Jostling for space in e-kiranas

Time of India

3 days ago

HighlightsBindu Fizz Jeera Masala, a home-grown soda brand, leverages quick commerce platforms to compete with global giants like Pepsi and Coca-Cola, achieving significant consumer reach in a rapidly growing market. The quick commerce sector in India saw a tremendous increase in gross merchandise value, reaching $7 billion in 2024, up from $1.6 billion in 2022, with over two-thirds of online grocery orders occurring on these platforms. While quick commerce offers brands a route to discoverability and access to urban markets, it poses challenges with high margin fees, often between 30-45% for smaller brands, impacting long-term profitability.
Pepsi/ Coke = Bindu Fizz Jeera Masala. In the high-stakes world of fizzy drinks, this comparison of a home-grown soda brand with the global behemoths may have sounded absurd until a few years ago. But Bindu Fizz Jeera Masala has found a great equaliser and a way to land in consumers' carts — through
10-minute delivery apps
.
'
Quick commerce
helps scale faster, it's a good branding opportunity and helps in easy availability,' says Sathya Shankar, MD of SG Corporates, the company behind House of Bindu — makers of Bindu Fizz Jeera Masala, SipOn Mango and other drinks.
Quick commerce is changing the way India shops. A March report by Flipkart and Bain & Company noted that
India's quick commerce
sector touched a total gross merchandise value (GMV) of $7 billion in 2024, compared to just $1.6 billion in 2022. Over two-thirds of online grocery orders and one-tenth of
e-retail
spending last year happened on quick commerce platforms, it added.
Despite steep listing fees and the challenges of sustaining on platforms such as Blinkit,
Swiggy Instamart
, BB Now or Zepto, smaller brands, once relegated to the corner of kirana stores or supermarkets, are muscling their way in this cut-throat race for space — and relevance.
'Our brands, Chef's Art and Sunbay, are playing in the same field as big
FMCG brands
. Quick commerce is an exciting channel for the gourmet grocery segment,' says Ajay Mariwala, managing director of Food Service India, maker of ready-to-cook foods, condiments and premixes. 'We're now able to reach the doorsteps of targeted, mid-to-premium households in metro and tier-1 cities without high marketing budgets.'
What started as a pure-play grocery model has turned into an entire ecosystem. From chips and tea to lipsticks, toys, smartphones and even air-conditioners — quick commerce platforms are offering customers everything they need. And though grocery still makes up the lion's share, the ground rules remain the same for all categories, say officials.
New playgrounds
But behind the large product selection and speedy deliveries, a different war is unfolding.
'The battle for shelf space has now transcended to screen space,' says the chief of a mid-sized Delhi-based tea brand, requesting anonymity. 'At least two of our established national rivals are flexing their muscle to keep us out — indirectly.'
According to him, the big players sometimes 'offer to co-brand or collaborate on tactical marketing and get more clicks and first-screen access on searches when a consumer is browsing through the platforms'.
But getting listed on these platforms is only the start, say industry watchers. Staying visible and scaling up is the real challenge, since in a 10-second scroll window, you're up against 15-plus brands in the same category.
'On top of the listing fee, platforms often ask us to spend on co-branded high-traffic marketing events like Diwali or a big cricket final,' says the chief of a mid-sized Mumbai-based snacks maker, adding that though they don't make a profit through these events, 'it's so important to be seen on screens'.
Consumer connect
Mayank Shah, vice-president at cookies and snacks maker Parle Products, concurs. 'Co-branding with quick commerce channels, more so during big event days, gets significant traction. You can communicate closely with consumers here which other large channels such as neighbourhood stores or modern trade may miss.'
That may be the reason why thousands of mid-sized and smaller brands are flocking to the quick commerce bandwagon — some for strategic short-term windows, others for the long haul. For each, the endgame is the same: Reach, discoverability and access to both affluent and mass-market households alike, as long as they can afford the platform charges and margins.
On average, 200-250 new brands onboard these platforms on a monthly basis, says an executive at one of India's leading quick commerce platforms. 'Some stay on for a few quarters, depending on how much they are willing to pay as margin fee and spends on marketing. Some exit after their short-term objectives have been met,' he adds.
The big draw? A fast-track route for brands to move beyond their core regional markets to metros and mid-rung urban cities, without the overheads of a physical retail store.
'What would take up to three years, is now happening in shorter windows, to create visibility,' says
Sandeep Goyal
, MD at Rediffusion. 'This is particularly true for emerging, smaller or regional brands, which want to compete with established names with quicker timelines.'
'While the placements are margin fee-driven most times, they are also guided by long-term relationships between the brands and platforms,' the quick commerce executive pointed out.
Margins and maths
But instant delivery comes at a cost. The platforms charge margins of anywhere between 10-20% from established players. For mid-sized or smaller ones, the numbers usually go up to 30-45%.
'Quick-commerce platforms often demand margins exceeding 30%, even on lower-priced SKUs, challenging the long-term viability for emerging brands. But we remain optimistic about their potential,' says Indraneel Chitale, managing partner at Pune-based snacks and sweets maker Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale.
This is a common refrain among many mid-sized players, who believe that the economics — while tight — offer strategic benefits.
'The medium covers the cost of reaching newer markets and audiences, which otherwise we would have to incur. Additionally, consumer preferences are easy to test and understand,' says Shankar of SG Corporates, who created Bindu Jeera on a modest Rs 35-lakh investment two decades ago.
Calling instant apps a 'lucrative channel for brands to try new products and induce trials', Mariwala adds: '[Even the] Smallest of the SKUs work on this platform, which otherwise can get lost in general and modern trade. Limited selections in each category, focused, measurable communication and real-time feedback make quick commerce the need of the hour for brands like us.'
Quick commerce, however, still has to move the needle for most brands' bottom line — the contribution to annual total sales remains at about 10%, with the majority continuing to come from physical stores.
'Quick commerce gives discoverability, neighbourhood physical retail gives profits. It's in our own interest to balance both,' says one of the executives.