Quick commerce has transformed India's retail industry by delivering groceries and daily needs in minutes. As this segment matures, a new trend is emerging: vertical commerce, where companies focus on a specific category instead of trying to do it all.
From horizontal quick commerce to vertical quick commerce.
Horizontal, widely recognized quick commerce companies such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto do not limit themselves to grocery retailing; they offer everything from gadgets to food.
Along with BigBasket, they hold the largest share of the Indian quick commerce industry—over 90%. For instance, Blinkit’s market share grew to 50% in September 2025 from about 46% in late 2024, and its revenue reached ₹2,301 crore in FY2024, while Zepto earned ₹11,110 crore in FY25.
The industry volume is also growing rapidly. Quick commerce GMV in India was about $6-7 billion in 2024, and its yearly growth rate is estimated at roughly 40% until 2030, with the most recent forecast claiming it will reach $8.3 billion in GMV in 2026 and increase to $68 billion by 2031.
Forecasts state that food-and-grocery e-commerce will grow [CAGR of 28%] from 2026 onwards, which is higher than electronics [CAGR of 18%] and fashion [CAGR of 20%] growth rates despite ongoing efforts by different platforms to promote large-ticket purchases.
While others in the industry prefer, for example, a heavy assortment approach, players in certain segments choose to focus on high-repurchase categories that are still fragmented or even under-branded, such as pharmacy, beauty and personal care, baby care, pet care, and fitness.
According to experts in the field, in the baby care segment, only about 25% of sales are made through brands, which creates huge opportunities for a specialized player to take advantage of.
For consumption, frequency is key. Consumers in cities now shop 3-5 times a week, ordering not necessarily groceries but such products as personal care goods, electronics, pharmacy products, beverages, etc., which is more of a habit rather than an urgent order.
The economic side of the business is also important as industry actors tend to get gross margins of no less than 60%, so one has to think about categories that bring high margins and high repurchases. Leveraging the groundwork laid by horizontal players
Vertical commerce is gaining traction now because horizontal fast-commerce platforms have laid the groundwork by shaping consumer behavior and signaling that ultra-fast deliveries are the norm.
Vertical players can now take advantage of this shift and adjust their marketing strategy to focus on category expertise and curation instead of educating customers on the basics. This greatly accelerates customer acquisition and lets companies focused on a particular area compete on trust and expertise rather than speed.
This is reminiscent of the earlier development of vertical e-commerce in India, where category players like Nykaa in beauty, FirstCry in infant products, and Lenskart in eyewear achieved sustainable leadership despite competing with horizontal players like Amazon and Flipkart.
Their success can be attributed to deeper category expertise, a more relevant product assortment, better supply chains, and customized experiences aligned with their new approach.
What to pay attention to
The first category of successful players in the new market is pharmacy and healthcare. PharmEasy and Tata 1mg are now the market leaders in fast medication delivery, while a newcomer called Pure Moment is reportedly moving toward profitability by focusing on pharma deliveries.
The next most sought-after category is beauty and personal care, with brands in this category now allocating 15-20% of quick commerce GMV back to this channel. About 10% of GMV goes to advertising in digital channels, with firms already starting to compete against each other for digital shelf space.
Additionally, other categories, including pet care, fitness and nutrition, and fashion, are now believed to be ready for the emergence of a new quick-commerce specialist.
The challenge ahead
The main problem these firms will face is how to scale up their operations without losing focus on the category they specialize in, as scaling into adjacent categories too quickly is likely to result in a fallback to a horizontal model.
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