How personal care items, smaller packs are driving quick commerce

Quick commerce has become an integral part of urban households, offering convenience through its within-minutes delivery promise. This has led to changes in buying and even stocking patterns, with many consumers now purchasing smaller packs as needed rather than stocking up on essentials at home.

Beyond groceries, products such as toothpaste, shampoo, soap and other quick-replenishment items have also found a strong market through quick commerce rather than products like make-up that need some exploration on colour, shade, etc.

A staggering 30 million shoppers every month order $1 billion worth of beauty and personal care products through Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart, finds the consulting firm Redseer’s Brand Index study. The category is growing at 90 per cent year on year.

Within beauty and personal care, oral care (toothpaste, floss, etc.) leads sales at Rs 174 crore, followed by bath and body products (soap, shower gel, body wash, body lotion and cream), skincare (moisturiser, serum, sunscreen) and fragrances.

What is particularly interesting is that consumers are buying higher-value products through quick commerce, suggesting that they are using these platforms not just for replenishment but also to discover and purchase premium products. What also works is the availability of small packs as 77 per cent of the products sold are less than 300 gm/ml.

Masstige (mass and prestige) and premium products account for 59 per cent of beauty and personal care spending on quick commerce, compared with 37 per cent across the overall market. Kushal Bhatnagar, partner at Redseer Strategy Consultants, explains that earlier, consumers who wanted premium products had to go to modern trade stores and stock things up or order through e-commerce. But now, quick commerce has made premium offerings readily accessible.

From a brand perspective, quick commerce offers digital-only brands another avenue to strengthen their online presence. For legacy companies, it provides an opportunity to innovate, expand into newer categories, and premium-ise their offerings.

While quick commerce platforms have reportedly been increasing their commission, and platform fees, making it more expensive for sellers, Bhatnagar says the beauty and personal care category enjoys high gross margins of 70-75 per cent, allowing brands to absorb the higher costs relatively easily.

According to Redseer’s latest Brand Index, India’s beauty and personal care market is expected to grow to $41-48 billion by 2031. Online channels are projected to account for 37-40 per cent of the market by then, with quick commerce contributing 27-31 per cent of online beauty sales, underscoring the rapid evolution of the channel.

Quick commerce currently accounts for around 5 per cent of India’s beauty and personal care market, a share that Redseer expects to double to 10-12 per cent by 2031. The study examined more than 1,500 beauty and personal care brands across the three leading quick commerce platforms.

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