The Quick Commerce Code: Breaking Playbooks Of Brands Winning The 10-Min Delivery Game

India’s quick commerce story is no longer about convenience. What started as a channel for forgotten groceries and last-minute essentials is now reshaping how Indians shop, consume and expect to receive products.

With India’s quick commerce market projected to become a $40 Bn opportunity by 2030 and platform GMV expected to cross $68 Bn by 2031, instant delivery is evolving from being an optional consumer convenience into a core retail channel.

The scale of this transformation is already visible. Blinkit reported a GOV of ₹13,300 Cr in Q3 FY26, while Swiggy Instamart clocked ₹7,938 Cr during the same period. Together with Zepto, these platforms now operate more than 4,300 dark stores across the country, fundamentally changing how products are discovered, purchased and consumed.

For consumer brands, this momentum has far-reaching implications.

Categories such as beauty, personal care, packaged foods, beverages, baby care, wellness and household essentials are witnessing growing demand through high-intent purchases completed within minutes. At the same time, a new generation of D2C brands is using quick commerce for more than distribution. They use it to acquire customers, test demand, and drive growth. 

Meanwhile, as consumer behaviour shifts, brands must rethink how they operate. Brands are redesigning product portfolios around immediacy. Packaging formats are evolving for smaller baskets and impulse purchases. Demand forecasting, inventory allocation and replenishment cycles are becoming significantly more dynamic as businesses adapt to an always-on consumption environment.

Yet, success in the channel requires much more — a series of decisions around assortment, pricing, inventory, fulfilment, visibility and platform strategy. 

Against this backdrop, Inc42, in collaboration with Nitro Commerce, is launching “The Quick Commerce Code” — a five-part series that explores how consumer brands are building, adapting, and scaling within India’s rapidly expanding 10-minute economy.

Through conversations with founders and operators, the series will look beyond headline growth metrics to understand what works on the ground. From customer acquisition and assortment strategy to operational execution and profitability, the series will examine the playbooks shaping the next phase of consumer commerce in India.

Here’s What To Expect

The Quick Commerce Code series will spotlight a diverse set of consumer brands navigating India’s rapidly evolving instant commerce ecosystem. From customer acquisition and category creation to inventory management and profitability, each brand offers a different lens into what it takes to win in the 10-minute economy. 

“With The Quick Commerce Code series, we want to decode how the next generation of D2C and FMCG founders are building businesses around real-time intelligence, rather than fragmented data. The winners will be those who can connect inventory, margins and platform dynamics into a single decision layer and act on it quickly,” said Umair Mohammed, founder and CEO of Nitro Commerce.

The series will be packed with crucial insights from Zodiac, an autonomous AI copilot designed to help D2C and FMCG brands manage and scale their business across quick commerce platforms, giving visibility into inventory, sales, competitor pricing, share of shelf and ad performance. Notably, Nitro Commerce acquired Zodiac in March this year. 

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the brand stories coming up in the series:  

How Fix My Curls Is Turning Quick Commerce Into A Discovery Engine

For Fix My Curls, quick commerce has evolved from a fulfilment channel into a powerful customer acquisition and discovery engine. The brand uses affordable SKUs to drive product trials, unlock demand from new consumer cohorts and adapt its portfolio for impulse-led purchases. 

The article will decode how Fix My Curls is using quick commerce to expand beyond its core audience and build a stronger top-of-funnel engine.

PeeSafe: How To Build Demand In An Emerging Category

PeeSafe’s quick commerce journey highlights how instant delivery can become a powerful lever for category creation. The company has used the channel not only to improve accessibility but also to drive awareness, encourage repeat purchases and expand demand across its portfolio. 

In an interview with the cofounder of PeeSafe, Rithish Kumar, we will break down how the brand is navigating evolving consumer behaviour while building one of India’s leading women’s wellness brands.

Gramiyaa’s Game Plan For Quick Commerce’s Toughest Arena 

Operating in the highly competitive food and staples segment, Gramiyaa offers an insider look at the realities of building a quick-commerce-led business. The company has focused on a concentrated SKU portfolio, prioritised stock availability, and navigated the operational complexities of scaling in quick commerce. 

In this article, we will talk about the economics, inventory challenges and execution playbook behind Gramiyaa’s growth journey.

Decoding The New Rules Of Consumer Commerce

The Quick Commerce Code documents how consumer brands are adapting to the biggest shifts underway in India’s commerce ecosystem.

Curated for founders, operators and investors, the series goes beyond traditional growth narratives to uncover decisions that have the potential to directly impact brands’ growth metrics. 

On this, Mohammed of Nitro Commerce urged brands to move beyond chasing GMV or simply spending more on ads in their quick commerce endeavour. 

“They need to maintain high fill rates, connect ad spending to real-time inventory, automate routine decisions and optimise for contribution margin. The brands that get this right can scale the channel profitably while continuing to build their own D2C channels and long-term customer relationships,” Mohammed added. 

All in all, the highly anticipated series The Quick Commerce Code from Inc42 will tap into similar fundamentals (as Mohammed mentioned) to decode strategies, trade-offs, and operating playbooks for brands sparring in the 10-minute delivery war zone. 

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