Zepto closes gap with Blinkit in quick commerce app installation reach

Zepto has nearly caught up with Blinkit in app penetration by CY25, intensifying the race for leadership in India's fast-growing quick commerce market

The battle for supremacy in India’s quick commerce space is getting fiercer, with Zepto nearly catching up with its rival — Blinkit — as both players expanded their app installation penetration across the country in calendar year 2025.  

This rivalry has driven a major transformation in the grocery business over the past three years, pivoting from scheduled deliveries to instant fulfilment. 

Installed app penetration refers to the percentage of active smartphone and tablet devices in a defined market that have a particular app installed at least once during a given period. 

Latest data from Sensor Tower shows that Eternal-owned Blinkit has expanded its installed app penetration nearly threefold to 15.2 per cent in CY25 from 5.8 per cent in CY22. 

Rapidly closing the gap is Bengaluru-based Zepto, which was slower to enter the quick commerce space but has seen even more aggressive growth. Zepto’s app installation penetration has surged fivefold to 14.6 per cent in Q4CY25 from just 3.1 per cent in Q4CY22. 

The competition between Blinkit and Zepto has left behind the market leader of 2022, Tata-controlled BigBasket, which has grown at a more moderate pace. BigBasket’s installed app penetration increased to 11.8 per cent in Q4CY25 from 8.7 per cent in Q4CY22. However, competition in this space is expected to intensify further this year. Based on app downloads in CY25, Blinkit continues to hold the top position, followed closely by Zepto. Instamart is aggressively strengthening its presence in the third spot and has now moved ahead of BigBasket. 

Contrary to the perception that quick commerce mainly appeals to Gen Z users, data shows the 35-44 age group, who are primary wage earners and household planners, has emerged the most critical segment for quick commerce. According to Sensor Tower, this age group recorded the highest adoption of platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto, and BigBasket. 

For Blinkit, app usage penetration by age shows that 27.7 per cent of users fall in the 35-44 category, followed closely by those aged 25-34 (26.7 per cent), 18-24 (24.4 per cent), with the rest in the 45-54 age group. 

In the case of Zepto, users aged between 35 and 44 form the second-largest segment, with a penetration of 14.5 per cent, nearly matching the 25-34 age group at 14.6 per cent. For BigBasket as well, the 35-44 age group accounts for the largest share of app users.This surge in activity has contributed to a boom in the overall food and drink app segment, of which quick commerce is a subset. Total downloads in this category in India rose by 56 per cent in 2025 compared with the previous year. 

In CY25, India accounted for 23 per cent of global downloads in the food and drink app category, out of a total 2.37 billion downloads worldwide, putting the country at the top globally. India downloaded 545 million apps in this category last year. In CY24, India’s share of global downloads stood at just 14.7 per cent.