Q-Commerce 101: In-Demand Skills And Experience You Should Know About

There’s a new sector on the scene. Q-commerce, also known as Quick Commerce, means ultra-fast delivery – surpassing next-day delivery timescales and getting customer orders to their doors within minutes.

Here, our Head of Client Development, Anthony Davidson, and Team Leader, Simon Garner, reveal all on this rapidly developing industry, including the key skills and experience needed, and tips on how to attract these candidates.

What skills are in demand for Q-Commerce leaders?

Q-commerce is a fast-moving and busy sector, with goods coming into distribution centres up to four times a day. As such, employees must be agile and well organised. They must also be flexible, forward thinking and have strong data analytics abilities.

A growth and technical mindset is crucial. Though, we’ve seen people succeed with a problem-solving background too, especially if their role is in operation management or a smaller Q-commerce environment. It’s definitely a balance – being able to put out fires whilst focusing on strategic growth.

How can you acquire talent with Q-commerce capabilities?

Considering it’s a relatively new sector, gaining these skills isn’t a straightforward process. But if candidates have worked across multiple (and omnichannel) businesses, that will help. Having experience with lots of different customers, and where products are going out at different times, such as in retail & wholesale or logistics, is really valuable.

A lot of the talent we’ve placed has an MBA or a mindset for change. Q-commerce is a big market transformation, and people need to be able to keep up with rapid sector developments. There isn’t a specific qualification, but the best candidates should have a learning mindset to move with the times – shoppers want everything now, after all.

Logistics is evolving. To those working in the sector, it used to be arduous and fairly boring. But when it comes to Q-commerce, we’re finding that it’s beneficial for people to have a STEM or technical engineering background. Whilst they don’t necessarily need a degree, that mathematical mindset comes in handy. B2B superfast delivery businesses have everything on an app, meaning trend analysis is also incredibly important.

How can you discover Q-commerce talent?

We all know it’s a candidate-short market, and given that this is such a new industry, it’s challenging to find employees that have everything you need. But we recommend businesses take more risks to mitigate this. If people tick most of the boxes, don’t hang around. A 10/10 candidate is rare, but you may be able to spot the potential in someone who is 8/10. Having the right soft skills and a learning mindset is the key to success.

When you look at the marketplace, some businesses weren’t even here 12 months ago. They’ve scaled quickly though – and this is because they have a strong leadership structure and significant investment in place, so they can train and develop beneath.

How can you attract the Q-commerce candidates you need?

As for how businesses can secure these high-calibre candidates, you need to consider offering additional benefits as well as a good starting salary. A decent holiday allowance is essential – believe it or not, many companies still only offer the standard number of days.

Consider monetary and wellbeing incentives too. For example, providing a lunch allowance or running mental health workshops. A strong CSR value proposition is also influential. Candidates want to be able to buy into a vision, especially if it’s related to sustainability or making a positive change in the world.

Such talent isn’t easy to come by, but Cast UK can support you with attracting and securing the right people for your business. It’s what we do, day in, day out, for all our other. Contact us on 0333 121 3345 or at hello@castuk.com today.

And if you want to learn more about how to build high-performing agile leadership teams, we homed in on the topic in our dedicated webinar earlier this year. Watch it here.