The Flipkart Minutes quick-commerce network has reached 1,000 micro-fulfilment centres in less than two years, the Walmart-backed e-commerce giant announced on Wednesday, setting out plans to extend that figure to 1,500 by the end of 2026 as India’s fast-delivery sector shifts from a grocery shortcut into a broader shopping platform.
The milestone arrives into a market already crowded with well-funded rivals. Blinkit, owned by food-delivery group Eternal, scaled from roughly 383 dark stores in mid-2023 to 2,243 by the fourth quarter of FY26, according to Markhub24, and achieved adjusted EBITDA positivity at the unit level in March 2024. On gross order value, Blinkit holds approximately 45% of the market, with Swiggy Instamart at roughly 27% and Zepto at around 21%.
Based on current store counts and announced expansion plans, Flipkart could emerge as the second-largest quick-commerce network by micro-fulfilment centre count, a trajectory outlined in a recent note by Jefferies.
Flipkart Minutes Quick-Commerce Push Draws on a 250 Million-User Base
Flipkart is not starting from scratch. The company has approximately 250 million active users, according to Apparel Resources, a base it is banking on to seed adoption of Minutes without having to win customers from nothing. Kunal Gupta, head of Flipkart Minutes, told TechCrunch that orders on the platform have grown roughly 400% from a year earlier, a figure consistent with the 5x growth the company has cited separately, while customer retention rose 20% year-on-year. Both figures come from the company and were not independently verified.
Gen Z has become the service’s fastest-growing segment and now accounts for more than 40% of its customer base, according to Entrackr, citing the company. Flipkart has also doubled its electric vehicle delivery fleet over the past year; EVs now handle more than 10% of deliveries.
The product mix is changing, too. Demand is shifting away from groceries and towards electronics, beauty, and personal care. Average order values for fruits and vegetables rose 30% year-on-year. ‘What began as a way to fulfill everyday essentials has evolved into a fundamentally new shopping habit for millions of Indians,’ Gupta said. ‘Customers are not just ordering more; they are ordering differently.’
Flipkart Minutes launched in August 2024 and has since expanded to more than 130 cities and 8,000 postal codes. Growth is increasingly coming from outside the largest metropolitan areas: smaller cities recorded more than 4,000% growth from a year earlier, aided by expansion into 90 new cities. Gupta cited Patna, Guwahati, and Siliguri as markets where new stores are ramping up faster than expected, and described Lucknow as one of the service’s best performers despite incomplete city coverage. Flipkart plans to continue opening between 75 and 100 micro-fulfilment centres per month.
Amazon Now Moves Beyond Groceries, Eyes 100 Cities
Amazon is accelerating on a parallel track. Its Amazon Now service is currently live in more than 15 cities and operates over 500 micro-fulfilment centres. The company plans to expand the service to 100 cities with more than 1,000 micro-fulfilment centres, broadening its assortment from groceries into apparel, electronics, and home products, according to the Economic Times.
Amazon told TechCrunch that 70% of new Prime members now come from smaller markets, and the company says it remains on track to double its Prime membership base from 2023 levels by year-end. Everyday essentials already account for one in every two units shipped on Amazon.in.
The broader prize is considerable. India’s quick-commerce market is projected to reach $65–70 billion in gross merchandise value by 2030, according to Apparel Resources. The country already has more than 5,500 dark stores, according to Bernstein, and industry analysts expect that number to reach about 7,500 by 2030 as operators move into smaller cities and widen their category coverage.
Gupta left little ambiguity about Flipkart’s intent. ‘We will continue to expand rapidly, will not slow down after 1,000 stores as well, and we are going all in,’ he said. Whether Flipkart’s existing user base proves a structural advantage or merely a head start will depend on how quickly Blinkit, Zepto, and Amazon can close the retention gap that Minutes is now pointing to as its sharpest edge.
