What is instant commerce? 

Instant commerce is a rapidly evolving ecommerce service where businesses use third-party or owned fulfillment services in metropolitan areas to ship products to customers almost instantaneously after they make a purchase. 

You may be most familiar with the concept through services like Uber Eats, Instacart, or DoorDash, but companies like Amazon and Walmart are also implementing instant commerce service. These companies use third parties or their own delivery networks to pick up products from warehouses or retail locations and deliver them quickly and efficiently. Instant commerce also gives customers the option to pick up products in store. More on that later. 

Why has instant commerce become so popular? 

One word: convenience. When consumers make a purchase, they want their products then and there, and instant commerce gives them the instant gratification they’re looking for. 76% of consumers said that the number one reason for shopping online was convenience, and 66% said that fast shipping was a necessity when making a purchase, according to Morning Consult. 

Of course, this works better for some industries than others. Industries that provide more need-based products, like groceries or pharmaceuticals, are better fits for an instant commerce model than, say furniture or electronics. 

This is also reflected by customer expectations and preferences. In 2023, 40% of online grocery shoppers expected their order to be delivered within two hours. (This is a long way from the beginning days of the COVID-19 pandemic where delivery times were deliveries could sometimes take weeks.) 

But instant commerce isn’t just for the benefit of consumers. Brands that implement the practice can expect to see increases in average order values, and potentially cross-sell products. In fact, Gen Z shoppers are willing to pay almost 10% of their order price just for two-hour delivery. And when utilizing buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) 47% of shoppers made an additional purchase once in the physical storefront. 

How does instant commerce work? 

Using technology to predict customer needs. 

Instant commerce starts at the bottom of the ecommerce pyramid: with supply chains. Artificial intelligence and other optimization tools play a huge role in making instant commerce possible. These tools predict customer needs, optimize supply chains, ensure rapid fulfillment from retail locations, and speedy response times by delivery partners. 

Personalizing shopping experiences. 

Next, brands serve up personalized product recommendations utilizing real-time data-driven insights. These can be based on shopping trends, past purchase history, time of year, and more. 

Omnichannel selling for maximum exposure. 

Feed management and omnichannel retail tools can help manage these types of personalized experiences across various channels, like social media, search engines, marketplaces, ecommerce sites, and retail locations. 

Fast, efficient fulfillment. 

Once an order is placed, it’s imperative that sellers fulfill the order as soon as possible. How they do this really depends on the seller themselves. Retailers like Walmart, Target, or Amazon have vast networks of warehouses and physical locations to manage and process orders. 

Getting the product to the consumer. 

There are quite a few different ways brands can get their products into their customers’ hands. 

Self-managed infrastructure

Brands with their own delivery services, like Amazon, Walmart, or grocery chains, can utilize their own teams to deliver products quickly and efficiently. 

Third-party delivery networks

If your brand doesn’t have its own network of delivery drivers, you can contract out to other teams to deliver products for you. 

Buy online, pick up in-store

Delivery isn’t the only way to finalize instant commerce orders. BOPIS is also a great option for brands who may not be able to utilize these delivery networks, or who want to get their customers in the door for the possibility of upselling or cross-selling new products. 

Follow through post-purchase. 

Working in an instant commerce model means speeding up every aspect of the buying process, including the post-purchase experience. Adjust your marketing triggers and email automation to account for these changes in fulfillment and delivery times, and follow up with your customers accordingly. 

Instant commerce trends

Mobile-first is a must. 

While this applies to instant commerce, this can apply just as much to ecommerce as a whole. Global ecommerce sales made on mobile devices reached an all-time high in 2023, making up 60% of all sales, totaling $2.2 trillion. 

Your brand should be optimizing its mobile experience for speed and efficiency at every step. Ensure your site is lightning-fast on mobile, whether that means creating an app or progressive web app (PWA). Also focus on optimizing checkout for mobile shoppers (more on that later). 

Utilize the latest technology. 

Your business is probably already utilizing AI for many different jobs: optimizing marketing campaigns, product descriptions, personalization, and more. But AI driven personalization is key when it comes to instant commerce. Your brand needs to be serving up real-time product recommendations, personalized offers, and dynamic content that’s tailored specifically to individual shoppers and their needs. 

Invest in AI tools that can analyze customer behavior based on real-time data and preferences to deliver a hyper-personalized shopping experience that can get your customers to act instantly. 

BigCommerce partners with some of the biggest names in AI, like Google Gemini, Bloomreach, Searchspring, and Klevu to provide your ecommerce company with the tools it needs to succeed in this rapidly evolving ecommerce landscape. Learn more about BigCommerce’s AI partners here. 

Get serious about checkout. 

Optimizing your checkout is another best practice that goes across the board, but is especially important when it comes to instant commerce. Shoppers expect their buying experience to be just as quick and seamless as their delivery, and the slightest hiccup during the checkout process can turn a sale into an abandoned cart. 

One-page checkout

Making customers click from page to page, form to form during the checkout process just gives more opportunities for churn. That’s why optimizing your checkout experience to a single page makes such a huge impact. Fewer clicks mean fewer chances for cart abandonment. 

BigCommerce’s native single-page checkout has a conversion rate of 61.9%, and boasts a visit-to-order conversion rate of 2.33%, 

One-click checkout

One-click checkout allows your customers to, you guessed it, check out with just one click. BigCommerce partners like Fastlane By PayPal, Stripe Link, and Bolt provide ecommerce businesses with this functionality and let customers checkout seamlessly, giving the least amount of friction possible during the checkout process. 

Alternative payment methods

Alternative payment methods are rapidly gaining popularity. Methods like buy now, pay later (BNPL) and cryptocurrencies are becoming more mainstream. In fact, Lending Tree found that 20% of shoppers surveyed expected to use BNPL in August, 2024, alone. If businesses want to succeed online, they need to offer shoppers the ability to pay their way. 

Get the right tools for the job. 

Just like any task when it comes to ecommerce, the right tools make all the difference. That’s especially true with instant commerce. Finding an omnichannel management tool that can seamlessly synchronize inventories, delivery, and product information with your ecommerce back-end is a must. Take the time to properly vet your tools to make sure they can meet not only your customers’ needs, but also the needs of your business, now and in the future. 

BigCommerce boasts a composable architecture that seamlessly integrates with a myriad of ecommerce tools, like Feedonomics, a market leader in omnichannel feed management and instant commerce. 

The final word

Instant commerce is a trend your brand can’t ignore. As customer expectations evolve, the data are clear that shoppers will continue expecting to make purchases fast — and get them delivered even faster.