PC makers look to hitch a ride on the q-com bandwagon

Bengaluru-based Sunny Gupta had been searching for a laptop for months.

In August, while sitting at a coffee shop, he decided to order an Acer Predator laptop — typically priced between Rs 95,000 and Rs 2.5 lakh — through the quick-commerce (q-com) platform Flipkart Minutes.

“It took exactly 13 minutes from payment to receiving it at the Starbucks I ordered it to,” he wrote in a now-viral post on social media platform X.

Now that q-com has become a staple for grocery deliveries in many urban households, companies in the space are expanding their offerings to include more high-ticket, ‘aspirational’ products.

Platforms like Blinkit, Zepto, and BigBasket are already seeing growing demand for smartphones, particularly the Apple iPhone.

As the average selling price of products purchased through these platforms rises, and more consumers opt to buy electronics, personal computer (PC) manufacturers are also looking to jump on the bandwagon.

“Laptops are the next logical step. As consumer expectations for rapid delivery grow, q-com will become a crucial avenue to meet these demands and drive sales,” says Sooraj Balakrishnan, associate director and head of marketing, Acer India.

According to Balakrishnan, Acer — currently the fourth-largest PC maker in India — is “actively discussing with leading q-com platforms” the possibility of listing a wider range of products.

Currently, Flipkart is the only player selling laptops through its q-com service Minutes in Bengaluru and the Delhi-National Capital Region.

However, as PC manufacturers explore the potential of this new channel, incumbents like Blinkit and Zepto may also begin listing laptops.

“At this moment, q-com is in its very early stages for PC and laptop sales, but it’s quickly becoming a trend,” says Arnold Su, vice-president — consumer and gaming PC, system business group, Asus India.

“We sell around 20,000 mice a month. For these kinds of products, q-com can help. For small-value items, q-com will become a very important channel for us,” says Su.

However, analysts caution that it might take time before PCs become standard quick-delivery products.

“Although the potential is there, scaling up laptop sales through q-com will take considerable effort.

"The larger penetration for q-com is in grocery, beauty and personal care, and mobile phone and PC accessories,” says Karan Taurani, senior vice-president — research analyst, Elara Capital.

“Laptop sales via q-com on a large scale is unlikely at this point. We’ll likely see sales remain below 2 or 3 per cent in the medium term,” he adds.

Regardless, as consumers grow accustomed to buying higher-value items on these platforms, demand for PCs may soon increase.