India’s quick commerce market is entering a new scale-up phase, with deep-pocketed conglomerates ramping up investments to challenge incumbents and reshape the competitive landscape.
Reliance Retail’s JioMart is emerging as a formidable contender, with its hyperlocal business clocking 2 million average daily orders in Q4 FY26, growing 29 per cent sequentially and over 300 per cent year-on-year, according to its investor presentation. The company’s approach, built on leveraging a vast store network rather than dark stores, could offer a differentiated model in a category long dominated by speed-first delivery.
3,100+ store network
Industry executives say JioMart’s 3,100+ store network, supplemented by formats like Smart Bazaar, provides a strong backbone for scaling hyperlocal deliveries without the same level of capital intensity required for dense dark store networks. This could challenge the prevailing quick commerce playbook that prioritises ultra-fast deliveries over cost efficiency.
Meanwhile, global and domestic ecommerce giants are also accelerating their push. Amazon Now plans to expand to 100 cities with more than 1,000 micro-fulfilment centres, while Flipkart is targeting 1,000 dark stores, up from around 800 currently. The aggressive expansion signals a broad-based bet on quick commerce as the next major battleground in India’s ecommerce evolution.
Despite rising competition, Blinkit continues to anchor the market on scale and growth. The company reported 95.4 per cent year-on-year growth in net order value (NOV) in Q4 FY26, with 216 net new stores added during the quarter, taking its total network to 2,243 stores. Growth, however, is beginning to normalise, with management guiding for 60 per cent plus annual growth over the next few years, compared with a 104 per cent CAGR between FY23 and FY26.
At the same time, Blinkit is showing early signs of operating leverage. It posted an adjusted EBITDA of ₹37 crore in Q4 FY26, compared with ₹4 crore in the previous quarter and a loss a year earlier, marking its strongest profitability to date. Mature markets are already nearing steady-state margins, suggesting the business model is becoming structurally sustainable.
The company’s growth strategy is also evolving. Average monthly transacting users nearly doubled year-on-year to 27.2 million, even as average order value declined to ₹525 from ₹665 a year earlier. This indicates a shift toward higher frequency and deeper customer penetration rather than reliance on larger basket sizes.
Skewing demand
However, the near-term environment remains challenging. Blinkit Chief Executive Albinder Dhindsa noted that intense competition is driving “poor-quality growth” in some pockets, with aggressive discounting skewing demand toward low-margin categories.
India’s quick commerce market is far from saturation. With multiple players simultaneously investing in infrastructure, customer acquisition and supply chains, the category is expanding rapidly rather than becoming a zero-sum game.
As incumbents focus on profitability and density, and new entrants prioritise scale and distribution muscle, the next phase of quick commerce will likely be defined by a balance between speed, cost efficiency and network depth.
Published on April 28, 2026