Vertical Quick Commerce – Unbundling of the Horizontal Play

Almost a decade ago, customers bought everything from Flipkart. Ranging from books to clothes to electronics – literally everything from one platform. Within a few years, that had shifted. Beauty went to Nykaa, baby products to FirstCry, eyewear to Lenskart. The great e-commerce unbundling had happened.

Now the exact same thing is happening with quick commerce. Just recently, everything came from Blinkit. Today, orders are moving to specialized fashion apps, dedicated beauty platforms, service providers that didn’t exist six months ago.

The pattern is identical. Horizontal platforms build infrastructure and train consumers, then vertical players deliver better category experiences. The difference? This cycle is happening 10x faster. E-commerce unbundling took around 5+ years. Quick commerce unbundling is happening in months because the rails already exist.

This short piece explores why this unbundling is inevitable and which categories are getting disrupted next. Is it Apparel? BPC? Electronics – read here to find out more on the perspective on how vertical quick commerce is quietly becoming the default way to buy.