Competition in India’s quick commerce sector has intensified sharply as ecommerce majors Amazon and Flipkart ramp up discounting to challenge established players such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy’s Instamart, triggering what industry executives describe as a renewed price war in the 10-minute delivery segment.
The heightened rivalry has begun to weigh on market leader Blinkit, with pressure visible in certain categories and geographies. In response, the company has reduced delivery charges in select markets. A recent research note by UBS said overall discounts across quick commerce platforms increased to 55% in January, from 53% in November. The rise has been driven largely by Amazon Now, whose discount levels surged from 26% to 57% over the same period, bringing it in line with Zepto, which is preparing for an initial public offering.
Flipkart Minutes has also stepped up its push by rolling out a bulk-ordering feature, XtraSaver, offering steep discounts on a range of items. Blinkit chief executive Albinder Dhindsa described the current environment as one of “irrational competitive intensity”, noting that it was affecting the company’s ability to grow at previously guided levels.
UBS said its pricing tracker showed that discounts across platforms had risen by 200–300 basis points on average compared with September levels, and had increased further in January relative to November. The report added that Amazon and Zepto were currently offering the highest discounts among online platforms, while Blinkit remained the least aggressive, albeit at higher levels than in the past.
Industry executives said Amazon and Flipkart are leveraging their strong balance sheets, deep supplier relationships and cross-platform synergies to gain traction in a market where customer loyalty remains fluid. The sector is also witnessing renewed momentum from Reliance Industries, which earlier this month said its quick commerce arm, JioMart, was on track to become the second-largest player. JioMart currently operates around 800 dark stores and processes about 1.6 million orders a day, compared with Blinkit’s average of 2.6 million daily orders during the October–December quarter.
Competitive pressures have also prompted tactical shifts among other players. Zepto and Swiggy’s Instamart removed several charges and fees in November as they battled for the second position behind Blinkit.
Financial firepower remains a key differentiator in the intensifying contest. Blinkit parent Eternal and Swiggy each hold close to ₹18,000 crore in cash, while privately held Zepto had about ₹7,000 crore as of November. Swiggy, which raised ₹10,000 crore from public markets in December, is scheduled to announce its third-quarter earnings on January 29. Zepto has meanwhile made a confidential filing to raise about ₹11,000 crore through a potential IPO this year.
During the October–December earnings call, Eternal highlighted the role of competition in shaping Blinkit’s growth trajectory. Eternal chief financial officer Akshant Goyal said competition was affecting outcomes and numbers, though not necessarily dictating every quarterly decision. He noted that while the company had maintained pricing when market share was largely stable, it had cut delivery charges in certain markets after seeing some impact.
Blinkit has already lowered delivery fees in key localities across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru, responding to increased pressure from Amazon and Flipkart, according to media reports. Goyal said competition was influencing margins, revenue growth, store expansion plans and several other aspects of the business.
Dhindsa, who is set to take over as group chief executive of Eternal from February 1, said the company does not believe a sustainable quick commerce business can be built on heavy discounting. However, he acknowledged that if competitors’ strategies begin to materially hurt Blinkit’s performance, the company would be compelled to respond, even at the expense of margins. Analysts expect competitive intensity to emerge as a key determinant of Blinkit’s growth trajectory in the months ahead.
