Real numbers: The economics of express deliveries

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Editor's note: It’s 2015 all over again. “Hyperlocal” as a buzzword is back in fundraising pitches and investor discussions. Only this time, the phenomenon is more ambitious than ever before—bigger and bolder, so to say. In the past few months, the race to deliver groceries to your doorstep has been moving from an hour to 45, 30, 15 minutes, or even less. At this point, same-day or even two-hour delivery is for losers. Multiple startups have now either launched express delivery verticals or ramped up their existing services. Food delivery startup Swiggy has been investing heavily in its Instamart grocery service; a couple of weeks ago, the company announced a 15-30 minute grocery delivery option. The proverbial cat with nine lives in online grocery, Grofers, announced 15-minute grocery delivery in July; a few days ago, the company launched 10-minute delivery in 10 cities. Last week, Dunzo announced its plans for 19-minute “ultra-fast” grocery deliveries. Meanwhile, BigBasket, the giant of grocery e-commerce, is prepping its own express service, targeting under an hour (as against the company’s usual same-day/next-day delivery). Flipkart too has been …