Quick Commerce

Zepto’s bid to rewrite the economics of quick commerce

Pranav Balakrishnan

April 06, 2026 | 12 Min Read

Zepto’s bid to rewrite the economics of quick commerce

April 06, 2026 | 12 Min Read

The quick commerce startup thinks the industry’s fixation with basket sizes is overblown, and is betting that sheer density of orders can make it work. With a reported IPO months away, the timing could not be tighter.

For the past few years, quick commerce in India has run on a simple idea. Get customers to spend more per order. The bigger the basket, the easier it is to cover the cost of rushing groceries to a doorstep in 10 minutes. Blinkit, the market leader and the closest to breaking even, posted a net average order value (AOV) of Rs 546 in the December quarter. Everyone else has been trying to outdo that number.

But for Zepto, there is more to chase.

Corporate

Access unlimited content at a special discounted rate. Trusted by top VC’s and leading organizations, we provide bulk subscriptions for groups of 30+. Contact us for more details

Campus

Top educational institutions have collaborated with us for campus-wide subscriptions. For bulk campus-wide access, please get in touch.

Got a tip? If you have a lead we should be chasing at The CapTable, write to us at [email protected]

Join our community of 100,000+ top executives, VCs, entrepreneurs, and brightest student minds

Trusted by the best

Karthik Reddy

Blume Ventures

The CapTable brings a refreshing set of insights for us at the Blume team, highlighting stories that bring together the underlying business and founders with that of investors' journeys with these startups. It's an important perspective that very few bring to startup ecosystem enthusiasts.

Latest Articles

AI gets the cheques while the rest of startup India waits

Even as overall startup funding slows amid global uncertainty, capital is concentrating sharply into AI—where larger cheques and rising conviction contrast with a deepening winter across edtech, fintech, and other sectors

Nikhil Patwardhan

Inside Superhealth’s ambitious plan to rebuild healthcare from scratch

With a zero-commission model and an AI ‘operating system’, the Bengaluru startup is attacking the industry’s hidden economics, but six months of thin data isn’t enough to convince the sceptics.

Anuj Suvarna

Nandu’s is making money selling meat, and in India, that’s news

A Bengaluru family that has been in poultry for six decades says its retail arm has cracked what VC-backed meat startups could not: growing the business while turning a profit.

Shivani Verma

The two disruptions shaping India’s IT industry

As new technologies and global uncertainties collide, companies are adapting through reskilling, partnerships, and new platforms.

Thimmaya Poojary

Free Read

Happy customers make famous companies

Make your customers go viral. Make people use your product, love it, and tell everyone about it. Customer delight is timeless, and it feeds back into the business.

Sidin Vadukut

Convinced that The Captable stories and insights
will give you the edge?

Convinced that The Captable stories
and insights will give you the edge?

Subscribe Now

Stories

Explore