In an announcement on Friday, Albinder Dhindsa, the founder of Blinkit, revealed that the quick commerce firm, owned by Zomato, will now offer delivery of eyewear products from Lenskart in under 10 minutes. This partnership allows Blinkit customers to access Lenskart.com products swiftly, initially focusing on sunglasses and Lenskart’s Hustlr range, which includes computer glasses. Dhindsa expressed curiosity about the evolution of the Hustlr brand over time.

The expansion of quick commerce services beyond groceries is evident as various categories such as beauty, toys, health, and electronics witness significant sales growth on such platforms. For instance, Arindam Paul, a founding member and CBO at Atomberg, recently shared on LinkedIn that the company has started selling its products on a quick commerce platform, maintaining the same prices as offered on other e-commerce platforms.

Additionally, Blinkit recently announced its availability of PlayStation 5 on its platform. Dhindsa noted that Blinkit customers in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru can now have the all-new PlayStation 5 Slim editions and controllers delivered within 10 minutes. However, due to high demand, the product quickly went out of stock within a week of its launch. Dhindsa reassured customers on LinkedIn that the company is actively working on restocking PlayStation 5 units at its stores to meet demand.

In Kolkata, approximately 15,000 local shops spanning across Bengal have partnered with Amazon India to provide a diverse range of items essential for various community New Year celebrations. These items include fresh flowers, rangoli, and puja essentials necessary for rituals during festivities such as Poila Baisakh, Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Bohag Bihu, and others.

Furthermore, not only shops specializing in traditional festival items, but also those selling home furnishings, kitchen appliances, personal care products, computers, and peripherals have joined Amazon for this occasion. The collaboration aims to cater to the diverse needs of customers during the New Year celebrations of different communities.

These local partner shops of the e-commerce giant are situated in prominent locations across Kolkata, Howrah, Durgapur, Nadia, Hooghly, and Kharagpur. Abhishek Jain, the head of local shops at Amazon India, assured that orders placed would be promptly delivered to customers.

The festivals such as Poila Baisakh, Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Bohag Bihu, Maha Vishubha, and Sankranti are celebrated with great fervor in various regions. In Bengal, these New Year festivals are embraced by the respective communities residing in the state.

Jain further elaborated that this year, nearly 4,700 sellers are offering approximately 60,000 festival-themed products across India through Amazon’s platform. The company anticipates an increase in the number of sellers partnering with them, thereby enhancing the variety and accessibility of festival-related products for customers nationwide.

Clicktech, a prominent seller on Amazon India, is in the process of acquiring its counterpart, Appario, as part of Amazon’s strategy to divest stakes in sellers operating on its platform. Appario holds the distinction of being the largest seller on Amazon India, particularly after the cessation of Cloudtail’s operations, and facilitates a considerable volume of orders for the local branch of the US-based e-commerce giant. This marks the second instance where Amazon is divesting its stake from a seller entity in compliance with local e-commerce regulations.

In addition to acquiring Appario, Amazon is also set to fully acquire Frontizo Business Services, the parent company of Appario, from its joint venture partner, Patni Group. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Frontizo, Appario will subsequently become owned by Clicktech.

Raj Jain, the executive director of Clicktech, explained the rationale behind the acquisition, stating that Clicktech envisions scaling and expanding its operations by broadening its product offerings on the marketplace. Consequently, the decision to purchase Appario’s business aligns with Clicktech’s growth strategy.

Both Frontizo and Appario spokespersons confirmed the transactions, albeit without disclosing specific deal details.

Clicktech is promoted by the Vinod Poddar group, which holds diverse interests spanning steel and coal processing, real estate, and plastics.

Appario stood as the final major seller on Amazon in which the e-commerce giant itself held a stake. In October 2022, Amazon announced its intention to gradually remove Appario from its platform over the following year. This decision came amidst protests from smaller sellers and mounting regulatory pressures. Subsequently, on November 24 of the preceding year, Economic Times reported that Amazon and Patni Group, the joint venture partner of Appario Retail, were actively exploring diverse options to enable Appario Retail to sustain its presence and continue selling on the marketplace.