In a world where patience is outdated, brands are racing against the clock to deliver everything in 10 minutes, from groceries and gadgets to land plots and even emergency ambulances. But is ultra-fast convenience the ultimate innovation, or are we entering an era of unrealistic promises and unsustainable pressure?
When Land Plots Arrive Faster Than Pizza
The biggest sign that 10-minute commerce is no longer about groceries! Real estate has entered the game. In 2024, House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL), a new-age property developer, partnered with Zepto to launch the country’s first “land in 10 minutes” campaign. Through the Zepto app, users could browse plots, place bookings, and lock in ownership faster than it takes to negotiate a rent agreement.
The partnership blurred two worlds: the aspirational, slow-burning dream of land ownership and the adrenaline-rush culture of quick commerce. If groceries could be rushed, why not gated community plots in Alibaug? For HoABL, it was marketing genius. For Zepto, it was proof that its delivery ecosystem could stretch far beyond groceries.
For consumers, it raised a question: Do even life-defining purchases need to be “instant”?
The Grocery Wars: Blinkit vs. Zepto
Of course, the 10-minute story starts in the kitchen. Zepto and Blinkit have been slugging it out for the crown of India’s fastest grocery empire. What began with “milk and bread in 10 minutes” has quickly scaled to electronics, gifting hampers, and even luxury items. Blinkit’s festive tie-ups, think Diwali mithai boxes or Holi gulal delivered instantly, turned cultural rituals into impulse clicks.
The result? Grocery shopping shifted from planned lists to on-demand whims. Forgot sugar while baking? Order it and it arrives before the oven preheats. Need a last-minute Rakhi gift? Blinkit has you covered with curated hampers. For brands like HUL and Nestlé, these platforms are becoming real-time retail shelves, where visibility is tied to speed.
But behind the gloss, the cracks are visible. Delivery partners face mounting stress, traffic violations, and accidents in the race to shave seconds off delivery times. What fuels convenience for customers may be exacting an unseen human cost.
Domino’s and the QSR Speed Race
Not to be left behind, Domino’s has sharpened its game, experimenting with 20-minute pizza guarantees in select Indian cities. The promise? Your Margherita will arrive piping hot faster than you can finish scrolling Instagram Reels.
For Domino’s, the play isn’t just about customer delight, it’s about setting a benchmark that competitors can’t match. Quick-service restaurants (QSRs) like McDonald’s and Burger King are already exploring express menus and kitchen optimisations to keep pace. But the question remains: in a business already running on razor-thin margins, does speed become an innovation or a gimmick?
Urban Company’s “Instahelp” Moment
It’s not just food and groceries, Urban Company has quietly built a reputation for “instant services.” From beauty treatments to home repairs, many customers now expect a professional at their door within the hour, sometimes in as little as 15 minutes.
A burst pipe, a broken AC, or a surprise party that demands last-minute salon prep, Urban Company has trained users to equate home services with near-immediate availability. For gig workers on the platform, the pressure mirrors that of delivery partners in quick commerce: customer delight balanced against exhaustion and constant performance metrics.
When Speed Saves Lives: Emergency Medical Services
Nowhere is the 10-minute promise more vital than in healthcare. Startups like RED.Health and AmbiPalm are attempting to guarantee ambulances in 10 minutes, especially in urban metros plagued by traffic snarls. In critical care, minutes literally mean the difference between life and death, and here speed isn’t just a competitive advantage, it’s a moral imperative.
RED.Health, for example, integrates GPS tech, traffic data, and hospital networks to ensure rapid dispatch. For families, this shift is transformative: help is no longer “on the way,” it’s practically at the doorstep.
But even here, ethical questions arise: are private platforms filling a gap left by weak public health infrastructure, and can these promise scale to rural India, where response times are hours, not minutes?
Fashion, Beauty, and the “Impulse Delivery” Era
Retailers are also racing to tap the instant culture. Nykaa is piloting same-hour delivery for select beauty products in metro cities, letting users try that lipstick shade for tonight’s party without planning ahead. Myntra has tested hyperlocal partnerships for fashion drops, promising near-instant access to trend-led apparel with MNow. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Now continues to experiment with electronics and essentials in two-hour windows, inching toward the 10-minute benchmark.
The psychology here is simple: when desire strikes, a delayed checkout risks losing the sale. If convenience closes the loop instantly, conversion rates soar. For investors, this model is gold: less abandoned carts, more repeat orders, and higher brand stickiness.
The Price of Instant Gratification
The 10-minute promise isn’t just about technology; it’s about shaping a culture where patience is redundant. Brands are training consumers to believe that waiting is a flaw, not a norm. The “I want it now” mindset drives demand, but it also risks normalising unsustainable supply chains, worker burnout, and ecological waste from micro-deliveries.
Regulation is still catching up. Policymakers are debating whether speed guarantees should be banned for safety reasons. Labour unions have flagged the health risks to delivery staff. And even as VCs pump money into these instant models, questions of long-term profitability linger.
So, What’s Next?
The 10-minute rush reflects the zeitgeist of modern India: ambitious, restless, and impatient for progress. For brands, it’s a competitive playground where speed is as important as quality. For consumers, it’s a dopamine loop, convenience as addiction. (Also Read: Quick Commerce in India: Disruptive Innovation or Unsustainable Hype?)
But the real question isn’t whether brands can deliver in 10 minutes. It’s whether they should. Does every product or service need to be rushed? And at what cost, human, economic, and environmental—does this instant gratification come? The 10-minute revolution is here to stay, but perhaps the next wave of innovation will be less about shaving minutes and more about delivering responsibly. After all, true convenience isn’t just about speed, it’s about balance.
