Flipkart Minutes App is being trialled as a dedicated standalone application on the Google Play Store ahead of a wider rollout timed to the company’s Big Billion Days sale. Until now, Minutes has lived as a tab inside the main Flipkart app. Splitting it into its own app is a direct echo of Swiggy’s own playbook, which spun Instamart into a standalone app back in January 2025, and it signals just how much weight Flipkart is now putting behind quick commerce as a business in its own right, not a feature bolted onto the core marketplace.

What’s Actually Changing

The core change is structural rather than a new feature. Flipkart Minutes has operated as a tab inside the main Flipkart app since launch, giving it visibility to Flipkart’s existing user base but also tying its identity to the broader marketplace experience. A standalone app changes that: Minutes gets its own icon, its own onboarding flow, and its own app store presence, positioning it as a distinct product a shopper opens specifically for quick delivery rather than stumbling into from the main shopping app. The app is still in trial, limited rollout on the Play Store, with the fuller launch expected closer to Big Billion Days.

Why Now, Right Before Big Billion Days

Launching a standalone app in trial mode weeks ahead of the company’s biggest sale event of the year isn’t a coincidence. It gives Flipkart time to work out bugs and onboarding friction on a smaller user group before the app carries real festive-season load, and it means Minutes enters Big Billion Days as an already-separate, independently discoverable product rather than something Flipkart is trying to spin off mid-sale. Timing a structural change like this around the calmest possible window, before the highest-traffic period of the year, is the same logic quick commerce brands are told to apply to their own catalog and inventory freezes ahead of major sale events.

This Mirrors Swiggy’s Own Playbook Closely

Swiggy separated Instamart into its own app in January 2025, a move widely seen as helping the service build a distinct identity and improve engagement metrics independent of Swiggy’s food delivery app. Flipkart following the same path roughly a year and a half later suggests standalone apps have become close to a default move once a quick commerce business reaches sufficient scale, rather than an experimental one-off. It also puts more pressure on Blinkit and Zepto, both of which have always operated as standalone apps from day one, since Flipkart Minutes and Swiggy Instamart increasingly compete on equal structural footing rather than being disadvantaged by living inside a larger app.

What This Means for Brands Selling on Flipkart Minutes

For brands already on Flipkart Minutes, a standalone app is generally a positive signal: dedicated apps tend to build more focused, higher-intent usage patterns than a tab buried inside a larger platform, and Flipkart investing in this structural change ahead of its biggest sale suggests continued commitment to the channel rather than a side bet. It’s also a reason to double-check how product listings, images, and catalog data render in the new app specifically, since a fresh app build can occasionally surface formatting or display issues that didn’t exist in the embedded tab version, and catching those before Big Billion Days traffic arrives matters more than catching them during it.

How AKOI Approaches This

AKOI’s ecommerce marketplace and quick commerce marketing team tracks platform-level changes like this across Flipkart Minutes, Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, Amazon Now, and BigBasket, checking client listings render correctly on new app builds well before a major sale event rather than discovering an issue once festive traffic is already live.

Conclusion

Flipkart splitting Minutes into its own app is a small technical change with a clear strategic signal behind it: quick commerce is no longer a feature Flipkart is testing inside its main app, it’s a business getting the same standalone treatment as the flagship marketplace itself. For brands, the practical move is simple: check how listings look in the new app now, while it’s still in limited trial, rather than after Big Billion Days traffic has already arrived.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the standalone Flipkart Minutes app available to everyone yet?

Not yet. As of this news, the app is being trialled on the Google Play Store with a limited rollout, ahead of a broader launch expected closer to Flipkart’s Big Billion Days sale.

Why is Flipkart splitting Minutes into its own app?

Separating Minutes from the main Flipkart app gives the quick commerce service its own identity and discoverability, mirroring Swiggy’s decision to spin off Instamart into a standalone app in January 2025.

Does this affect how brands sell on Flipkart Minutes?

The core selling process isn’t reported to change, but brands should check that product listings and images render correctly in the new standalone app, since a new app build can occasionally surface display issues not present in the previous embedded tab version.

What else is Flipkart testing alongside the Minutes app?

Flipkart is separately piloting a food delivery service called Eat In in Bengaluru with a limited staff group, part of a broader push into new business areas beyond its core marketplace.

Have other quick commerce platforms done this before?

Yes. Swiggy separated its Instamart quick commerce service into a standalone app in January 2025, and Blinkit and Zepto have operated as standalone apps since launch.

Why is Flipkart making this change right before Big Billion Days?

Trialling the app weeks ahead of the sale gives Flipkart time to resolve any onboarding or technical issues on a smaller user base before Minutes carries full festive-season traffic as an independent app.