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Context is everything.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
What were touted as a means to access superior services (and discounts) for a fee are, in reality, no different to the plain vanilla offerings of quick-commerce platforms.
Consider this. You are a regular user of a service and the service provider offers you a membership—that gives you access to better service and discounts—for a nominal fee. Sounds like a good deal, right? This is exactly what quick-commerce users thought about their memberships as well. But, lately, they have noticed dark patterns creeping in.
“I have a [Zepto] monthly pass. But instead of charging a delivery fee, now I am being charged for ‘item handling’. That too is hidden and until you click on that tiny ‘i’ icon on the payment page, it won't show up,” says a …
The contrasting approaches are driven by two very different strategies. One wants to capture more markets; the other is focused on discipline and profits.
India’s grocery and food delivery platforms are increasingly displaying misleading images of food using artificial intelligence, defeating the very purpose of buying online.
The quick-commerce startup weighs a valuation cut or finding alternative funding to stay afloat as investor appetite for loss-making businesses weakens.
