There is something to be said for kirana stores.

I don't think the consumer should celebrate the end of kirana stores or the rise of Quick Commerce.

For these reasons:

1. It is only a matter of time before a health emergency happens (rats, yes). If you enter a warehouse, you will not be able to order from quick commerce again. By the way please do wash everything you get from quick commerce. Keeping the dark warehouse rodent free is not in anyone's KRA. Let that sink in. There are no health and safety standards applicable to these warehouses.

2. It was exactly like this before Covid. Then Covid happened and the local kirana stores sustained us. Like typical humans, we paid back with inbuilt ingratitude.

3. The customer is killing something that is both convenient and sustainable. The customer is creating monopolies. Then cribbing about high delivery charges is what use? You killed the competition and ensured enough reliance on this business model to make them monopolies. The customer literally is giving their choice away.

4. Creating 10,00,000 delivery partners who are not able to do justice to their basic health is good for whom? Lazy customers? Because this kind of work culture for 10,00,000 people is not good for society overall.

5. We underestimate the importance of stray conversations in combating loneliness. I buy most of my stuff from real retail stores and cannot overstate the importance of these connections. Pharmacist - 18 years. Stationery store - 21 years. Grocery store - 21 years. Optician - 10 years. Sabziwala - 4-5 years for one and nearly 10 years for another. Appliance and Electronics Store: 20 years. Sanitary Supplies: 15 years. They know me. I know them. Now, we also know each other's children. (The concept of 'strokes' was explained by Dr. Eric Berne in Transaction Analysis, in case you are looking for theoretical proof).

6. In Arthashastra, Chanakya says - Vyavhar is only among equals. A strong king and a weak king do not 'negotiate'. The stronger king sets the terms and the weak king accepts them. If you take a bread back to your kirana wala and say this was stale, he will quietly take the bread back and give you a fresh one. Try doing that with Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy, Zomato. You cannot negotiate with big kings. You can only put up with them. Do not create behemoths - because they are detrimental to your own welfare. Nurture equal stakeholders.

Like AI, you can either hate or love QCommerce, but you cannot avoid it. Like AI, you can decide how much of it you want in your own life.