Upalika Prasad

Who exactly is losing market share in the hotly contest grocery commerce? I thought it must be the now-not-so modern retail, but I'm not so sure. Zepto raised $665 Mn at a valuation of $3.6 Bn, and is in talks to raise $250 Mn more. And their cofounder and CEO Aadit Palicha recently commented that they can beat DMart - Avenue Supermarts Ltd on GMV in the next 12-18 months. Swiggy Instamart also is growing, and Blinkit is likely to be more valuable than their owner Zomato itself - so they are all doing well, even if Dunzo isn't. Sure, no idea what JioMart Digital is doing, but deep pockets. Same with Tata Digital and their weird assortment forced to converge on Neu. bigbasket.com is trying to unlearn and relearn, and it just might. And Flipkart Grocery and Amazon Fresh are also upping their game - launching faster deliveries, discounts, improved fill rates, and selection. So I wonder if it is the modern-trade players? The likes of More Retail Private Limited, Spencer's Retail, STAR BAZAR, and SPAR Retail that are suffering? The nearest Spencer's to me is definitely a sore sight, now reduced to a shell of it's former glory - I think they aren't even replenishing inventory now. And we all know what happened to Big Bazaar - Future Retail. But Dmart itself isn't doing half bad - with pareto presence in just 23 cities, and no presence in UP (except NCR), Bihar, and West Bengal, they have considerable headroom, still. And they haven't yet quite solved for ecommerce, so while The Ken says that they are lost, they may find their way, eventually? I also don't think that the real consumption is growing, if at all, it may even shrink with the K-growth. Thus, some one _is_ losing share. And if it is not modern trade, then is it the regional chains? The single kiranas? The corner-store? The hand-cart? I'm not entirely sure because this data is hard to organize, and get. Would you know? Image created by AI in Microsoft Bing Copilot.

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2021: Only grocery delivery app in India with 10 minutes delivery 2024: Competitor chasing the '10 minute' brand segment Zepto is the only player sticking to its original promise - and is clearly acing it Scaling up a grocery delivery business is particularly challenging in India. And adding up a unique attribute, as huge as this –  has clearly been game changing for Zepto. Success didn’t come easy to Zepto too, There was a time when all the Q-commerce players faced backlash & people questioned the safety of drivers. Some brands stopped claiming the delivery time altogether, from “groceries in 15-30 minutes”, they went to “groceries in minutes” But Zepto didn’t, it went on to install a myriad of dark stores across locations, and is already serving superfast deliveries in 10 cities. Top 3 factors that helped Zepto drive exceptional growth over a very short span of time: - Captivating Customer Experience: The platform served a deeply engaging user experience and the service promise was being consistently fulfilled – a powerful combo. - Outstanding Retention: All thanks to near-perfect buying journey, Zepto achieved a retention rate which was considered only to be a fantasy for the industry earlier. - Not slowing down: More dark stores and continuous geographical expansion at the same time helped the startup acquire customers in huge numbers. Zepto cracked the key to scale in the quick commerce space by constantly growing at the same pace, and not compromising customer satisfaction at the same time – simple yet not easy. A perfect example of go big, go fast – it is surely a fascinating study for the space creators. No matter the circumstances, the brand didn’t let go of its biggest differentiator, eliminating all the question marks experts had put to its launch. What do you think is going to be the future of grocery delivery space in India? #casestudy #growth #startup

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Swiggy, the food delivery platform, is now selling Alexa devices.🙇‍♀️ Blinkit, the quick commerce service, is offering water coolers for sale.💧 Zomato, the restaurant aggregator, has expanded into selling event tickets.🎟 Zepto, the quick commerce startup, has added bedsheets to its product lineup.🛌 Cred, the credit card payment app, is now selling underwear.🩳 Paytm, the digital payments giant, has diversified into selling pizzas.🍕 Ola, the ride-hailing service, has branched out into selling burgers🍔 Mygate, the residential community management app, is offering furniture and toys for sale.🏠🧸 Park Plus, the parking solutions provider, has expanded into selling home appliances 🖥 One wonders who is handing out these "product-market fit" awards🏆 and which venture capitalists are backing these expansions 💼😬 #startups #entrepreneurship

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Zomato pulls the plug on Intercity Legends due to lack of market fit. More here: https://bit.ly/3AxQa3n Get the hottest news updates instantly! Follow afaqs! Channel on WhatsApp now: https://bit.ly/3z3M5mI #brands | #zomato | #market | #business | #intercitylegends | #shutdown | Deepinder Goyal

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Lenskart.com recently received a new round of funding from Temasek and Fidelity Investments. If I were to analyze the reasons behind this success from the lens (pun intended) of retail operations, it's no surprise why this brand is scaling so well.  . Here are the top 5 reasons why Lenskart is an exemplary D2C brand mastering retail 👇👇👇 . . . #retailinnovation #Lenskart #retailstoredesign #storeofthefuture #retailtrends #experientialretail #retailcollaboration #D2Cretail #Lenskart #Funding #RetailSuccess #D2C #CustomerExperience #TechInnovation #ProductFocus #ValueShopping #RetailStorytelling #IntuitiveDemos

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D2C valuations have been all over the place. Not quite if you look deeper. The folks at DSG Consumer Partners peel the onion in their "The Value Creation Playbook" Report. The D2C Surge Newsletter covers this and much more on : - Swiggy's dark store rush - A case for smaller refrigerators courtesy Shiv Shivakumar - A breakdown of Blinkit's sanitary pad category - How's Amazon's Karigar initiative doing Join the newsletter that'll make you go "OK then" for all things D2C and ecomm in India. #swiggy #ecommerce #india

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Enough is enough!!! AICPDF has sent a letter to CCI that could potentially stall the growth of Zepto, Blinkit, and Swiggy!!!🚫🤚😕 Quick commerce in India is changing how we shop, with platforms like Zomato (Blinkit), Swiggy (instamart), and Zepto offering everything from groceries to electronics in just 10 minutes at huge discounts. As great as it sounds for consumers, there’s a huge issue at play. 10-minute deliveries might sound like magic, but small retailers are paying the price for our convenience. India’s largest retail distributor group, AICPDF has asked the Competition Commission Of India (CCI) to investigate these platforms for predatory pricing. Small retailers, the backbone of India’s retail scene for decades, are struggling to keep up. It's not just about offline vs online—it's about survival. Even consumer goods companies are now bypassing traditional distributors, partnering directly with quick commerce firms to expand their reach. This shift makes it even harder for small retailers to stay relevant. Yes, quick commerce is booming, with sales expected to top $6 billion this year, but at what cost? As much as I love the convenience, I wonder—are we sacrificing small businesses for the sake of speed and discounts? Blinkit has a hefty market share of 40%, with Instamart and Zepto commanding around 30% each. CCI’s investigating unit had found earlier in August that bigger e-commerce players, including Amazon and Flipkart, breached local laws through predatory pricing. The companies had denied the allegations. I believe balance is essential. We need #innovation and growth, but not at the expense of wiping out traditional businesses. If the CCI finds sufficient evidence of predatory pricing, I hope protective measures are implemented to support our small #retailers and #distributors. The future of commerce in India is evolving, but it should be fair for everyone—from quick commerce giants to neighborhood #shopkeepers. Do you think quick commerce and traditional retail can coexist or is a bigger clash on the horizon? #startups #entrepreneurship #Ecommerce #Retail #QuickCommerce #tech

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LinkedIn has been buzzing about Zomato lately: Concerns over service levels, Frustration with fluctuating pricing, And recently, criticism of a 50-lakh package for #productteammembers on a "simple food delivery app." Before we jump to conclusions, consider watching Zwitago, now on Prime Video. This film offers a raw glimpse into the realities of delivery work, telling the story of Ravi, a #deliverypartner who navigates tight schedules and everyday struggles in the gig economy. Through his journey, we see how vital this work is for individuals and the ecosystem. In a country facing job scarcity, delivery roles aren’t always chosen freely—they’re necessary. Platforms like Zomato provide consistent work, enabling many to earn a livelihood, however modest, that ensures food, shelter, and dignity. Let us keep the bigger picture in mind. Until we create millions of diverse jobs aligned with the education and skills of the unemployed, these platforms bridge a crucial gap. They aren’t the ultimate solution but are undeniably impactful. Meanwhile, let us show empathy for these hardworking delivery partners. Each delivery brings them a step closer to stability and serves as a reminder to appreciate their efforts.

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It's been a big week for the Quick Commerce industry overall. With Zomato infusing 300cr into Blinkit taking the overall investment to Rs. 2300 crores and Zepto, their Mumbai based competitor, in another development raising 665mn in a funding round doubling its valuation to 3.6 Bn (this also marked one of the largest financing in Quick Commerce this year). IPO bound Swiggy also saw its revenues soar 24% and a 26% year-on-year increase in gross order value (GOV). These developments infuse such positivity and hope especially during an otherwise extended 'funding winter' in almost all other sectors. Both Blinkit and Zepto have let out one battle strategy now - to go all out with growing their black stores to the 1000 number mark by March 2025 and secondly opening up the business in new geos. I attribute this to a 2 way street of confidence riding here. The confidence that the investors have on the players and the format and secondly, the players confidence on the market, confident of a 2 pronged growth - increased GOV's and acceptance in newer markets. #quickcommerce #swiggyinstamart #blinkit #zepto #ecommerce #qcom #jiomart #flipkart #bangalore #mumbai #delhi #ipo #investments #growth #2024

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🌟 What a year it's been at Kirana Club! 🌟 Last financial year was not just another tick on the calendar for us at Kirana Club. We grew in numbers! reaching about 20 lakh retailers on our platform. We also saw incredible engagement and Kirana Club has become a go-to place for retailers to connect, share insights, and learn from one another. We also got to work with major names in #FMCG industry very early on in our journey! The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and it seems nearly every brand we've talked to—whether we've partnered with them directly or just had discussions—recognizes the value we're adding. For FMCG brands, the advantage of working with us is clear - They can reach and communicate with lacs of kiranas directly, without the usual delays and dilution caused by intermediaries like wholesalers and distributors. We're not just facilitating communication; we’re also helping brands with tactical and strategic initiatives like: ** Collecting quick market insights from the channel for brands ** Indexing buy and sell prices at the wholesaler and distributor levels ** Driving mass engagement and enhancing in-store visibility for retailers ** Tailoring communications to retailers based on their location, category & brand affinity, interests and behavior in the community Thanks to all our existing partners for the eventful year! Looking ahead, we're energized to build upon this momentum and make the next year more impactful! #GeneralTrade #Distribution #Wholesale #Insights #retail #kiranas #consumerinsights #offline #GTM #CIIFMCGSummit #Aahar2024 #AaharEvent #Gulfood2024 Anshul Gupta Aishwarya Jain Akash Bhargava💡Gaurav Tolani Aditi Tibarewal Charvi Verma Anshul Shivhare Shubhankar Mohan Aditya Kumar Hritik Sahoo Sanket Wable

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Meituan Sells Over $200M Stake in Swiggy Ahead of IPO Chinese lifestyle e-commerce giant Meituan has sold over $200 million worth of its stake in Swiggy to a US-based investor through a secondary deal, according to sources. Meituan first invested in Swiggy in 2018, later increasing its stake in 2020. The recent sale, which occurred last week, valued Swiggy at around $10 billion, though the exact stake sold remains undisclosed. Currently, Meituan holds a 3.88% stake in Swiggy via Inspired Elite Investments, according to TheKredible. Other investors, including Elevation Capital and Norwest, are also offloading shares ahead of Swiggy’s anticipated IPO in the coming weeks. Swiggy plans to raise $450 million through a fresh issue of shares, alongside an undisclosed amount via an offer for sale. Swiggy reported a 36% revenue increase for FY24, reaching Rs 11,247 crore, while reducing net losses by 44% to Rs 2,350 crore. Its main competitor, Zomato, achieved profitability in FY24 and has seen its market capitalization nearly double to $27.3 billion since going public in 2021. #Leadership #Innovation #CareerGrowth #Entrepreneurship #BusinessInsights

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🚨Zepto's cash burn zooms to Rs 250 crore a month on rising capex, closes Rs 2,500 crore funding round Zepto founder Aadit Palicha confirmed the HNI round in a statement to Moneycontrol "Investors are confident with the mature store profitability proven and the forward indicators of EBITDA for new stores, which is why we have successfully raised the largest ever 100 percent domestic financing for a private startup in Indian history. We are raising this Indian capital as a first step to quickly becoming a fully Indian-owned company within the coming fiscal," The Zepto effect Digital marketing spends ⏫ Talent costs ⏫ Cost of Google keywords ⏫ While Zepto burnt Rs 250 crore (around $30 million) in September, the monthly cash burn went as high as Rs 300 crore (about $35 million) in October, two of the persons cited above said while adding that it is likely to stay in the Rs 300 crore range for November as well. But sources close to Zepto say this number is closer to 250 crore. with Tushar Goenka https://lnkd.in/gmkNyaMs

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Diwali Dampener? Market Volatility and IPO Updates As we gear up for Diwali, the market seems to be painting a mixed picture. IPO Update: Swiggy's IPO valuation has been reportedly revised downwards to $11.3 billion, as market volatility and the lacklustre debut of Hyundai India weighed on sentiment.   According to Reuters, BlackRock and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will invest in the $1.4 billion IPO—the country's second-biggest stock offering this year.   Market Sentiment: Just before Diwali, the Indian bourses entered the bear market amid weak global cues and rising volatility. The NSE Nifty 50 fell 2.7% last week and the BSE Sensex dropped 2.2%, logging losses for the fourth straight week.   In fact, October turned out to be the worst-ever month in terms of foreign fund outflows, with foreign investors pulling out a massive Rs 85,790 crore (around $10.2 billion) from equities due to the elevated pricing of domestic equities.    Investors would be treading tricky waters next few weeks, for sure. Let's discuss: What are your thoughts on the current market scenario and its implications for the upcoming festive season? Share your insights and strategies to weather this volatility. #stockmarket #investing #IPO #Diwali #marketvolatility #India

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🚨Swiggy IPO gets oversubscribed led by QIB bids Swiggy’s IPO was oversubscribed 1.07 times by the third day, driven largely by QIBs, who oversubscribed their portion 1.52 times. Retail investors subscribed to 97% of their portion, while Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs) made bids for 22% of their allocation. Swiggy's employee quota also saw strong demand, with a subscription rate of 1.38 times. Swiggy raised around Rs 5,085 crore (approx. $605 million) from anchor investors like HDFC, ICICI, SBI, and global players including Fidelity and BlackRock. by Akshita Toshniwal | #SwiggyIPO #IPO #QIB #RetailInvestors #Foodtech Read more 👇 https://lnkd.in/ggm_piMt

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Zepto founder The Magic Story of two teenagers. Zepto founder Mr. Aadit Palicha and Mr. Kaivalya Vohra, zepto is a prominent Indian startup that has revolutionized the grocery delivery industry. https://tecentr.com/ Launched in 2021 by these teenage entrepreneurs, Zepto achieved a remarkable $3.6 billion valuation in just three years through their consistent efforts. The Zepto Founder Story Mr. Aadit Palicha and Mr. Kaivalya Vohra identified a gap in the online grocery delivery market and launched their unicorn project in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. As more people shifted to online grocery shopping, they seized the opportunity to innovate.The 10-Minute PromiseZepto’s success is largely attributed to its 10-minute delivery promise. This is achieved through a network of “dark stores” located in major cities and towns. These dark stores, optimized for rapid fulfillment, allow Zepto to deliver groceries within 10 minutes thanks to an effective networking strategy and advanced technology. Dark Stores of zepto founder Zepto’s dark stores are small warehouse-like facilities stocked with products and optimized for speedy delivery. The efficiency of these stores, combined with skilled workers and technology, has significantly advanced the grocery delivery industry The world of Tech and Entrepreneurship Tec Entr V A² #aadit #aaditpalicha #founder #zepto #kaivalya #kaivalyavohra #groceries #10minutechallenge #entrepreneurship #entrepreneur #business #businessowner #technologynews #entrepreneurgoals #goals

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Online food delivery wasn't an problem that Swiggy solved, Before Swiggy, there were tons of apps doing online food delivery and didn't scale. TinyOwl, foodpanda, Holachef Hospitality Pvt. Ltd., FreshMenu and more regional ones What Swiggy (and now Zomato) did differently is that they understood the problem that people hated to wait for the food they order and swiggy was able to tell exactly where your food is in realtime because of in-house logistics and that's what people loved What Swish is doing is taking this up a notch further to further solve the problem of waiting for food I remember back in 2016, BOX8 launched a 8-minute delivery in Mumbai and at that time it felt unreal, though didn't scale. But with so many 10-min grocery apps around us doing well, 10min food delivery apps isn't very far as it solves the same user problem of 'People hate to wait for the food they order' #productmanagement #problemsolving #fooddelivery #quickcommerce #10mindelivery

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🚨 Zomato's quick commerce unit Blinkit is now being valued over 2x of food delivery arm by analysts HSBC's breakdown of Zomato valuation @ Rs 330 price target Quick commerce/Blinkit - $20.8 bn/ Rs 201 per share Food delivery - $9.2 bn/ Rs 89 per share Hyperpure - $1.6 bn/ Rs 16 per share Going out/District - $1 bn / Rs 10 per share

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Founders focusing on category-specific Quick-Commerce (QC) should note: when Myntra/Nykaa launched, Flipkart/Amazon weren't operating in those categories. Also, e-commerce players are now venturing into quick commerce. They already know which individuals in which locations order what products and at what frequencies! I see no chance for category-specific QCs. I've noticed many VCs lamenting that 70% of new founders are pitching category-focused QC ventures. These founders seem inspired by broad-QC successes (Zepto/Blinkit/Instamart) and draw parallels to e-commerce, where broad players (Flipkart/Amazon) coexist with category specialists (Myntra/Nykaa). The VCs' concerns are valid, and many founders are missing the crucial point. When Myntra/Nykaa launched, they faced no competition from major e-commerce players. These category specialists captured significant market share before broader players entered. By then, they had built unique user experiences and strong brand recall. This helped them survive and thrive. Today, every broad QC (Zepto/Blinkit/Instamart) is raising crazy capital to expand. It's unlikely they'll leave room for category-focused players to establish themselves. Unless the broad QC players mess it up big time, I fail to see how category-focused QC players will make a dent. Additionally, the entry of established e-commerce players into quick commerce (like Flipkart with Minutes) complicates things. These players have years of data on which pincodes order what products, and at what frequencies. They are aware that you place an order for Vim liquid every month and a laptop every three years. You can also be confident that they will aggressively defend their key categories, such as electronics. New category-focused QC ventures will face significant challenges in competing with them. D2Cs (Mamaearth/Licious/Akshayakalpa) may succeed by targeting specific market segments that value unique attributes (organic, premium, etc.). However, they'll find it difficult to expand beyond their niche. Mass-market capture will remain a broad QC play. Thoughts?

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