For some iPhone buyers in India, getting Apple’s new iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max doesn’t require queuing outside stores or waiting days for delivery. They only need a few taps on the Quick Trade app to have one delivered to their doorstep in about 10 minutes.
Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy’s Instamart, and BigBasket – India’s best-known platform for delivery of groceries and daily essentials in minutes – started offering the new Pro version as they went on sale in the country on Friday. However, the phone is still available through Apple’s usual sales channels, including stores, authorized retailers, and online marketplaces.
Putting the new iPhone in a 10-minute delivery app isn’t entirely new in India. The express shopping platform has offered Apple’s latest devices on the previous launch day as well, as they have continued to expand beyond grocery stores into categories including electronics, beauty products, and fashion.
However, the market behind those deliveries is growing rapidly. India’s express trade sector reached about 9 billion dollars In the first half of 2026, according to a recent report by Redseer Strategy Consultants, the number of monthly users increased to more than 60 million from 8 million three years ago. Google and Deloitte separately predict the market can reach 50 billion dollars in 2030Non-food products such as electronics, fashion, and beauty accounted for 45% of spending.
There are signs of strong demand on launch day. BigBasket said it shipped more than 300 iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max units in the first hour of sales. Instamart told TechCrunch that Bengaluru led iPhone 18 Pro-series orders on its platform, followed by Delhi. The Burgundy 256 GB iPhone 18 Pro is Instamart’s most popular variant, accounting for almost a third of its sales.
However, within hours of launch, the availability of new iPhones has become patchy. TechCrunch found iPhone 18 Pro models sold out on some fast-selling platforms and in some locations, while they are still available for delivery in other cities including Delhi and Bengaluru.
Tarun Pathak, director of research at Counterpoint Research, said launch-day shipments show that fast-paced shopping can work as a channel for popular smartphones in India’s biggest cities, even if the volume is still small compared to overall iPhone sales.
The ability to execute high-value smartphone orders provides “early proof of concept,” Pathak told TechCrunch. “The key question is whether the demand for this launch will translate into regular smartphone purchases through the fast-commerce platform.”
Navkendar Singh, Associate Vice President of IDC, said that India stands out globally for its fast delivery and is particularly suited to such purchases because consumers in major cities have built trust in such platforms by using them regularly for everyday purchases. The official link between the brand and the platform also gives consumers more confidence in buying expensive products through them, he told TechCrunch.
For products like the iPhone, the appeal also comes down to “instant gratification,” Singh said, allowing shoppers to avoid queuing outside stores or waiting days for online orders to arrive. However, he warned that fast shopping is not yet a major sales channel for smartphones. Its role in the release of the new iPhone is largely a “launch day marketing phenomenon” that “creates a good buzz around the launch,” he said.
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