commerce later redefined expectations around speed for essential purchases. Now rapid commerce is extending those expectations to discretionary spending.

The next retail battle

The rise of rapid commerce signals something larger than a new delivery promise. It reflects a change in consumer expectations. Indian shoppers no longer compare products alone — they also compare delivery time.

And as brands redesign inventory networks, retailers rethink store formats and logistics firms build denser fulfilment infrastructure, the line between online and offline retail is beginning to blur. The next phase of online shopping may no longer be defined by who offers the lowest price, but by who delivers at the speed of customer satisfaction.

Published on June 22, 2026