Competing through quick commerce: evidence from urban nanostores
Harmon Chaniago, Sri Raharso, Mohammad Rizal GaffarPurpose
Q-commerce research often treats speed as the outcome of logistics infrastructure, platform scale and technological sophistication. This study challenges that view by examining how quick-commerce capability operates in urban nanostores and how it shapes consumer purchase intention through perceived nanostore competitiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data were collected from 340 consumers across 60 nanostores in Bandung, Indonesia. The conceptual model was analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
Consumer convenience, delivery satisfaction and digital service quality strengthen perceived nanostore competitiveness. Perceived nanostore competitiveness then increases two dimensions of purchase intention: product-digital appeal and price-based intention. The mediation effects are heterogeneous. Perceived nanostore competitiveness mediates the effects of consumer convenience and delivery satisfaction, but not the effect of digital service quality. This suggests that digital service quality can generate direct experiential appeal without necessarily being interpreted as a relative retail advantage.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to consumers of urban nanostores in one developing economy. It distinguishes perceived immediacy from infrastructural scale and positions perceived nanostore competitiveness as a consumer-level evaluative mechanism.
Originality/value
The study reconceptualises Q-commerce in micro-retail as a perception-based service capability. It extends Q-commerce research beyond platform logistics by showing how social proximity, lightweight digital interaction and delivery responsiveness can create competitive advantage in informal retail environments.