Impulse or Intent? Decoding the Real Drivers Behind Quick Commerce Behavior

Ever had that moment? The doorbell rings, and boom - your fresh fruits, your favorite ice cream, whatever you just had to have, is right there. Quick commerce platforms have totally changed how we shop, turning a planned grocery run into an instant fix. But for brands and platforms, there's still this nagging question: are these lightning-fast purchases truly spur-of-the-moment, or is there something more deliberate going on?

Using BRIO, our dynamic pricing software for retailers, we're deep in the trenches with some of the biggest names in quick commerce, helping them untangle these very patterns. And recently, we stumbled upon something fascinating. It was a trend that pretty much flipped some long-held beliefs on their head, reminding us that just because something's fast doesn't mean it's impulsive.

That Peculiar Mid-Week Fruit Mystery
While running tons of order data through BRIO our price optimization software, for one of our partners, a strange pattern jumped out at us:

Every single Wednesday, right between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM, fresh fruit orders would spike. "And we mean really spike."

Now, fresh fruits aren't exactly a poster child for impulse buying, right? You usually grab them during your big weekend grocery haul. So, what on earth was causing this mid-week, mid-afternoon rush?

Our first thought, naturally, was "Impulse!" Maybe someone suddenly needed them for a dessert, or realized they'd run out, or just hit that mid-week slump and needed a healthy pick-me-up.

But honestly, that didn't quite sit right. So, we decided to dig a little deeper.

Beyond the Obvious: How BRIO Cracked the Code
How BRIO cracked the code
To truly understand what was driving this behavior, we didn't just look at the numbers. We combined that hard transactional data with real customer insights. We talked to those regular Wednesday fruit buyers, and we looked at their overall shopping habits. What we discovered was genuinely surprising, yet, in hindsight, perfectly logical.

It's a Top-Up, Not a Random Grab: Turns out, a lot of households have a two-part grocery rhythm. There's the big weekend stock-up, and then a smaller, mid-week refill for things that run out quickly, like fresh fruits and vegetables. So, that Wednesday fruit order wasn't a sudden whim; it was actually part of a routine, a planned habit.
The After-School Snack Rush is Real: A significant chunk of those orders came from parents. They weren't just buying fruits; they were preparing for their children's evening snack or next morning's breakfast. The need was already there, simmering. The quick commerce platform just made it incredibly easy to act on that existing intention.
Busy Pros Seizing a Quiet Moment: For many working professionals, that 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM window is a rare, blessed calm between meetings. It's the perfect little slot to quickly tick off a household chore. Ordering fresh fruits online wasn't some random desire; it was a smart, intentional move to save precious time.
So, Impulse or Intent?
The big reveal? It's a bit of both, actually.

Sure, the act of ordering was super quick. And yes, it felt impulsive in its execution. But for most of these purchases, the underlying reason was a pre-existing need. Quick commerce simply became the fastest, most efficient way to fulfill that need.

This is a crucial distinction. These platforms aren't always conjuring up new demand out of thin air. More often than not, they're perfectly positioned to intercept customers right at the moment of intent - seamlessly bridging the gap between thinking about something and actually getting it, with unbelievable speed.

Think about it:

It's 10 PM, and your child just remembered they need a world map for a school project tomorrow. Panic? Not anymore.
Last-minute Secret Santa gift? No need to brave the mall; it's at your door in minutes, no extra effort or pre-planning required.
Suddenly need photocopies or printouts for an urgent document? Forget the local shop, it's delivered to you.
Caught in a sudden downpour in monsoon season and need an umbrella, or sweltering in summer and craving an instant cool drink? Quick commerce steps in.
And let's not forget the power of a great deal - when you see an additional discount that makes a product cheaper than any competitor, and it can be delivered in under 10 minutes, that's impulse - fueled by irresistible value.
Quick commerce thrives by being there for these "aha!" moments - when a need, whether planned or sudden, meets instant gratification.

Game-Changing Insights for Quick Commerce Businesses
Quick Commerce Insights
Before partnering with BRIO, our client often struggled with inconsistent inventory and missed opportunities, treating every quick order as an unpredictable impulse. This led to frustrating stockouts for popular items like fresh fruits, or conversely, overstocking products based on false assumptions.

This little fruit mystery completely reshaped our partner's strategy. Instead of just chasing those flashy, "buy now!" impulse moments, we helped them pivot towards truly understanding and anticipating customer intent. The results were clear:

Rethink Your Promotions & Pricing: Ditch the "Buy Now!" urgency as your only trick. With BRIO's real-time AI-powered pricing recommendations, we helped them implement dynamic pricing strategies that resonated with customer intent, rather than just pushing generic discounts. This allowed them to craft messages around the sheer convenience of a mid-week top-up, offering planning assistance, or gentle reminders for routine replenishments, all while ensuring competitive pricing.
Predict, Don't Just React: With BRIO's advanced demand forecasting and insights into seasonal trends, bolstered by competition intelligence, we could accurately predict when specific products would be needed for replenishment and how competitor pricing might influence demand. This allowed the platform to send proactive nudges to users before they even realized they were running low. This led to a 15% reduction in stockouts for key perishables and a 10% increase in customer retention for these 'intent-driven' categories. We also leveraged these insights to understand and boost Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) by identifying patterns in high-value customer segments.
Personalize, Personalize, Personalize: Forget one-size-fits-all deals. We helped them create super-specific customer segmentations based on their repeat buying patterns - like parents ordering fresh fruits mid-week, or professionals grabbing essentials during work breaks - and then tailored communications just for them. This deep personalization fostered stronger customer loyalty and engagement.
Smarter Inventory, Less Waste: Knowing that certain items spike due to predictable intent and understanding seasonality trends means much more accurate forecasting. This translated into better on-shelf availability and, happily, a 7% decrease in operational waste from products mistakenly labeled as "impulse-only."
The Bigger Picture
Quick commerce isn't just about satisfying the "now." It's about digging deeper to understand the "why" behind every single purchase. When platforms mistakenly treat every fast order as purely impulsive, they're actually missing out on a goldmine of predictable, recurring customer behavior.

At BRIO, we believe data isn't just about what has happened. It's about unlocking what could happen next. And when you truly grasp the difference between a fleeting craving and a genuine commitment, you're not just moving fast - you're moving ahead with smart pricing, building a much more sustainable quick commerce model.

Curious to uncover the hidden patterns in your own user behavior?

Don't just react to the market; predict it. Let BRIO help you cut through the noise and find the real insights. Because when you move smart, you move ahead

This blog was originally published at https://sciative.com/research-articles/ai-powered-retail-dynamic-pricing-cracks-buying-behavior

Sciative: 12th Floor, Plot 15, Rupa Sapphire, 15, Sector 18, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra 400703

Sciative specializes in dynamic price optimization and revenue management using advanced AI and machine learning. Their key product for retail is BRIO, a platform that leverages big data and ML to determine the optimal price for every product, customer, and transaction. It provides users with robust tools like sales dashboards, scenario planning, A/B testing, and second-margin estimation

This release was published on openPR.