Zepto closes in on Blinkit in scale but profitability remains elusive

Zepto's IPO filing shows the company has emerged as Blinkit's closest challenger in quick commerce, although heavy investments in expansion continue to weigh on profitability

Quick commerce (qcom) platform Zepto is emerging as the closest challenger to market leader Blinkit as the former’s operating metrics show it has nearly matched its largest rival on several fronts, even though profitability seems far-fetched.

 

Data shared in the company’s updated draft red herring prospectus shows that Zepto generated ₹7,497.6 crore as part of its revenue from operations and processed 210 million orders during the last quarter of 2025-2026 (Q4 FY26). Its revenue was up 75 per cent year-on-year. 

 

Blinkit remains the market leader with 273.9 million orders and revenue of ₹13,232 crore.

 

But Zepto has significantly narrowed the gap in terms of order volumes. The qcom-only firm, notably, had the highest revenue after Blinkit despite having around half its dark-store network. 

 

 

However, Zepto’s aggressive expansion strategy continues to weigh on earnings. The company reported an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) loss of ₹1,247.5 crore, the largest among the three major players (also Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart).

 

The losses highlight the significant investments being made in customer acquisition, dark-store expansion and rapid delivery infrastructure as companies compete for market share.

 

Zepto operated 1,139 dark stores at the end of FY26, almost at par with Instamart's 1,143 stores and about half of Blinkit's 2,243 locations.

 

However, despite having a significantly smaller dark store network than Blinkit, Zepto's order volumes reached nearly 77 per cent of Blinkit's in the March quarter.

 

This indicates higher throughput per store and strong demand concentration in key urban markets.

 

During the March quarter, Zepto reported a net receivables value (NRV) of ₹8,133.8 crore, substantially higher than Instamart's net order value (NOV) of ₹5,674.3 crore. This was despite Instamart operating a similar number of dark stores. It is, however, lower to Blinkit’s NOV of ₹14,386 crore.

 

Notably, NRV is the actual money a qcom company earns from transactions on its platform, after adjusting for discounts and adding other revenue streams. NOV refers to the actual value retained after deductions (such as discounts and promo codes).