Q-commerce : third generation commerce

E-commerce, already at the cutting edge of efficiency, is becoming ever faster. Orders are breaking records for preparation and delivery, in a few hours or even minutes, without forgetting the quality of customer service.

Quick commerce notes the last evolution of e-commerce by improving an essential part of the concept: the speed and quality of delivery to adapt to the new habits of the consumer. It is an illustration of compulsive purchase. Therefore, to be delivered quickly and close to home becomes a necessity for q-commerce.

As an extension of e-commerce, q-commerce is still different from it in its characteristics:

• A very short delivery time, possible within the hour,
• A smaller selection of products to reduce storage costs and avoid supply problems,
• Local delivery and therefore optimization of the last mile : sites must be near the customer, 
• Quick order preparation time because each package contains very few products,
• A stock which is constantly available, so that each product ordered is already ready to be delivered.

Compared to e-commerce, beyond delivery time we can distinguish other differences: warehouses and the delivery vehicles are smaller, we choose micro-warehouse or "dark stores" with products in smaller quantities and two-wheeled vehicles for delivery in order to meet the requirements of delivery in urban areas.

Hourly delivery is a great way to increase customer loyalty and satisfaction. With such a service, customers are more likely to recommend the company and to place orders again.

• Quick commerce has already delivered over 9 million orders in 2020.

On the operational and managerial side, it is necessary to know how to keep the pace. The use of a WMS solution becomes essential to optimize stocks and logistic processes in order to have a global view on the whole site and products which are in constant mobility.