Rapid Commerce Takes Center Stage

Inside DTDC’s Strategic Playbook

Beyond 10 Minutes: The Rapid Commerce Pivot

Reinventing the Hub-and-Spoke Model

From Losses to Leverage: Fixing Unit Economics

AI, Automation, and the Tech Backbone

Roadblocks, Risks, and What Lies Ahead

Final Takeaways

As India’s quick-commerce frenzy collides with labour unrest and tightening economics, the race for ever-faster deliveries is being forced to slow down. Earlier this year, mass protests by gig workers exposed the hidden costs of the 10-minute promise. One logistics company, however, argues it anticipated the reckoning.

In this episode, Host Anirban Chowdhury speaks with DTDC CEO Abhishek Chakraborty about why the 35-year-old firm stepped away from the dark-store arms race and instead backed what it calls “rapid commerce”: 4 - 6 hour deliveries powered by co-located dream stores. Now back to profitability after years of investment-driven pressure, DTDC is betting that operational discipline can outlast headline-grabbing speed. Abhishek unpacks early BCG research that flagged an impending labour crunch, the rise of AI in customer operations, the rapid consumption growth of tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and the hard realities of EV adoption and overseas expansion beyond tariff-hit US markets.

In logistics, winning may depend on knowing when not to race.

You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: Linkedin & X

Check out other interesting episodes from the host like
Iran On The Edge, BRICS at the Helm: India’s Moment, and Its Multilateral Test, ET in the Valley: Apoorva Pandhi, MD at Zetta Venture Partners Silicon, India's Mega QSR Merger


Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

As India&rsquo;s quick-commerce frenzy collides with labour unrest and tightening economics, the race for ever-faster deliveries is being forced to slow down. Earlier this year, mass protests by gig workers exposed the hidden costs of the 10-minute promise. One logistics company, however, argues it anticipated the reckoning.
In this episode, Host Anirban Chowdhury speaks with DTDC CEO Abhishek Chakraborty about why the 35-year-old firm stepped away from the dark-store arms race and instead backed what it calls &ldquo;rapid commerce&rdquo;: 4 - 6 hour deliveries powered by co-located dream stores. Now back to profitability after years of investment-driven pressure, DTDC is betting that operational discipline can outlast headline-grabbing speed. Abhishek unpacks early BCG research that flagged an impending labour crunch, the rise of AI in customer operations, the rapid consumption growth of tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and the hard realities of EV adoption and overseas expansion beyond tariff-hit US markets.
In logistics, winning may depend on knowing when not to race.
You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/anirban-chowdhury-b5067219/">Linkedin</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/AnirbanET">X</a> Check out other interesting episodes from the host like <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iran-on-the-edge/id1568661777?i=1000745367661">Iran On The Edge</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brics-at-the-helm-indias-moment-and-its-multilateral-test/id1568661777?i=1000745221964">BRICS at the Helm: India&rsquo;s Moment, and Its Multilateral Test</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/et-in-the-valley-apoorva-pandhi-md-at-zetta-venture-partners/id1568661777?i=1000745067063">ET in the Valley: Apoorva Pandhi, MD at Zetta Venture Partners Silicon</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/indias-mega-qsr-merger/id1568661777?i=1000744914645">India's Mega QSR Merger</a>
 Catch the latest episode of &lsquo;The Morning Brief&rsquo; on <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/podcast?from=mdr">The Economic Times Online</a>,<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6PL5kfPbwURBEu6fHCVTOL?si=26ec0fbfa7134fea"> Spotify</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://www.jiosaavn.com/shows/the-morning-brief/1/GNPiFQD2xpY_">JioSaavn</a>, <a href="https://music.amazon.in/podcasts/f378141f-9afb-495d-83da-9b08ec5047ac/the-morning-brief">Amazon Music</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@theetpodcasts">Youtube</a>.

To make sense of the week’s hottest stories in business, economy, politics and markets, journalists from the Economic Times chat with reporters and industry leaders in this thrice-weekly (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) podcast.