Archive · 6 Sep 2026
Flipkart Gains Early Quick-Commerce Edge Over Amazon as Networks Scale
Flipkart and Amazon are both trying to deliver groceries and other products very quickly.
Flipkart’s service, called Flipkart Minutes, currently appears to be growing faster than Amazon Now.
Minutes has more than 1,000 stores, while Amazon Now has 500-600.
More Flipkart customers are using Minutes than Amazon customers are using Amazon Now.
Minutes stores also handle more orders on average.
Amazon says its service has faced problems with storing products and keeping computer records matched with real items.
Amazon’s expansion has slowed, although UBS expects it to increase its store count later.
Both companies are competing with larger quick-commerce services such as Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart.
Flipkart Minutes operates more than 1,000 dark stores across 120-130 cities, while Amazon Now has 500-600 stores across 11 cities.
UBS estimates Minutes reaches 40-45% of Flipkart customers in operating cities, compared with fewer than one in 10 regular Amazon app customers for Amazon Now.
Minutes averages 800-1,000 orders per store daily, while Amazon Now averages 700-850 after its network expanded.
Amazon Now’s expansion has slowed because of storage, inventory, transfer and expiry-related operational issues, according to UBS.
Quick-commerce incumbents remain larger, with Blinkit at 2,443 dark stores, Instamart at 1,171 and Zepto at 1,139 in the periods cited.
- Who
- Flipkart Minutes and Amazon Now, with competition from Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and other quick-commerce services.
- What
- Flipkart Minutes appears to have gained an early advantage over Amazon Now in store growth, customer adoption and orders per store.
- When
- The comparison comes about a year after Flipkart and Amazon entered quick commerce; the figures refer to periods through June and March, as cited in the report.
- Where
- Minutes operates across 120-130 cities, while Amazon Now operates across 11 cities in the markets covered by the report.
- Why
- Flipkart is converting more of its existing customers into quick-commerce users, while Amazon Now has slowed expansion amid storage, inventory and backend problems.
Flipkart Minutes
Amazon Now
Network expansion
Flipkart Minutes
Minutes operates more than 1,000 stores across 120-130 cities and could add another 1,000 by the middle of next year, according to UBS estimates.
Amazon Now
Amazon Now has 500-600 stores across 11 cities, and its expansion has slowed; UBS expects it could reach about 1,000 stores by the end of the year.
Customer adoption and productivity
Flipkart Minutes
Minutes reaches 40-45% of Flipkart customers in operating cities and averages 800-1,000 orders per store daily, with mature stores reaching 1,200-1,500.
Amazon Now
Amazon Now has activated fewer than one in 10 regular Amazon app customers and averages 700-850 orders per store daily, below the estimated profitability threshold of 1,700-1,800.
Operational position
Flipkart Minutes
Minutes is described as scaling faster and closing the basket-size gap with established competitors.
Amazon Now
Amazon Now is working through storage, hub-transfer, expiry and inventory-mismatch problems, although UBS expects the slowdown to be temporary.
- Minutes stores
- More than 1,000 dark stores across 120-130 cities
- Amazon Now stores
- 500-600 stores across 11 cities
- Minutes daily orders
- 800-1,000 orders per store on average
- Amazon Now daily orders
- 700-850 orders per store on average
- Minutes customer adoption
- 40-45% of Flipkart customers in operating cities also visit Minutes
- Amazon Now customer adoption
- Fewer than one in 10 of Amazon’s 60-70 million regular main-app customers have been activated
- Amazon Now profitability threshold
- An estimated 1,700-1,800 orders per store per day
- Minutes basket value
- Net order value excluding mobile phones of about Rs 500-530