India’s quick commerce sector is witnessing an unprecedented surge in discounting, as major players including Amazon and Flipkart ramp up their presence in the already-crowded market. The fierce competition is driving discounts to record highs, with industry insiders warning of prolonged cash burn and mounting losses across platforms.
According to industry sources, average discounts across categories have climbed to 20–25% of the maximum retail price (MRP) this month — a sharp rise from under 10% just two years ago. Categories like personal care are now seeing markdowns as steep as 35%, while essentials such as packaged foods, staples, and beverages are also being heavily discounted.
“Rising competition is the reason for increasing discounts within quick commerce. Today, there are eight players,” said Karan Taurani, Executive Vice President at Elara Capital. “Unless we see consolidation to four or five players, this level of discounting will likely continue.”
The battle for customer attention has expanded beyond early movers like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy’s Instamart. Retail heavyweights including Reliance’s JioMart, Flipkart Minutes, and Amazon Now have all entered the fray. Flipkart reportedly aims to double its dark store network from 400 to 800 by the end of the year, while Amazon Now has already launched operations in parts of Bengaluru and is eyeing Mumbai and Delhi-NCR next.
According to a recent note by Jefferies, the lowest discounting is seen in dairy products, which typically have slim margins. However, fresh fruits and vegetables also show considerable price fluctuations across platforms, though analysts often exclude them from core comparison baskets due to inconsistent quality standards.
Despite ballooning operational costs, companies remain focused on customer acquisition over profitability. Industry executives highlight that most players are well-capitalised and aggressively investing in growth, especially in Tier-II and Tier-III markets.
“The focus is on building a sticky customer base,” said a senior executive at a leading quick commerce firm. “There’s significant room for growth, and platforms are concentrating on encouraging first-time usage outside metro cities.”
According to Morgan Stanley, India’s quick commerce market is currently valued at $8 billion and projected to grow to $28 billion by 2026, reaching $57 billion by 2030.
The sector’s burn rate has surged dramatically, with estimated monthly cash outflows rising to ₹1,300–1,500 crore. Blinkit’s parent company Eternal, for example, saw net profit drop to ₹39 crore for the quarter ending March 31, compared to ₹175 crore a year earlier. Rival Swiggy’s losses also nearly doubled to ₹1,081 crore for the same period, as both firms ramped up investments in their rapid delivery arms.
Notably, Blinkit CFO Akshant Goyal recently affirmed that the platform will prioritise market share growth, even at the cost of short-term profitability. Programmes like Zepto’s Super Saver and Instamart’s Maxxsaver are also driving larger basket-size orders with deeper discounts, reducing costs per order while intensifying the competition with value-focused offline retailers like Dmart.
With new players entering and existing ones scaling up rapidly, India’s quick commerce space appears poised for further disruption — even as the road to profitability remains uncertain.
