Question 1

What is quick commerce in Africa?

Accepted Answer

Quick commerce, often called q-commerce, refers to on-demand delivery apps and platforms across Africa that get groceries, prepared meals, pharmacy items, and everyday essentials to customers in minutes rather than days. It sits between traditional e-commerce and local convenience retail, and it has grown quickly in cities like Lagos, Nairobi, Cape Town, Accra, and Cairo where mobile ordering and dense neighborhoods make fast delivery viable.

Question 2

How is quick commerce different from traditional e-commerce?

Accepted Answer

Traditional e-commerce focuses on next-day or multi-day shipping from large warehouses for almost any product category. Quick commerce focuses on a smaller, curated catalogue of high-frequency items (food, drinks, fresh produce, pharmacy, household basics) stocked in small dark stores, partner shops, or restaurants close to the customer, so orders can be picked, packed, and delivered within roughly 10 to 60 minutes.

Question 3

Which African cities have on-demand delivery apps?

Accepted Answer

On-demand delivery apps in Africa are concentrated in major metropolitan areas with high mobile penetration and dense urban populations. The leading markets include Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt in Nigeria, Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Pretoria in South Africa, Accra and Kumasi in Ghana, Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt, plus growing coverage in Casablanca, Dar es Salaam, Kampala, and Kigali.

Question 4

Are 10-minute and instant delivery apps available in Africa?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but with realistic caveats. A handful of platforms market sub-30-minute or "instant" delivery in dense parts of Lagos, Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Cairo, typically using small dark stores or partner shops within a tight radius. Strict 10-minute delivery is rare because of traffic, address ambiguity in many neighborhoods, and last-mile cost; the more common reality is 30 to 60 minutes for food and groceries with live order tracking.

Question 5

What types of products do quick commerce apps in Africa deliver?

Accepted Answer

The typical quick commerce app in Africa delivers groceries (fresh produce, packaged foods, drinks, household goods), prepared meals from restaurants and cloud kitchens, pharmacy items and over-the-counter medicines, alcohol where regulation permits, and convenience essentials like baby care and personal care. Some platforms also handle local market shopping, gas refills, water, and pet supplies.

Question 6

How do African quick commerce platforms handle delivery logistics?

Accepted Answer

Most platforms run a fleet of two-wheeler riders (motorbikes and bicycles) coordinated through the app, often combined with a network of dark stores, partner supermarkets, restaurants, and local shops. Order routing software clusters drop-offs by area, riders carry insulated bags for hot or cold items, and customers track ETA and rider location in real time. In dense traffic cities, motorbike-first logistics are usually faster than car-based fleets.

Question 7

What payment methods do African quick commerce apps support?

Accepted Answer

The dominant methods are mobile money (M-Pesa, MTN MoMo, Airtel Money, Orange Money), bank transfers, and Visa or Mastercard via local processors like Paystack, Flutterwave, and Yoco. Many apps also support cash on delivery, USSD payments, and increasingly buy-now-pay-later for larger grocery orders. Multi-currency support is common for cross-border platforms.

Question 8

How do quick commerce startups in Africa make money?

Accepted Answer

The main revenue lines are delivery fees, service fees on each order, and commissions from vendors and restaurants listed on the platform. Many also charge merchants for promoted placement and run subscription programs (free or discounted delivery for a monthly fee). On the supply side, dark-store models earn margin on grocery and pantry items they stock directly.

Question 9

How is Quick Commerce different from E-commerce & Retail on Liners?

Accepted Answer

The E-commerce & Retail category covers full-catalogue online stores and marketplaces that ship physical or digital products with standard delivery windows. Quick Commerce is specifically for products that promise fast, on-demand delivery of a tighter catalogue (food, groceries, pharmacy, essentials) in minutes to a few hours, usually inside a single city. A product can fit both categories, but Quick Commerce is the right home when speed and locality are the core value proposition.

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