Quick commerce gains ground in healthcare

CHICAGO — Quick commerce, the under-hour delivery model pioneered by startups promising groceries and convenience items in 15 to 30 minutes, has moved from niche experiment to national infrastructure, according to a new study from global management consultancy Kearney, and it is beginning to reshape how consumers shop for healthcare.

The report, "Quick Commerce: A Strategic Outlook," released Thursday, combines industry data with fresh consumer surveys to argue that fast delivery is no longer a niche fulfillment option but a behavior spreading across categories, including over-the-counter medicine and other health products.

Kearney found that 19% of consumers already use delivery under 30 minutes, and 34% already turn to some form of delivery when an urgent need arises. The shift is especially pronounced in healthcare: 61% of consumers say they want OTC products delivered within an hour, and 80% say they would try a 30-minute delivery service for a sudden illness or what researchers call a "moment of need" purchase.

"The implications are far reaching," said Katherine Black, a Kearney partner and the report's author, who leads the firm's food, mass and drug practice within its consumer group. "Winners won't simply deliver faster, they'll own the decision moment. As delivery times shrink, retailer loyalty will decline and convenience will become the consumer's deciding factor."

The research points to a broader behavioral change: consumers are increasingly making purchase decisions in the moment a need arises rather than during planned shopping trips. That shift, Black said, is expanding the competitive landscape well beyond traditional in-store retailers, pitting restaurants against grocers, and chain drugstores against big-box pharmacies, all competing for the same urgent-need purchase.

"Quick Commerce is no longer just a fulfillment innovation. It's fundamentally changing consumer behavior," Black said. "This is expanding the competitive set beyond traditional in-store retailers and creating an additional pathway toward AI-enabled shopping."

That AI connection is one of the study's more notable findings. Early quick-commerce adopters, the report notes, are also far more open to AI shopping agents than typical shoppers: 71% of under-30-minute delivery users said they would try an AI shopping agent, compared with just 24% of shoppers who primarily buy in-store. Kearney frames quick commerce as a potential on-ramp to broader adoption of agentic AI in retail.

The study also found that early quick-commerce adopters behave differently than other shoppers in ways that matter to retailers: they buy more impulsively and show lower loyalty to any single retailer, reinforcing Black's thesis that speed and convenience — not brand relationships — are becoming the primary driver of where consumers spend.

Kearney's report identifies healthcare as one of the next major growth opportunities for quick commerce and names DoorDash, Uber Eats, Walmart and Amazon among the companies to watch as competition intensifies over who can own that urgent decision moment.