What qcomm is doing to beat the coming rush

Quick commerce companies are pushing customers to stock up ahead of New Year’s Eve, industry executives said, as they brace for a spike in demand and potential disruptions due to a planned strike by delivery personnel.These platforms, including Swiggy Instamart, Flipkart Minutes, Zepto, BigBasket and Amazon Now, have also started rolling out party-themed sections and targeted deals on soft drinks, snacks, mixers, disposable cups, decoration items and games.For the year-end period, direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands have already started recording an upward trend in sales on quick commerce apps.“Advance planning is materially higher this year, particularly for New Year’s Eve house parties and small-group celebrations,” said Sagar Daryani, cofounder and chief executive, Wow Momo Foods, which has a range of frozen food and ready-to-eat products. “We are observing increased scheduled ordering and bulk-cart behaviour, especially within gated communities, where collective celebrations are driving predictable, volume-led demand.”New Year’s Eve is one of the busiest days of the year for quick commerce and food delivery platforms, with order volumes surging sharply throughout the day. Companies typically set up war rooms and hire additional temporary workers to deal with the order volume spike.Executives at quick commerce firms said the push is aimed at frontloading demand to not only help pace operations but also mitigate impact of the anticipated strike.This Christmas, delivery staff associated with meal aggregators and quick commerce platforms, including Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto, Blinkit, Amazon Now and Flipkart Minutes, went on strike. They plan to stop work again on December 31, making it two of the busiest days of the year for such companies.126207023Ready for Bumper EveOn Thursday, about 40,000 delivery riders conducted flash strikes and bike rallies that disrupted operations in some parts of New Delhi, Gurgaon, Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, according to unions and restaurant owners.Meanwhile, with a “sizeable” share of sales expected in the days leading up to December 31, platforms began placing New Year’s Eve purchase orders as early as the first week of December, a senior executive at a packaged snacks company said.This follows a strong festive season for D2C brands during Diwali, when they witnessed 2-3x growth in sales year-on-year on quick commerce platforms.Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, Flipkart Minutes, Amazon Now, BigBasket and Blinkit did not respond to ET's queries till publication of this report.Daryani said Wow Momo is witnessing increasing traction for its large-format party packs. “Meals designed to serve four to eight people are consistently outperforming individual portions, indicating a clear shift towards group consumption and higher basket consolidation during festive occasions,” he said.Home and personal care brand Beco is also seeing a spike in demand for baking paper, napkins and tissue papers a week ahead of New Year’s Eve on quick commerce. “Last year, we saw about 55% year-on-year (YoY) growth for party essentials like baking papers, napkins and tissue papers. This year, we are already seeing similar growth for these categories on quick commerce as platforms,” said Sourabh Narula, head of ecommerce marketplace, Beco.The uptick in sales for party essentials during this time of the year comes from a forced demand creation by these companies as they set up separate sections on the apps to attract customers, according to Narula.“We saw Christmas sales grow nearly 3-4x on-year, and we expect a similar surge for New Year’s through quick commerce platforms. December 31 continues to be one of the busiest days of the year for the category,” said Sneh Jain, cofounder, The Baker’s Dozen.For The Baker’s Dozen, sales on quick commerce picked up from December 15 as platforms rolled out season offers and consumers also began planning their celebrations early this year.To push sales further, quick commerce apps are running flash sales and interactive games with offers on some items.As demand rises, 10-minute delivery platforms are pushing brands to ramp up spending on advertising. Companies advertising heavily on Flipkart Minutes, Instamart and BigBasket include PepsiCo’s Lay’s, ITC’s Bingo, Bisleri, Coca-Cola, Cadbury and Fast&Up, as well as Farmley and frozen foods maker McCain.Instamart is also pushing party specific items such as chips, confectionary, beverages and ready to eat snacks of its private label brand Noice.