According to reports, after Flipkart and Reliance Industries (RIL), Tatas are the latest e-commerce incumbents to join the ultra-fast delivery bandwagon as customer demand continues to rise in the metros.

The Tata group’s e-commerce venture Neu is set to enter the quick commerce segment branded as Neu Flash, rolling it out to select users selling groceries, electronics, and fashion. Neu Flash will gradually expand to more users in the coming weeks.

For groceries, Neu Flash is offered by BigBasket (which itself is moving to a full quick commerce model), Croma sells electronics and cell phones, and Tata Cliq also offers fashion and lifestyle products from specific stock-keeping units (SKUs) from specific stock management units (SKUs).

This is the latest bet by the Mumbai-based steel and salt conglomerate to tap online shoppers, with Zomato-owned Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto being the top three with over 85% of the market share; Flipkart is offering a service called Minutes, and Reliance JioMart is testing the service again after suspending 90-minute delivery on JioMart Express.

According to a recent Bernstein memo, quick commerce, which is growing faster than modern retail chains like Reliance Retail, D-Mart, and Spencer Retail, is also disrupting e-commerce and other forms of retailing. This is also why consumer platforms react to this change by preparing platforms that deliver a wide range of products, not just groceries, in 10 to 20 minutes.

There's a lot of work going on around this. Cliq is expected to go live on both Neu Flash and BigBasket. Strategic brand partnerships are being formed too, as per reports

For Tata Neu, seeing how it tackles the quick commerce business will be interesting. At the same time, market leaders are flush with cash and committed to securing market share; Zepto has raised $150 million from local investors after raising $1 billion in two months and has emerged as a challenger to market leader Blinkit (which has about 40% market share, according to several brokerages) and it has emerged as a challenger.