Quick commerce: who’s profitable now?

Since the restrictions of Covid lockdowns propelled online grocery sales in 2020, quick commerce has matured rapidly. However, only a small number of retailers have demonstrated that the economics can work at scale.

A look at how retailer economics have been broken highlights why few quick commerce operations can produce sustainable profit. Retailers everywhere face rising labour costs, subdued real sales growth, tightening margins and fixed assets that are becoming harder to monetise.

The few proving that profitability is possible

Tesco is one of a limited group of retailers reporting a profitable quick commerce operation. The retailer highlights strong order growth, higher repeat use and operational advantages linked to its integrated store‑picking model as key elements in achieving profitability.

Meanwhile, Germany-based Flink is another. After two years of network consolidation, tighter cost discipline and a renewed focus on operational efficiency, Flink has reached EBITDA‑level profitability, supported by fresh investment of around US$100m and a strategy centred on density and €45+ top‑up baskets.

Beyond quick commerce, Ahold Delhaize provides proof that omnichannel operations can reach sustainable profit levels. The retailer achieved online profitability on a fully allocated basis in its second quarter of 2025, driven by a decisive shift to a store‑first fulfilment model and the closure of six dedicated CFCs in the US.

Why these operators succeed

Tesco’s progress reflects the advantages of a high‑density store estate, integrated stock systems and operational visibility across grocery home shopping and quick commerce. The retailer highlighted faster cycle times, lower substitution rates and competitive pricing as key contributors to Whoosh’s positive economics.

Flink follows a more urban, hub‑based model, but the principles are similar: fewer dark stores, tighter assortments, more predictable baskets and disciplined cost control. This well-organised repositioning, underpinned by investor confidence, has enabled EBITDA‑level profitability across its core markets.

Ahold Delhaize’s model shows where the broader industry is heading. By scaling store‑based fulfilment, reducing fixed‑cost infrastructure and enhancing personalisation, the retailer improved its cost to serve while growing digital engagement. That combination unlocked full online profitability at scale.

Although Ahold Delhaize does not operate a dedicated quick commerce model, its approach offers transferable lessons: when the wider online channel becomes more efficient and profitable, retailers build a stronger foundation from which quick commerce can operate with lower marginal costs and a clearer path to sustainable economics.

Retailers nearing profitability

Although not yet profitable, India’s Swiggy Instamart expects to reach contribution‑margin neutrality between December 2025 and June 2026, supported by a 26% uplift in average order value and improving network efficiency.

In North America, DoorDash continues to build profitability across its wider platform through advertising and logistics offerings that subsidise last‑mile costs; however, this has yet to translate into quick commerce profitability.

What profitable operations have in common

Quick commerce is entering a more decisive stage, where financial resilience matters as much as speed. Across the profitable retailers, common themes emerge.

Tesco and Flink show that sustainable profitability is possible when rapid delivery is built on store‑based fulfilment, which reduces capital intensity and brings orders closer to shoppers. Delivery density improves labour productivity and reduces last‑mile costs, while being disciplined on their assortments increase predictability and reduces waste.

Ahold Delhaize reinforces these points in the online channel more broadly. The example it sets for lifting the overall economics of last-mile delivery; cost to serve, density and digital engagement, is a path to profitability quick commerce operations can follow.

These elements are enhanced by loyalty schemes, personalisation and retail media, which improve order economics without increasing operating costs.

Most retailers remain some distance from this position. Those reliant on aggregators, dark stores or fragmented fulfilment face structural cost barriers, where labour, energy and asset costs continue to rise and put pressure on margin delivery.

Retailers looking to strengthen their economics should assess where their current fulfilment model sits on this curve, and which operational levers, from automation to store‑first picking to retail media, can bring them closer to the economics of the most successful players.

 

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