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Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Where does Zepto's GOV stand in front of rivals?
Quick commerce platform Zepto's gross order value (GOV) will cross Rs 2,400 crore this month, up a whopping 220% from about Rs 750 crore in May 2024, its cofounder and chief executive Aadit Palicha said in a LinkedIn post on Sunday. This represents an annualised gross sales run rate of around $3.4 billion, or around Rs 28,800 crore, which could be higher than rival Swiggy Instamart . Palicha had last month said the Bengaluru-based company's annualised GOV run rate is expected to cross $4 billion soon. So, where does it stand compared to its key rivals? Eternal 's Blinkit , which is the market leader in quick commerce, reported a 134% year-on-year increase in its GOV for the March quarter at Rs 9,421 crore. Its annualised GOV is $4.4 billion (around Rs 37,684 crore). Swiggy Instamart 's GOV doubled year-on-year to Rs 4,670 crore for the March quarter, translating into an annualised GOV of $2.2 billion (Rs 18,680 crore). Uneven GOV definition GOV is simply the total value of all orders placed on a platform. However, different players define it differently. Zepto, unlike its rivals, includes ad revenue. GOV considers the maximum retail price (MRP) of goods sold on a platform. In the case of fruits and vegetables, which don't have an MRP, all the three players use the final selling price of the product. GOV also includes various fees and charges that are levied on the users, including handling charges, processing fees, convenience charges and the actual delivery fees paid by the consumers. However, GOV as a metric, does not account for the discounts extended by the platform, brands or banks and credit card partners. Blinkit recently announced a new metric for calculation called net order value (NOV) during its January-March quarter results. The company calculates NOV by subtracting discounts (funded by the platform and its brand partners) from GOV. The decision to include this metric comes after the company observed a widening gap between Blinkit's GOV and the actual amount paid by the customer. This is happening because a product's MRP (maximum retail price) is usually significantly higher than its market selling price, the company noted in its Q4 results announcement. Swiggy Instamart also started announcing its NOV numbers from the March quarter's results along with the GOV numbers. Dark stores Blinkit is heavily focused on expanding its dark store network to outpace competitors in the rapid delivery space. Currently, it has over 1,300 dark stores, and plans to have 2,000 stores by the end of 2026. Swiggy Instamart and Zepto are closely matched in terms of dark store count, operating over 1,000 stores each. Palicha said in the LinkedIn post that Zepto was ramping up store additions. Tatas-owned BigBasket has a network of over 500 dark stores, while Flipkart Minutes, one of the most aggressive players in the space, operates around 400 mini-warehouses and plans to increase this to 800 by year-end. Profitability and cash burn Palicha said a majority of Zepto's dark stores will be fully Ebitda -positive by the next quarter. He said the company's Ebitda has improved by 2,000 basis points (20 percentage points) between January and May 2025, with cash burn down 65% during the same period. Meanwhile, Blinkit and Instamart's losses have been expanding as these companies step up on their dark store additions. The growth in Eternal's quick commerce arm pushed operating revenue to surge 64% on-year to Rs 5,833 crore, but its expansion plans cost the company and pushed up the operating losses by 75% sequentially to Rs 178 crore. For Instamart, adjusted Ebitda loss increased to Rs 840 crore against Rs 304 crore in the year-ago period.
The Hindu
22-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Discounted to death: the silent slide of India's kirana shops
A bottle of Pepsi for ₹50 and delivered in 10 minutes. For most urban Indians, that sounds like convenience. However, for the small family-run kirana store, once the lifeblood of everyday commerce, it sounds like extinction. Vineet Kumar's shop has been a mainstay in Delhi's Malviya Nagar for over half a century, for most of which the 69-year-old has been at the helm. His trademark cooler, brimming with bottles of unbranded banta soda, remains a hit among regulars. While he brushes off probing questions about business pressures, a steady stream of customers stops by to buy loose cigarettes, soft drinks, and candy. 'It's impacted me very little,' Kumar says of the yellow-jacketed 10-minute delivery agents criss-crossing the neighbourhood all day. 'From a business point of view, there has been a difference, but I'm satisfied,' he says. Kumar estimates that around a tenth of his business has been affected, but he is still hopeful. 'We have milk and cigarettes, and we offer delivery,' he adds, highlighting the service and convenience he continues to provide over quick commerce platforms like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart. Just around the corner, Anuradha Taneja feels the blow more acutely. The 54-year-old, who has run her store for 25 years, says business is down by 30%. 'I used to have all these young students and working people who came to buy their supplies. Now they just sit at home and order, and it reaches them in10minutes,'she says. Unlike some other kiranas, Taneja does not stock fresh vegetables, so casual grocery buyers are fewer. Instead, she depends more on passersby – a demographic that is increasingly vanishing. To understand what exactly is under threat, it's important to define what a kirana store is. Simarjit Singh, Professor of Finance and Accounting at the Gurugram-based Great Lakes Institute of Management, describes it as a 'pureplay brick-and-mortar store that has created an inventory of daily household items', or fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) 'that offer ease of access, credit, and free delivery for a limited period'. That model is now under intense pressure, particularly in India's tier-1 cities. 'Typically, the investment required to set up akiranastore ranges between ₹5 and ₹15 lakh, depending on the city,' Singh says, with much of that going towards renting space. About 65% of such stores operate out of rented premises, and monthly rents range from ₹5,000 to ₹1 lakh. 'These are generally middle-class people, bootstrapping their investment with help from family and friends,' he adds. And it's a business that already runs on razor-thin margins. Any sustained drop in sales, like the kind being triggered by quick commerce platforms, can pose an existential threat. 'Ideally, rent should not exceed 20% of gross profit, or 3% of total sales turnover. That is the threshold,' Singh says. 'Taking away business' Naresh Raghuvanshi, 41, runs a kirana store in Bhopal's Chuna Bhatti locality and has seen this threat materialise first-hand. He and his brother split a single shop after their respective marriages, turning half into a hardware outlet. 'My brother and I had rented this shop from a friend. We've relied on the residential societies nearby for years,' he says. But now, he blames online platforms for 'taking away the businesses' of small shopkeepers. 'We can't match their prices and offers. It's not a fair competition. My business has been down at least 30-35% in the past two years,' he says. Though Raghuvanshi still takes phone orders and delivers personally, rising rent, thinning margins, and fewer walk-ins have taken a toll. 'Even though it's my friend's shop, I have to pay rent. Many shopkeepers like me have shut their kirana shops and moved to other businesses,' he adds, voicing worry over how he will fund his daughter's college education next year. Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders and now BJP MP for Central Delhi, has long decried the dominance of e-commerce giants and their impact on physical retailers. He argues that foreign-funded platforms use deep pockets to subsidise discounts that are impossible to match. 'Around 20% of mobile phone shops are shut in India,' Khandelwal told The Hindu. While foreign direct investment rules bar e-commerce platforms from selling inventory they own, Khandelwal accuses them of circumventing the rules through local partnerships in the 'marketplace' model – indistinguishable in practice from selling their own goods. Embracing change Earlier, kiranas were largely protected from this because their low-ticket FMCG items weren't a priority for platforms like Amazon and Flipkart that focused on electronics and appliances. That changed with the advent of quick commerce, which is transforming how urban India shops, and is rapidly making its way into smaller towns. To stay relevant, kirana shop owners are innovating. Kumar in Malviya Nagar offers delivery and credit, services still valued by older customers. Singh mentions one shop that diversified into toys to widen its customer base. Urban retail is often run by those with some access to capital, giving them room to pivot. Taneja points to a nearby store that shut down last year and reopened as a hardware outlet. But even relatively larger players are feeling the squeeze. Budget Bazaar, a grocery chain that opened an outlet in Malviya Nagar last July, ironically, in a space previously occupied by a Blinkit delivery hub, had to shut down within 10 months. 'It is very disheartening,' says Yash Goyal, a partner in the chain. He blames quick commerce platforms. 'They are killing us, because they are offering way more than what the customer expects — discounts and snappy delivery,' he says. 'A customer buying a bottle of Pepsi for ₹90 their whole life is suddenly getting it at ₹50. That's great, but I'm only getting that bottle for ₹85,' says Goyal. With little room to compete on pricing, he warns that if this trend continues, local stores may disappear altogether. 'There will be no nearby stores left to service you, and you will be bound to buy from these platforms,' he says, adding that then the prices will rise. Even kiranas that stay afloat face steep operating costs. There's capital expenditure, rent or deposits, initial inventory, as well as labour. While some store owners rely on family, most still hire two or three workers. 'It costs somewhere around ₹7,000 to ₹15,000 per worker,' says Singh, a steep cost for a low-margin business trying to offer free delivery to keep up. 'Ultimately, quick commerce operators are not just killing the trade. They are killing the consumer spirit... 30% of the kirana business has already been taken away,' says Khandelwal. In Bhopal, 23-year-old Tushar Singh runs a paan shop near the city's bustling No. 10 Market. After his father passed away in early 2022, Tushar took a gap year from school to manage his father's shop. 'Earlier, online stores didn't stock many of the brands I sell. They also used to shut by 11 p.m. But now they're open till 1 or 2 a.m.,' he says, adding that the change in timing has hit the core business of late-night customers. 'Markets in Bhopal shut by 10 or 11 p.m. People would come here, have tea, and sit with friends. They'd buy cigarettes from my shop. Now, many come with whole packets bought online,' Tushar explains. To retain customers, he started offering discounted rates on some cigarette brands. 'I checked which items had margin I could spare, and reduced ₹5 or ₹10 on some brands,' he says, adding that while he sells almost the same number of packets, his earnings have dropped in the last year. He and his younger brother are planning to buy a scooter and start home deliveries soon. 'Once my brother's school and my college get over, we will deliver to our regular customers,' he says. Seeking govt. help Goyal and Khandelwal both say government support is crucial. Singh, the finance professor,notes that in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, the dynamics may still favour kiranas, at least for now. 'There may be some merit to the argument that this is a tier-1 city problem. Zeptois still not profitable. They just received Series G funding,' he says, pointing to how the quick commerce model is still in a cash-burning phase. 'In tier-2 cities, kiranas still provide credit, have localised customer data, and are accessible. For four or five years, they may not suffer the same kind of displacement as in tier-1 cities,' he adds. But if the quick commerce model entrenches itself further, and if deep-pocketed platforms keep bleeding money to dominate the market, then even those strongholds may not hold. 'We don't need anything in 10 minutes,' Khandelwal says, calling quick delivery a 'lure' that traps consumers. 'But now that they have created this narrative of 10 minutes, they are moving beyond FMCG products. They've gone into consumer durables, phones, and now white goods,' he adds. For now, it is loyalty and goodwill that are keeping many kirana shops alive. 'But for how long will customers, out of the goodness of their heart, buy a product for ₹12 if it is available online for ₹10?' says Khandelwal. (With inputs from Bhopal by Mehul Malpani) Edited by Mehraj Din Bhat
TechCrunch
15-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Bain bets on Indian domestic work startup Pronto even as rivals face criticism
Urban India is becoming increasingly used to not having to wait — at least when it comes to getting goods and services delivered. You only need to look at the breakneck pace at which instant delivery apps like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart have grown and continue to see adoption soar in the country. Pronto, one such startup that lets users book and avail cleaning, laundry and home services within 10 minutes, is capitalizing on that change in consumer behavior, and it's now come out of stealth with a $2 million seed round led by Bain Capital Ventures at a post-money valuation of $12.5 million. Investors are likely stoked to invest in such startups given their potential for growth, but Pronto's funding is coming at a time when people are increasingly sensitive to how gig workers are treated by platforms. Just two months ago, another venture-backed home services provider Urban Company faced intense public backlash for launching a similar service. Called Insta Maids, the 15-minute home cleaning service quickly sparked an uproar on social media, mainly for the language Urban Company used in its promotional campaign. The company later renamed the service to Insta Help, but many, including gig worker unions, didn't seem satisfied with just a rebranding. For its part, Pronto offers cleaning, laundry, and cooking prep services with three different timing options: instant (10 minutes), scheduled, and recurring. Services are offered 24/7, and the startup guarantees 10-minute service access in all supported areas. The company claims more than 1,000 customers in the North Indian city of Gurugram. Pronto's founder and CEO, Anjali Sardana, says her company aims to address gig workers' concerns with an approach that is 'win, win, win business' for all stakeholders. 'What's missing from a lot of the language around these services is that they treat workers like commodities. They treat them as inputs. That's not the way we operate,' she told TechCrunch. 'We sit at the same hubs where these workers are coming in and out every day. And the reason being that, as soon as you start putting separation between yourself and the worker, you lose empathy for them.' Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW Government sources estimate India has nearly 4 million domestic workers, though unofficial sources say that number is more in the area of 50 million. Nonetheless, most of these workers are part of the informal labor market, which Pronto sees as a key competitor. Pronto says its workers can earn about ₹22,000 (about $258) a month if they work eight hours a day for 30 days. It also offers performance bonuses that can take their total pay to ₹25,000-₹26,000 (about $293 to $304) a month. These amounts are significantly higher than what domestic helpers in urban locations like the Delhi-NCR region are typically paid, which is around ₹9,000, per the International Domestic Workers Federation (PDF). Sardana says her startup also functions as an agency to help workers when they face exploitation or abuse — a problem domestic helpers have struggled with in the country for decades. The quick-service model Speed has become the new normal for many urban Indians, but does that mean people don't want to wait even an hour to have their home cleaned? Sardana thinks so. 'When they need something, they need it right away,' she said. 'For that customer, having 10 minutes of service is huge because they no longer have to plan ahead.' Pronto started piloting its service in December in Gurugram before launching its first hub in late March. So far, the company claims 70% of its customers have requested its services twice within 14 days. The startup operates two hubs in Gurugram, each serving customers within a two-mile radius. Sardana said 70% to 80% of Pronto's demand comes from within 500 meters — about 2 to 3 minutes — of each hub. Workers aren't required to return to the hub between jobs, though they must start and end their shifts there. Eschewing commissions Pronto eschews the commission model employed by most services that employ gig workers, instead paying its workers per 4-hour shift, once every two weeks. The company keeps the fees it charges customers. The company said it plans to start paying workers weekly, and even let them choose to be paid any time during their payment cycles, which domestic workers often ask for in such unorganized setups. 'Eventually, we are going to build a lot of 'almost-fintech' products for workers to provide services that they need, as a lot of these people struggle to access those resources otherwise,' Sardana said. The startup also plans to launch a health insurance product for its workers 'very soon,' she added. To assure its customers that its workers are verified and vetted, Pronto does in-house training, government ID and police verifications, and court record checks, Sardana said. It also considers giving training and upskilling services to workers based on customer feedback. The startup plans to open 10 new hubs in Gurugram over the next three months, and grow its worker network to 700, and its staff count to 50 — up from over 150 workers and 21 employees currently. Ultimately, it plans to offer more services beyond cleaning and laundry, but its focus currently is on expansion — going deeper into Gurugram and entering new markets like Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Flipkart's SVP Ankit Jain likely to join Swiggy Instamart as COO
Ankit Jain, senior vice president (SVP) at ecommerce platform Flipkart , is likely to join quick commerce firm Swiggy Instamart as chief operating officer (COO), replacing its current SVP and COO, Sairam Krishnamurthy, according to people in the know. Jain was SVP and head of grocery and large supply chain at Flipkart till now. After working at Flipkart for over five years, Jain will now be working closely with Swiggy Instamart CEO Amitesh Jha , who also joined from the Walmart-owned company in August last year. Prior to Flipkart, Jain worked with Unilever for over 14 years in managerial and leadership roles for its operations in India. According to Jain's LinkedIn profile, his stint at Flipkart ended this month. Krishnamurthy had joined Swiggy Instamart in August 2024 and was the platform's first COO. He has close to 20 years of experience in leadership roles at FMCG, consumer tech and retail companies such as More Retail, Unilever and Hindustan Unilever Limited. It is not clear where Krishnamurthy will be heading next. Email queries sent to Flipkart and Swiggy did not elicit a response. The development was first reported by digital news publication Moneycontrol. Several senior-level exits at Flipkart Jain, who joined Flipkart in September 2019, is exiting the Walmart-owned e-commerce platform in the wake of many other senior-level exits. The leadership churn at Flipkart comes at a time when it is attempting to focus on profitability ahead of a planned IPO in 2026. Flipkart is looking to contain its cash burn and is limiting expansion of its quick commerce business, Minutes, to the top six to eight cities, as reported by ET on May 12. In February last year, ET had reported on a leadership churn at Flipkart amid its push toward profitability. At the time, travel booking website Cleartrip's head Ayyappan R, marketplace and categories leader Jha, fintech and payments head Dheeraj A, and growth and retention head, Bharath Ram, had exited the company. Following Jha's move from Flipkart to Swiggy, several other executives at the ecommerce firm jumped to the Bengaluru-based food and grocery delivery platform. These include Shalabh Shrivastava, who joined Swiggy as SVP of Hari Kumar G, who joined as SVP and chief business officer for Instamart, and Kanika Tiwari, who joined as the quick commerce platform's head of monetisation after spending eight years at Flipkart.
Hindustan Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Polish woman awestruck as Blinkit delivers watermelon in 5 minutes: ‘India lives in the future'
A female tourist from Poland was awestruck by India's quick home delivery system via apps such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart, among others. Taking to Instagram, Wiktoria, whose page is wiktoriawanders, shared a brief clip of how she ordered a watermelon for $.50 ( ₹42.58 approx) on Blinkit and got it delivered to her place within five minutes. (Also Read | Tourists blown away by airplane at iconic beach airport. Dramatic video goes viral) In the video, Wiktoria gave a glimpse of enjoying a watermelon as she sat on her bed. She sliced the fruit in half and enjoyed it with a spoon. The tourist also gave a peek at what other things she bought online, which included a mango and two bottles of water. The words in the video read, "India lives in the future. Like wdym I can order fruits for $0.50 and have it delivered to my door in 5 min?" A part of her caption read, "Can't believe we don't have that everywhere (face holding back tears emoji). (We do have it in Poland tho [relieved face and Poland flag emojis]). I love Indian apps (heart hands emoji). Day or night, I can order fruits, a cake, Uno, or literally any random thing I need (party popper emoji)." A post shared by Wiktoria | Travel & Backpacking (@wiktoriawanders) "It saves so much time, prices are super fair, and I swear, no matter where you are, it's at your door in 5 MINUTES!! (Raised hand emoji)," Wiktoria added. She wrote in the comments section. "I really thought I could eat the whole watermelon by myself…" The official page of Instamart wrote, "Hello ji." In the comments section, people gave divided opinions. A person wrote, "Poor delivery man, this won't even pay for a lollypop, let alone the gas and food." A comment read, "It's not the future, it tells us that educated youth are working for underpaid jobs." A person commented, "The audacity you people have after learning yoga, mindfulness, meditation, healing chakras from our culture, and then crying in the comment section. Madness." An Instagram user wrote, "Sorry but why Americans are crying in comment section ooo I get it they have never seen fresh fruits and veggies." Another comment read, "It's wild how people in the comment section are jealous over fresh fruits." "You guys don't have that in the west?" asked another person. Another comment read, "Didi discovered Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart." In India, apps including Dunzo, Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, Zepto, BigBasket, and Amazon Fresh make same-day deliveries, including deliveries within five to ten minutes.
