A Comparative Study of E-service Quality Between Instamart and Blinkit

Quick commerce (Q-commerce) has emerged as a transformative paradigm in the Indian e-commerce landscape, fundamentally reshaping how consumers access everyday goods through ultra-fast, on-demand delivery services. Led by Swiggy Instamart and Zomato Blinkit, this sector has experienced explosive growth. As competition intensifies, the quality of electronic service (E-service quality or E-SQ) has become the critical battleground for market leadership. This study rigorously evaluates and compares the E-service quality of Instamart and Blinkit among online customers in Indian Metro Cities, applying the widely validated E-SERVQUAL framework developed by Zeithaml et al. (2002, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science , 30 (4), 362–375) and refined by Parasuraman et al. (2005, Journal of Service Research , 7 (3), 213–233). A structured quantitative survey was administered to 800 respondents ( n = 400 per platform) using a 57-item, five-point Likert-scale questionnaire covering seven dimensions of E-SQ: Website Design, fulfillment, customer service, security/privacy, customer satisfaction, Repurchase Intention, and word of mouth. Results revealed statistically significant differences across all seven dimensions at the 1% significance level ( p < .001), with Blinkit consistently outperforming Instamart on every measured construct. Pearson correlation analysis confirmed strong inter-dimensional relationships ( r = 0.61–0.84), and regression analysis identified security/privacy (β = 0.31) and fulfillment (β = 0.28) as the strongest predictors of overall customer satisfaction. The study concludes with empirically grounded strategic recommendations for both platforms, theoretical contributions to the Q-commerce E-SQ literature, and a research agenda for future longitudinal and cross-cultural studies.