Do consumers really require a few items to be delivered within 10 minutes? I don’t know. I’m not the target audience and the intention of this piece is not to debate that contentious topic.
I am more interested in the potential ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) implications of 10 minute deliveries. I prefer stocking my groceries once every month through the ever so reliant Big Basket and seldom use delivery services such as Swiggy Instamart/ Dunzo to get a few loose items.
My concerns are to do with two aspects
- I’m quite interested to understand the potential environment impact of these frequent deliveries. I imagine delivering a couple of loose items to a household, few times each week contributes to increasing use of petrol and consequent pollution. This problem can perhaps be addressed once the delivery fleets are all electric.
- Frequent deliveries can potentially add to the woes of delivery executives who are already under the pump with 30 minute deliveries. Their plight is worsened by the sky-high expectations set by platform companies and the quickly eroding patience of customers.
Don’t get me wrong! I am not against progress, considering how online platforms like food delivery apps have completely disrupted the industry. My question here is – Where do we draw the line?
ESG is a very broad definition and needs to address topics such as environment sustainability, impact on communities (customer, delivery executives and others). The frequent delivery trips must be optimized to minimize the use of resources – fuel and packaging. Customer expectations need to be kept in check to prevent delivery executives from facing their ire while organizations hide behind apps. As ESG becomes a key component of investment decision making, I’m keen to see how instant delivery startups will evolve to keep up.
I’ll intently follow the growth of this space! There is a lot of smart money backing this idea, definitely for some good reason.