Quick Commerce! Is it impacting Children’s long-term Behaviour? Quick Food vs Fast Food vs Regular Food! Is Education getting impacted by Impulse purchase vs. Thoughtful Purchase? Read this Interesting Perspective!

Dear Students and Friends

During the summer of 1985, I still remember we were waiting desperately to buy a set of Lepakshi notebooks (11 books tied together). We had to go at 7 AM and wait in a long queue, only to get books by afternoon!! Cream-colored papers, non-smooth texture, sturdy cardboard cover, absorbed ink flowing from the ink pen!! But the joy was amazing!! If we want another book, again we have to depend on old-time bookbinding made using unused papers of previous year's Lepakshi books!!

Thanks to the technological revolution and growing consumerism, the cost of many goods was kept low which allowed more mass production and distribution of consumer goods. It created a large set of jobs and created an economic impact. It has also changed consumer behavior to some extent. It increased users’ expectations. Today, virtually E-commerce ensures any product available at your doorstep regardless of its manufactured location!

In recent times, there is a growing interest in Quick Commerce. Product / Item is delivered in a few minutes, a few hours, same-day delivery, and so on! This is definitely a novel concept. If we are in a medical emergency and if medicines are reached within 15 minutes, definitely it is a great service! However, we need to see the context of the service. If the context of the service is not considered in Quick commerce, it severely impacts the child’s psychology. Already children have been severely impacted by the concept of fast foods. If children demand food in 10-15 minutes, parents are not able to arrange and order it, naturally, children always demand quick food!

20 years back Fast Food evolved to fill the evening snacks! However, today Quick Food is slowly replacing the Main course meal. This transition might impact kids’ behavior. Look at it from the poor delivery boy’s perspective. Their driving style gets impacted only to make customers successful! Having said that, I am not against Quick Commerce. Definitely, it is increasing so many urban jobs! However, let us see from the perspective of children between 5 to 15 years perspective!

Already the educational foundation is getting diluted with the concept of Quick Education (e.g. Question Banks, Model Papers, Question Patterns, etc.). If children expect quick answers or teacher expects quick response or parent expects quick marks or the institution expects quick ranks, total education is collapsed. We should not allow this. Learning is a natural process. It is like farming. Can you expect a crop to grow below 90 days! The kids between 5 and 15 years old are in transit.  It is a make-or-break period. A huge responsibility for all of us to manage this transition subtly and help them reach the shore!

Thoughtful purchase contains the context of buying (e.g. medical emergency, a new set of guests arriving after you cook, vegetable shortage after the cooking process started, etc.). An impulse purchase is devoid of context.  

Let’s buy a thoughtful Purchase but not an Impulse Purchase! Do You?

Ravi Saripalle