Consumer Internet

Stocks a few thousand fast-moving items in small warehouses (dark stores) within 2-3 km of customers, picks an order in about two minutes and sends a rider. Domestic-owned players (Blinkit, and Instamart from late 2026) increasingly own the inventory and earn a retail margin; the rest run a marketplace for sellers and earn fees. All earn a growing slice from brand ads.

Quick commerce is the fastest-growing part of Indian retail - Bain and Flipkart put it at US$10-11bn of GMV in 2025, about 16-17% of e-retail - and it is where the sector's capital is going. It is also where losses are: Blinkit only turned adjusted-EBITDA positive in 2026, while Instamart, Zepto, Flipkart Minutes and Amazon Now are still spending.

Economics are about density: a mature dark store doing 2,000+ orders a day covers rent, staff and riders; a new one loses money for months. Blinkit's NOV grew ~79% to ~₹20,940 Cr in Q2 FY27 at ~0.9% adjusted EBITDA; Instamart's contribution margin was -1.0% of GOV. Ads (~4-8% of order value) and own inventory are the two levers that lift margins.

• New dark stores in tier-2 cities and more SKUs per store (electronics, beauty, pharmacy)
• Ad income from FMCG and D2C brands
• Shift to owned inventory (Blinkit, Instamart from Q3 FY27)
• Cafe and 10-minute food formats on the same network

• Real estate: suitable 3,000-4,000 sq ft sites near homes, and local zoning objections
• Rider and picker supply at peak hours
• Working capital as inventory moves on to the platforms' books
• Distributor opposition (AICPDF complaints to the CCI) and brand channel conflict

• GOV / NOV growth and store count
• Orders per store per day
• Contribution margin and adjusted EBITDA as % of GOV
• Ad revenue as % of GOV; average order value