OPTIMISING E-COMMERCE DELIVERY COST IN INDIAN QUICK COMMERCE USING THE TRANSPORTATION MODEL
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Anil Surendra Modi School of Commerce, NMIMS Deemed-to-be University, Mumbai, India
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Abstract
Quick commerce companies in India promise delivery in ten to fifteen minutes, and the cost of the last mile decides whether each order earns or loses money. This paper studies how a quick commerce firm can assign customer orders to its dark stores so that the total daily delivery cost is as low as possible. Published operating data of Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, Flipkart Minutes and Delhivery are used to set the scale of the problem. A small transportation model is then built with three dark stores and four demand zones in the western suburbs of Mumbai. Delivery cost per order is based on reported rider payouts and map distances. The initial solution is found by Vogel's Approximation Method and tested by the Modified Distribution (MODI) method. The optimal plan costs Rs 1,40,800 per day, which is 11.6 per cent lower than the Rs 1,59,300 given by the North-West Corner Method. The plan stays the same when the rider rate changes between Rs 9 and Rs 12 per km.
Keywords
quick commerce; last-mile delivery; transportation problem; Vogel's Approximation Method; MODI method; dark stores
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Double-Blind Peer Review
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CC BY-NC 4.0
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Volume 02, Issue 10
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2
Article Type:
Research Article
Publication Date:
Oct 05 2026
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Sawant, A., Shetty, A., Kanodia, A., Mahajan, C. & Khetan, D. (2026). Optimising E-Commerce Delivery Cost in Indian Quick Commerce Using the Transportation Model. International Journal of Science, Strategic Management and Technology, 02(10), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.55041/ijsmt.v2i10.006
Sawant, Aryaa, et al.. "Optimising E-Commerce Delivery Cost in Indian Quick Commerce Using the Transportation Model." International Journal of Science, Strategic Management and Technology, vol. 02, no. 10, 2026, pp. 1-9. doi:https://doi.org/10.55041/ijsmt.v2i10.006.
Sawant, Aryaa,Atharva Shetty,Aditya Kanodia,Chirag Mahajan, and Dev Khetan. "Optimising E-Commerce Delivery Cost in Indian Quick Commerce Using the Transportation Model." International Journal of Science, Strategic Management and Technology 02, no. 10 (2026): 1-9. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.55041/ijsmt.v2i10.006.
References
Banik, D., & Hasan, M. Z. (2018). Transportation cost optimization of an online business applying Vogel's approximation method. World Scientific News, 96, 179-190. https://fs.unm.edu/DSmT/TransportationCostOptimization.pdf
Bhattacharya, M., & Kumar, M. (2025). Optimizing delivery for quick commerce factoring qualitative assessment of generated routes (arXiv:2510.08671). arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.08671
Boysen, N., Fedtke, S., & Schwerdfeger, S. (2021). Last-mile delivery concepts: A survey from an operational research perspective. OR Spectrum, 43(1), 1-58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00291-020-00607-8
Butani, A. (2023, April 19). New pay structure slashed income: Blinkit protests in NCR. The Quint. https://www.thequint.com/news/new-pay-structure-slashed-income-blinkit-protests-ncr
Charnes, A., & Cooper, W. W. (1954). The stepping stone method of explaining linear programming calculations in transportation problems. Management Science, 1(1), 49-69. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1.1.49
Dantzig, G. B. (1951). Application of the simplex method to a transportation problem. In T. C. Koopmans (Ed.), Activity analysis of production and allocation (pp. 359-373). Wiley.
Das, U. K., Babu, M. A., Khan, A. R., Helal, M. A., & Uddin, M. S. (2014). Logical development of Vogel's approximation method (LD-VAM): An approach to find basic feasible solution of transportation problem. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 3(2), 42-48.
Gevaers, R., Van de Voorde, E., & Vanelslander, T. (2014). Cost modelling and simulation of last-mile characteristics in an innovative B2C supply chain environment with implications on urban areas and cities. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 125, 398-411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.1483
Gladys L, B., & Vinotha, J. M. (2025). Sustainable rough multi-objective two-stage solid transportation problem of third-party e-commerce logistic providers with conditional fixed parameter on safety. The Scientific Temper, 16(1), 3611-3620. https://doi.org/10.58414/scientifictemper.2025.16.1.05
Google. (2026). Google Maps [Coordinates of Four Bungalows, Juhu Circle, Irla, Lokhandwala Complex, Seven Bungalows, JVPD Scheme and Mithibai College, Mumbai]. Retrieved October 2, 2026, from https://www.google.com/maps
Bhattacharya, M., & Kumar, M. (2025). Optimizing delivery for quick commerce factoring qualitative assessment of generated routes (arXiv:2510.08671). arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.08671
Boysen, N., Fedtke, S., & Schwerdfeger, S. (2021). Last-mile delivery concepts: A survey from an operational research perspective. OR Spectrum, 43(1), 1-58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00291-020-00607-8
Butani, A. (2023, April 19). New pay structure slashed income: Blinkit protests in NCR. The Quint. https://www.thequint.com/news/new-pay-structure-slashed-income-blinkit-protests-ncr
Charnes, A., & Cooper, W. W. (1954). The stepping stone method of explaining linear programming calculations in transportation problems. Management Science, 1(1), 49-69. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1.1.49
Dantzig, G. B. (1951). Application of the simplex method to a transportation problem. In T. C. Koopmans (Ed.), Activity analysis of production and allocation (pp. 359-373). Wiley.
Das, U. K., Babu, M. A., Khan, A. R., Helal, M. A., & Uddin, M. S. (2014). Logical development of Vogel's approximation method (LD-VAM): An approach to find basic feasible solution of transportation problem. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 3(2), 42-48.
Gevaers, R., Van de Voorde, E., & Vanelslander, T. (2014). Cost modelling and simulation of last-mile characteristics in an innovative B2C supply chain environment with implications on urban areas and cities. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 125, 398-411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.1483
Gladys L, B., & Vinotha, J. M. (2025). Sustainable rough multi-objective two-stage solid transportation problem of third-party e-commerce logistic providers with conditional fixed parameter on safety. The Scientific Temper, 16(1), 3611-3620. https://doi.org/10.58414/scientifictemper.2025.16.1.05
Google. (2026). Google Maps [Coordinates of Four Bungalows, Juhu Circle, Irla, Lokhandwala Complex, Seven Bungalows, JVPD Scheme and Mithibai College, Mumbai]. Retrieved October 2, 2026, from https://www.google.com/maps
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