Assessing consumer preferences for postharvest quality of leafy greens and climacteric fruits in rapid delivery systems: A conjoint analysis

The rapid growth of quick commerce (q-commerce) is changing urban grocery retailing by guaranteeing delivery of essentials, including fresh fruits and vegetables in 10-30 min. However, speed of delivery has implications for postharvest management of highly perishable food items such as leafy greens and climacteric fruits (i.e., bananas, mangoes, tomatoes and peaches). There is a significant lack of research examining how physiological quality preservation methods influence consumer preferences for highly perishable items such as leafy greens and climacteric fruits. This research fills this gap by investigating urban consumers' preferences regarding the trade-off between delivery speed, price and quality preservation on q-commerce platforms. The study was conducted in the Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu. A structured survey of 110 urban consumers in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, was conducted using convenience sampling. Choice-Based Conjoint (CBC) analysis under the Random Utility Theory framework was applied using an orthogonal design with three attributes: delivery speed, quality preservation methods and pricing. Consumer utility values were estimated using the Multinomial logit model (MNL) with significance testing at p<0. 05. The results indicated that delivery speed held the highest relative importance (38 %, p<0.001) in consumer preferences, followed by quality preservation methods (32 %, p<0.001) and price sensitivity (30 %, p<0.001). Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) revealed that physiological quality indicators such as freshness, ripeness and shelf life were the most influential latent factor (explaining 37.5 % of variance). Garrett Ranking identified inconsistent ripening (mean = 69.68) and high delivery charges (mean = 56.60) as the top barriers to purchasing fresh produce via quick commerce platforms.