Walmart-backed Flipkart is expanding express commerce as Amazon ramps up in India

Also quick trade It becomes India’s next e-commerce battlegroundWalmart-backed Flipkart said on Wednesday that its Minutes service has built a network of 1,000 micro fulfillment centers — small, strategically located warehouses designed to enable deliveries in minutes — less than two years after its launch, a milestone that Amazon is also targeting as it expands its express delivery business in the South Asian country.

Flipkart said it plans to expand the network to 1,500 small fulfillment centers by the end of 2026, a rapid build that will strengthen its position in India’s highly competitive express commerce sector, where Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Amazon are racing to add infrastructure and customers.

Based on its current store numbers and announced expansion plans, Flipkart could emerge as the second-largest express commerce network in India in terms of number of micro-fulfillment centers, behind Blinkit, which operates 2,243 such centres, according to a recent note from Jefferies. Rivals Zepto and Swiggy Instamart are also expanding their networks.

India has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing fast-commerce markets, as companies race to build networks that can deliver everything from groceries and beauty products to electronics in minutes. Blinkit, owned by food delivery company Eternal, remains the market leader, while Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, Flipkart and Amazon are investing heavily to expand their reach and win customers.

Competition has intensified in recent months as Amazon accelerates the launch of its Amazon Now service, which is currently available in more than 15 cities and operates more than 500 small fulfillment centers. Company Plans To expand the service to 100 cities with more than 1,000 small fulfillment centers while expanding its reach beyond grocery stores into categories such as apparel, electronics and household products.

The shift is also visible in shopping patterns on Flipkart Minutes, which Fired in August 2024. Order is increasingly coming from categories such as electronics and cosmetics, both figures coming from the company and cannot be independently verified. and personal care products rather than just groceries, Kunal Gupta, head of Flipkart Minutes, told TechCrunch. He said that orders on the platform increased by about 400% over the previous year, while the customer retention rate increased by 20% year-on-year.

“What started as a way to meet daily necessities has evolved into a fundamentally new shopping habit for millions of Indians,” Gupta said. “Customers aren’t just asking for more, they’re asking for something different.”

Flipkart said it has expanded its Minutes app to more than 130 cities and 8,000 zip codes, with growth increasingly coming from smaller cities outside India’s largest metropolitan areas. These markets recorded growth of more than 4,000% compared to the previous year, supported by expansion into 90 new cities, according to the company.

This trend is evident in the pace at which newly launched markets are maturing, Gupta said. He cited cities including Patna, Guwahati and Siliguri as examples where new stores are growing faster than expected, and described Lucknow as one of the best performing markets for Flipkart Minutes even though the company is yet to cover the entire city with its network.

Amazon is also betting on demand outside major cities in India. The company told TechCrunch that 70% of new Prime members come from smaller markets and that it remains on track to double its Prime membership base from 2023 levels by the end of the year. Amazon added that daily essentials now account for one in every two units shipped on Amazon.in, with the pace of shopping among customers now increased by Amazon.

Gupta told TechCrunch that Flipkart sees customers using Minutes alongside its main e-commerce platform rather than as an alternative to it, driving repeat purchases and helping expand into categories like fresh produce and daily essentials. The company said the average value of orders for fruits and vegetables rose by 30% year-on-year.

Flipkart plans to continue opening between 75 and 100 micro fulfillment centers per month while expanding to additional cities across the country, Gupta said.

The rapid expansion of Flipkart and Amazon highlights how India has become a testing ground for the next phase of e-commerce, as companies race to transform quick commerce from a grocery delivery service to a broader shopping platform. The country already has more than 5,500 dark stores, according to Bernstein, and industry analysts expect that number to rise. To rise to about 7,500 by 2030 As companies expand into small towns and expand their product offerings.

“We will continue to expand rapidly, we will not slow down after opening 1,000 stores either, we will all work on that,” Gupta said.