Zomato’s quick-commerce business, Blinkit, is accelerating its expansion in India, but it expects losses to continue piling up as competition intensifies in India’s instant delivery market.
Blinkit now aims to have up to 2,000 dark stores (small warehouses in residential areas that exclusively service online orders), a year ahead of its previous forecast. The company had more than 1,000 such stores by the end of the quarter ended December, beating its own projections by one quarter.
Blinkit added 368 stores and 1.3 million square feet of warehousing space in the last two quarters, and the acceleration led to losses of ₹1.03 billion ($11.9 million) in the third quarter of its current financial year.
JPMorgan believes India’s quick-commerce industry has entered “land grab mode,” with companies pursuing aggressive strategies around store rentals, product discounts and loyalty programs. The bank wrote in a note that other major players — including Zepto, the No. 2 name in this market — are expanding their dark store networks “sharply ahead” of schedule as well.
Quick-commerce firms, which deliver groceries, household goods, beauty and wellness products and, of late, even smartphones and laptops to customers within 10 to 15 minutes, are cannibalising the e-commerce market in India. Their sharp growth has forced established e-commerce businesses to overhaul their supply chains in response to shifting consumer behavior.
“As we continue to bring forward store expansion, our networks may have to carry a greater load of under-utilized stores, which will impact near-term profits in the next one or two quarters,” said Akshant Goyal, Zomato’s chief financial officer. These investments, he added, will likely result in growth remaining “meaningfully above 100%” through FY25 and FY26.
The strategic shift comes amid intensifying competition. Zepto, backed by Lightspeed, StrepStone and Glade Brook, raised more than $1 billion last year. Zomato also raised $1 billion in November last year through a qualified institutional placement.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s chief competitor, Flipkart, also launched a quick-commerce service last year, setting up more than 100 dark stores. Amazon began piloting its own quick-commerce service in India last month, while Swiggy, which operates the No.3 quick-commerce platform in India, went public late last year in what was 2024’s largest tech IPO.
“The biggest impact of the intensifying competition has been the acceleration in customer awareness and adoption of quick commerce,” said Albinder Dhindsa, who leads Blinkit. He compared it to food delivery’s early days, when heightened competition led to higher customer acquisition investments across the industry.
While Blinkit’s core customers remain loyal — they accounted for one-third of the platform’s gross order value in December — the company said competitive pressure is affecting its margins. The company expects its current store network investments to eventually yield strong returns once the business achieves greater scale.
The expansion comes as Zomato’s core food delivery business reports slowing growth: the division grew by 17% in the third quarter compared to a year earlier, while quick commerce shot up by 120%.
