In the third quarter of the current fiscal year (Q3 FY25), Swiggy Instamart’s margins were negatively impacted by the growing rivalry in the rapid commerce market, as the company increased its investments to keep the competition at bay. The contribution margin for Swiggy Instamart decreased from -1.9% in the previous quarter (Q2FY25) to -4.6% during the reviewed quarter. Higher growth investments, especially in user engagement and the expansion of darkstores across different areas, were cited by the company as the reasons for this reduction.
It further stated that rising competition resulted in higher consumer incentives and higher client acquisition costs, which caused the contribution margin to decline. Notably, the fast commerce segment’s adjusted EBITDA margin also decreased from -10.6% in the previous quarter to -14.8% in Q3 FY25. This decline was mostly caused by higher brand and performance marketing expenditures as well as a decline in the contribution margin.
As structural changes take place, Swiggy anticipates that Instamart’s short-term margins will be range-bound. These gains will be fuelled by increased average order value, rising ad income, decreasing delivery costs as scale increases, and improved store cost efficiency.
Nevertheless, Swiggy Instamart’s gross order value (GOV) increased by 15.5% on a quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) and 88.1% on an annual basis (YoY) to INR 3,907 Cr. In Q3 FY25, its monthly transacting users (MTUs) increased by 13.9% QoQ and 62.7% YoY to 7 Mn. Compared to INR 293 Cr during the same period last year, its adjusted revenue for the period was INR 603 Cr, a 105.8% increase. It increased 17.5% sequentially from INR 513 Cr in Q2 of FY25.
Instamart Spreading its Wings
On a sequential basis, Instamart recorded a mere 7.3% increase in the quantity of orders. This was explained by Swiggy as the “back-ended nature of store expansion.” The influence on order frequency is delayed when new stores open later in the quarter since new customer acquisition occurs at the end of the quarter.
According to the company’s post-earnings teleconference, “A higher share of new customers results in a lower overall order frequency because order frequency doesn’t increase immediately for new users.” Notably, Swiggy Instamart increased the number of operational dark stores to 705 by adding 96 new ones in Q3 FY25. By contrast, rival and industry leader Blinkit expanded its shop count to 1,007 during the December quarter, adding 216 dark locations.
Additionally, Swiggy has replaced some of its smaller locations, which were between 2,500 and 2,800 square feet, with larger locations that are between 3,500 and 4,500 square feet and have the capacity to hold up to 20,000 SKUs. The average store size increased from 3,200 square feet in Q2FY25 to 3,475 square feet in Q3FY25 as a result of this expansion, the business stated in a statement.
This puts the business on schedule to meet its goal of having an active dark store footprint of 4 million square feet by March 2025. Co-founder and CEO of Swiggy, Sriharsha Majety, claims that while controlling overall growth, the company’s near-term expansion was fuelled by both geographic expansion and densification into outlying areas within already-existing towns. He continued in the call, “Most floor additions going forward will be aimed at managing overall category growth rather than entering entirely new areas.”
Financial Performance of India’s Quick Commerce Sector
It is important to note that, according to Zomato and Swiggy’s remarks following the release of their Q3 results, the December quarter was among the most competitive in the rapid commerce segments. The three major participants in the market, Zepto, Blinkit from Zomato, and Instamart, are well-funded and rapidly growing their networks.
The rivalry has gotten more fierce since e-commerce behemoths Flipkart and Amazon entered the market, while JioMart and BigBasket have increased their emphasis on speedy transactions. Swiggy is optimistic that the additional stores will become successful, nevertheless.
Overall profitability will increase as more stores stabilise and achieve steady-state unit economics; mature stores should see a 4-6% positive margin trend, according to the business. Store expenses, including fixed costs incurred prior to a store opening, usually last between 30 and 45 days, according to Majety.
However, because of increased competition, the cost of acquiring new customers can vary depending on the category’s investment level. Even though there have been some challenges in this area, we are always refining our strategy to increase productivity. He thinks that if the category as a whole expands, the company’s costs associated with acquiring new customers will eventually decrease.
FreshToHome, a D2C meat firm, has joined the fast commerce trend by offering a delivery service in a few Indian locations that takes 10 to 20 minutes. Although FreshToHome typically delivers orders in 60 minutes, the speed of delivery will rely on how close the customer is to the closest dark store. Shan Kadavil, the founder of FreshToHome, told a media channel that the company started providing speedy delivery around two months ago.
Operations and Financial Outlook of FreshToHome
The direct-to-consumer fish and meat company was established in 2015 by serial entrepreneurs Kadavil and Mathew Joseph, and it is presently present in 27 cities in the United Arab Emirates and 160 cities in India. Additionally, it sells its goods through rapid commerce marketplaces like Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit, which are owned by Zomato, as well as e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart.
In certain places throughout the nation, the startup charges a platform fee of INR 4 for every order in addition to the money it makes from product sales. To date, FreshToHome has raised around $377 million in investment. In its most recent round of fundraising, which was headed by Amazon Sambhav Venture Fund and included participation from E20 Investment, Mount Judi Ventures, and other current investors like Investcorp, it raised $104 million.
The D2C brand’s standalone net loss for its India operations decreased from INR 313.17 Cr in the previous fiscal year to INR 149.73 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), a 52.18% decrease. Revenue increased from INR 24.91 Cr in FY23 to INR 369.55 Cr in the fiscal year under review, a 15X increase. FreshToHome faces competition from companies such as Zappfresh and Licious in the Indian direct-to-consumer meat sector, which is expected to reach a value of $119.36 million by 2030.
India’s Quick Commerce Sector has Become New Battle-Ground
Several firms in the nation are adopting the rapid commerce model at the same time as FreshToHome’s entry into the 10–20 minute delivery market. Giants like Flipkart Minutes, Nykaa, and Myntra have entered the market in addition to established players like Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, and Blinkit.
Amazon declared Tez and Myntra introduced “M-Now,” while Flipkart ventured into fast commerce with “Minutes.” Now, every major company is concentrating on the quickly expanding fast commerce business, due to the demand and broad adoption in tier-2 and tier-3 cities as well as metro areas.
According to the Tracxn study, the rapid commerce industry had a notable increase in funding in 2024, raising $1.37 billion in equity capital from seven rounds, primarily owing to Zepto, which raised $1.355 billion in three $300 million rounds. Redseer, a consultancy firm, projects a 40–45% GMV CAGR for q-commerce over the next three years. All players have now increased their services beyond only grocery and food to include toys, Dhanteras gold, cosmetics, fashion, and electronics, among other things.
The Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the supply chain resulted in the development of quick commerce, a novel business model where products and services are delivered within 10 to 30 minutes of being ordered.
Quick commerce is a new way of doing business on the internet that involves taking advantage of the benefits of digital technology in order to create a more efficient, personalized shopping experience for customers. This includes things like offering free shipping on all orders over a particular amount, offering free returns and exchanges, and even allowing customers to pay with a credit card.
The idea behind quick commerce is that it creates a better customer experience by helping businesses connect with their customers more quickly and effectively than traditional methods. It also helps businesses get through some of the logistical challenges involved with online marketing, such as managing customer data and tracking customer behaviour across multiple channels.
As per Statista, the food and grocery delivery market is expected to rise to 72.3 billion by 2025.
How Dark Stores are Speeding up Grocery Deliveries?
What is Quick Commerce?
It is characterized as a distinct business model with tiny order placement and delivery window and is frequently referred to as the next generation of eCommerce. Due to GenZ’s dominance of the digital ecosystem, the delivery cycle has changed from a 1-day delivery window to a 10-to-30-minute period.
Quick Commerce is an expedited order fulfilment method that handles micro to small orders of food, including groceries, office supplies, prescription drugs, and many other items. The main emphasis is on serving micro, and smaller amounts of light-weighted items, from everyday shopping to pharmaceutical needs.
Revenue of Last-mile Food and Grocery Market Worldwide in 2020 and 2025
Features of Quick Commerce
Quick Commerce is a complete commerce solution that comes with many features and benefits. It is designed to provide you with a wide range of features and benefits, including:
Fast Delivery Speed
Quick Commerce has an impressive array of features including quick delivery of products and services. The ability to get your products to your customers as soon as possible is the primary objective of adopting this business model.
Now customers don’t have to wait long for their products, nor should they have to pay extra money for shipping. Quick commerce companies can ship orders instantly because they have the necessary warehouse facilities, including micro-fulfilment centres and the required technology for demand forecasting, inventory allocation, and last-minute courier delivery.
Micro-Fulfillment Facilities
The micro-fulfilment facilities or micro-warehouses are a crucial component of quick commerce. Micro-fulfillment is when you send out small amounts of products at a time, instead of large shipments. This enables to keep the costs down and also allows serving customers more quickly and efficiently than ever before.
Having the orders delivered by micro-fulfilment facilities ensures that all orders are fulfilled at high speed and low cost. It is a new way to move your products quickly and easily. It allows you to fulfil orders in minutes instead of days.
Convenience
With quick commerce, you can buy anything with just a click. This business model aims at providing the utmost convenience and a better shopping experience to its customers. The most significant benefit of Q-commerce is its ability to allow customers to shop for any product at any time of the day simply with their smartphones without going anywhere and it will be delivered right to their doorstep.
Customers can have their orders delivered at any time that is convenient for them, thanks to Q-commerce. It does not impose any restrictions on time for customers. The service is available 24*7 and offers seamless transactions in real-time.
Moreover, customers are guaranteed quality and delivery because these businesses have a good reputation.
Lower Prices
The Q-commerce businesses frequently purchase goods in bulk, lowering the average cost of each product and enabling them to provide great deals or discounts. This allows the platforms to satisfy the needs and demands of the customers and gives them a competitive advantage against the other eCommerce competitors.
Furthermore, it is easy to attract a larger audience when a platform is offering good-quality products and services at lower rates than its competitors. This will increase the total sales of the company and generate more revenue.
Easy Order Monitoring and Tracking
Blinkit, Indian Quick Commerce – Order Tracking and Monitoring
Quick commerce also offers order tracking, enabling users to follow their orders. Customers can track all their orders in a single place and make them easily available for customer support or other necessary actions.
It allows customers to stay informed about their products in case of a delay in delivery. This type of business model also allows to set up automatic re-orders so that if certain products sell out, they will be restocked immediately. Blinkit, one of India’s popular quick commerce platforms, provides quick delivery of various items and also allows you to track and monitor your order.
One-Stop Shopping
Instacart, American Quick Commerce – One-stop Shop for Various Products
The companies that offer quick commerce services create applications that allow consumers to order products online from a single platform, but also offer them the opportunity to pick up their purchases in person from physical stores. This means that a customer can order many things from one-stop without roaming around in different stores and have them delivered to their home. For example, the American quick commerce platform, Instacart, delivers a range of more than 500 million products across the USA and Canada. It also provides new offers from time to time to attract more customers.
Pay Special Attention to Items That Are in High Demand
Quick commerce businesses list the most popular things on their apps rather than maintaining an inventory of all products. These include groceries, stationaries, hygiene products and several other items that clients purchase more regularly, if not daily.
This tactic lowers the cost of the warehouse and storage while allowing the business to lease smaller warehouses inside the cities rather than developing larger ones on the outskirts. For instance, the Indian q-commerce company, Blinkit focuses on 2,000 high-demand goods in its inventory.
Delivery Pricing Structure
Due to the additional expenses associated with the last-mile delivery system that q-commerce businesses must pay, their business models are more expensive than the typical eCommerce firms.
Due to this, most of these firms only charge a small delivery cost to their clients, which typically fluctuates based on the order’s value and the customer’s location relative to the cloud storage.
The Demand for Quick Commerce
Monthly Orders for Groceries from Fast Delivery Apps in India (2022)
Due to the increased emphasis that consumers are placing on online purchasing behaviourism, well-stocked massive warehouses have made way for nearby micro-warehouses. Many companies have fully embraced the notion to attain the tremendous product-fit concept to the current internet markets. As a result, the shift from the good conventional model to the quick commerce model significantly impacts how any company defines its value offer.
Over the past several years, interest has grown in several quick commerce businesses, including those that have a marketplace model and concentrate mainly on groceries, such as GoPuff, Weezy, Glovo, Delivery Hero, and Instacart. These firms specialize in quick Commerce, where clients frequently require or desire things delivered promptly and mean for immediate use.
Companies like Delivery Hero and Gorillas are significant players in the business. The former recorded 400% year-on-year growth while the latter raised €245 million leading to a $1 billion valuation, making it a unicorn in just nine months of its existence.
The greatest amount ever funded by a startup in Spain, Glovo, a different q-commerce business, raised $530 million in a Series F round.
Over the past few years, India has also seen an incredible rise in quick commerce startups like Blinkit (formerly Grofers), Dunzo, Zepto, and BigBasket.
The q-commerce approach can prove to really beneficial for businesses. The following are some of the benefits of opting for the q-commerce approach:
Businesses that use a Q-Commerce strategy are better able to satisfy their consumers. In doing so, companies can create and maintain customer loyalty as customers will remember the brand more if they have a memorable and rewarding shopping experience.
Opting for a q-commerce approach in your business will allow you to have an expanded selection of goods. You will be able to sell the goods that you were not able to because of the need for urgency in their distribution.
Having a quick commerce approach means local delivery of goods. Since the delivery radius is reduced it leads to lower logistics costs than the traditional shipping methods. In this way, you can use the saved money in other areas of your business.
It will help in increasing the conversion rate as quick and quality delivery is something that almost every customer loves.
Conclusion
Quick commerce is a quicker approach to commerce that allows for more flexibility in the way digital products and services are created, sold, delivered and consumed.
Quick commerce is important because it provides a way to create an online presence that is both efficient and effective. With Quick Commerce, you can build your online presence using tools that are better suited to your business as opposed to traditional methods such as setting up an eCommerce store.
FAQs
What is quick commerce?
In simple terms, quick commerce is eCommerce’s faster version. It is similar to traditional eCommerce with the only difference being the time of delivery. Quick commerce delivers goods within a few minutes.
What is a dark grocery store?
It refers to a distribution centre or outlet which is only meant for online shopping platforms. These stores are only meant for serving online orders and are not open to the general public.
Nitin Konde
