Zomato’s Blinkit: driving innovation in quick commerce

Research methodology The case has been developed from secondary sources. The secondary sources included the company website, media coverage, information service providers and analyst reports. Independent market studies and regulatory filings were used to triangulate facts and information. Case overview/synopsis On August 6, 2024, Zomato Ltd.’s [1] CEO, Deepinder Goyal, came across rival Flipkart’s [2] official press release about the launch of “Minutes,” its quick commerce offering of less than 15 min of grocery delivery. Flipkart had announced it would join the quick commerce battlefield with this strategic move ahead of the festive season. Zomato had acquired its own quick commerce arm, Blinkit, in 2022 for $570m (see Case Table 2), and by July 2024, it was valued at $13bn. It had been outperforming its competitors, Swiggy’s Instamart and Zepto. The quick commerce space was growing on a month-on-month basis. These quick-commerce firms carried 10,000 SKUs [3], a massive increase from the initial count of 2,000–3,000 SKUs. Blinkit had plans to take its dark store count to 1,000 by March 2025, aiming to increase penetration in metro cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Zepto, with its $665m funding, had plans to double the dark store count by 2025. Deepinder had mixed emotions; he was pleased that Blinkit was the leader in the quick-commerce business (see Case Figure 1), but was also anxious that competition was catching up fast. He had an air of urgency about his next move, to expand market share and sustain its leadership position in the quick commerce business. Complexity academic level This case is recommended for graduate-level management programs, including the Master of Business Administration (MBA). It can be used in a Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) course, a Strategic Management module or an E-commerce course. If used as a module in a Strategic Management or E-commerce course, the instructor may wish to use a session ahead of the case to introduce the class to the BOS frameworks. The case aims to discuss the Blue Ocean Strategy concepts through frameworks of pioneers-migrators-settlers map and market-creating strategies (as opposed to market-competing strategy) and Supply Chain efficiency models in the E-commerce industry. The case aims to give students the confidence to analyze strategic offerings by firms in creating new markets through an example of quick commerce (an emerging business model in e-commerce).