Quick commerce trade-off; Google still wants engineers

Quick commerce is gaining popularity at the expense of sales in other retail channels. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.

Also in the letter:
■ Uber adds board muscle
■ ETtech Done Deals
■ Meta’s new rap battle

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Just 6-8% of quick commerce sales are truly incremental, with the bulk of the growth coming at the expense of other channels, chiefly modern trade and ecommerce, followed by local kirana stores, according to a Kearney report.

Driving the news:

• This cannibalisation is happening despite supermarkets and ecommerce platforms offering steeper discounts (13-18%) than quick commerce (6-9%) or kiranas (2-5%), the report added.
• Industry executives echoed the findings, saying platforms like Zepto, Blinkit, and Instamart are generating little or no net-new demand.

Also Read: Quick commerce now accounts for 20% of ecommerce sector in India: Walmart International CEO

Quick commerce success:

• Originally pitched as a top-up service for last-minute groceries and essentials, quick commerce has rapidly become the fastest-growing sales channel, especially for premium products.
• Its share of ecommerce is doubling every year, albeit from a low base. For most FMCG brands in India, quick commerce now accounts for 3-6% of online sales.
• In metro cities, online grocery shopping has surged: before the rise of quick commerce, only a third of shoppers preferred digital channels; that number has now increased to 87%, according to the report.

Also Read: Swiggy may recover quick commerce share despite widening losses: Morgan Stanley

Future outlook: Earlier this year, Unilever's global CEO, Fernando Fernandez, stated that he expects quick commerce to contribute 10-15% of sales in India over the next three to four years, up from its current 2-3% share.

“India is a very special place because richer and poorer Indians live in close proximity. That basically provides both the demand and labour supply, making quick commerce a logical channel to grow,” he said.

Also Read: Zepto founder Aadit Palicha alleges smear campaign by rival CFO as quick commerce race heats up

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Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google

Alphabet will continue hiring engineers through at least 2026, even as the Google parent ramps up investments in artificial intelligence, CEO Sundar Pichai said at the Bloomberg Tech Summit.

Tech layoffs: US tech giants, including Microsoft and Google, have recently cut jobs, partly a consequence of the massive capital being poured into AI. The layoffs have fuelled fears that the technology could replace certain roles altogether.

Quote, unquote: “I just view this (AI coding) as making engineers dramatically more productive, getting a lot of the mundane aspects out of what they do,” Pichai said.

Google earned users’ trust: Google has handled people’s deepest, darkest secrets responsibly, said CEO Sundar Pichai. The company has earned user trust, said Pichai, by protecting them from “bad actors” and “unwarranted requests”.

AI privacy concerns: Amid growing unease regarding how user data might be used to integrate AI into its products for a personalised experience, Pichai stated that Google is evolving its offerings based on direct user feedback.

The most common complaint about Gemini and Gmail? “Why can't it write more like me?” said Pichai. “It's an ask we are responding to.”

Also Read: Not breaking up Google, CEO Sundar Pichai indicates

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Nikesh Arora, CEO, Palo Alto

Uber has appointed Nikesh Arora, the CEO of Palo Alto Networks, to its board of directors as part of a broader leadership shake-up. Arora will serve on both the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Compensation Committee.

Who is Nikesh Arora: Arora has led the cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks as chairman and CEO since June 2018. Between 2016 and 2018, Arora was an angel investor, following senior roles at SoftBank and Google.

He currently sits on the board of the Swiss luxury goods group Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. Interestingly, Arora was also among the contenders to replace Travis Kalanick as Uber's CEO in June 2017. However, the role eventually went to Dara Khosrowshahi.

Uber top churn:

• Pradeep Parameswaran, former head of India and Asia Pacific, has been promoted to global head of mobility.
• Andrew Macdonald, a senior vice president, has been appointed chief operating officer (COO), overseeing the mobility, delivery, and autonomous units.
• Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, head of delivery, will depart at the end of June.
• In October 2024, Uber named Sachin Kansal as chief product officer (CPO) and Praveen Naga as chief technology officer (CTO).
• Anirban Kundu, head of delivery engineering, has left to join Instacart.

Also Read: Uber set to double its India tech workforce in 3–5 years, says CTO

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Satyam Kumar, cofounder, Loantap

Pune-based digital lending platform Loantap has raised $6.2 million in new equity funding led by July Ventures.

Deal details:

• Existing investors, such as 3one4 Capital, Avaana Capital, Kae Capital, and the Swapurna Family Office, also participated in the round.
• This takes the company’s total equity funding to around $26 million. LoanTap has also raised an additional $2.3 million in venture debt as part of the same round.

Tell me more: The fundraise comes at a time when the digital lending sector is facing challenges due to stricter regulations and a more cautious stance from banks and large non-banking finance companies.

Cleantech asset financier StrideGreen raises $3.5 million: StrideGreen, a climate-tech asset financing and management platform, has bagged $3.5 million in a funding round led by clean mobility investor Micelio Technology Fund. Early-stage venture capital firm Incubate Fund Asia also participated in the round.

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Rapper Eminem

A publishing company affiliated with rapper Eminem has taken Meta to court, accusing the tech giant of copyright infringement across its platforms—Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Curiously, the rapper himself is not a party to the lawsuit.

Driving the news: Eight Mile Style, which manages Eminem’s early catalogue, alleges that Meta unlawfully stored, reproduced, and exploited 243 of his tracks on its platforms without authorisation.

According to the suit, Meta’s tools, Original Audio and Reels, “allow and encourage its users to steal” Eminem’s music for videos “without proper attribution or license.”

What’s the damage: Eight Mile Style asserts that the alleged infringement has reduced the value of copyrights, resulted in lost profits, and unfairly enriched Meta through unauthorised use.

Pay up: The publisher is seeking the maximum statutory damages of $150,000 for each track, totalling $109.35 million.