Blinkit, earlier known as Grofers, is one of India’s fastest-growing Quick commerce (or Q-commerce) companies. If you live in a metro city, chances are you have seen yellow Blinkit bags zipping through traffic and delivering household grocery items in just 10 to 15 minutes.
“Blinkit stands out for its speed—it delivers in minutes instead of days.”But how does this company actually earn money? Let’s break it down.
The Journey of Blinkit
It began as Grofers in 2013, focusing on grocery delivery. Later, it shifted to 10-15minutes delivery and rebranded it as Blinkit.
In June 2022, Zomato acquired Blinkit (formerly Grofers) for ₹4,447 crore (approximately $568 million). This gave Blinkit strong backing and access to Zomato’s delivery network. Today, Blinkit is a leader in quick commerce, competing with Zepto, Swiggy, Instamart, Jio Mart, and BigBasket Now.
How the Blinkit Model Works
Blinkit uses dark stores, it is something like mini warehouses near residential areas. Customers order on the app, staff pick items within minutes, and delivery partners bring them to the doorstep. Each store serves a small 2–3 km radius.
| Company/Brand | Blinkit (Blink Commerce Pvt. Ltd.), formerly Grofers |
| Establishment Year | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Gurugram, Haryana, India |
| Founder/Owner | Founders: Albinder Dhindsa, Saurabh Kumar; Owner: Eternal Limited (formerly Zomato) |
| Industry | Quick Commerce (Q-Commerce) |
| Net Worth | Not separately disclosed; acquired by Zomato in 2022 for ₹4,447 crore |
| Total Revenue 2024 | ₹2,301 crore |
How Blinkit Makes Money?
1. Retail Margins
Blinkit buys items from distributors or brands and sells them at retail price. The difference is its margin. This works like a supermarket but on a smaller, faster scale. Well, in a way, being the online business makes the real difference here, and that’s why this is working out super good for Blinkit.
2. Seller Commissions
Some local sellers and brands list on Blinkit. For every sale, Blinkit charges them a commission. This gives blinkit a steady income without holding all the inventory.
3. Delivery Fees
Customers often pay a delivery fee, especially for small orders. These charges cover rider costs and fuel. Even though fees are small, high order volumes make them significant.
4. Advertising and Sponsored Listings
Blinkit provides in-app promotional opportunities for branding of various companies. As well as promoted listings, banner ads, etc., brands make payments to appear at the top of your search results. This “retail media” flow is becoming very popular and is already a significant source of income. It is the online equivalent of getting prime shelf space in a grocery store. And you wouldn’t even believe how high of a price many companies and brands are willing to pay to Blinkit for that. And sure enough, this part of their profits is increasing year by year, mainly because of the popularity of Blinkit is on the rise in the last couple of years or so.
5. Membership Programs
Blinkit is connected to the Zomato Gold subscription system. Members have advantages such as delivery for free or lower costs, generally on smaller orders, at which time they can save money. Such subscriptions are not only a source of direct income for the company but also lead up to more regular ordering, thus the user base gets more engaged. And so far, it has been seen that this subscription model or the membership program is working out just fine in the case of Blinkit, which is just another nice addition to their overall profits.
6. Private Label Products and Direct Sales
One more aspect that substantially strengthens the income of the company is the private label products that are items of Blinkit’s own brand. Blinkit maintains a more considerable margin with the sale of branded products than with non-branded ones. Besides, they have taken the initiative to control some of the stock by themselves, which, in the long run, will lead to more profits. The company is already forecasted to grow in this sector by a large margin in the near future.
Blinkit’s Financial Growth
Let’s delve into the figures to see the comparison visually. Spoiler alert, though: Blinkit has been doing phenomenally well in the last few years or so, and the growth has been on an upward trend after Zomato acquired them. Anyway, let’s get to the actual financial numbers part.
Blinkit, in its 2024 financial year, registered a revenue of ₹23.01 billion, which is almost thrice the turnover of ₹8.06 billion recorded by it in the 2023 financial year. Along with that, the company made a definite step to the profit side as it became EBITDA positive on an adjusted basis in March 2024. Most of you may not know what that really is, but in short, that’s a super great thing for a business like Blinkit.
As a result of more than 1,300 dark stores being operational and the steady growth of average order values, Blinkit is expected to keep on raking in its revenue. Currently, it is leading by a small margin against such rivals as Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, and BB Now.
What Challenges Does Blinkit Face?
Sure enough, there is no business out there that doesn’t face any problem whatsoever, and that’s pretty much the case with Blinkit as well. There sure are a few things that are somewhat of a challenge for them, and from the looks of it, they’re managing it really well. Like? Oh, here:
The costs of running and being able to maintain such a large number of dark stores in entirely high. Aside from that, the expenses for delivery partners, logistics, and technology must be taken into account; they all add up quite fast. Besides that, the competition is also very strong, particularly in this sector, where both the speed and the volume of the margins are of importance.
Then there are operational challenges like:
- Stockouts
- Customer complaints
- Delivery delays during peak times
- Regulatory hurdles
- Labor and gig worker issues
Still, it looks like Blinkit is addressing these issues individually by broadening its advertising platform, developing more private labels, and improving store-level operations. In a way, you can say that these are just the common challenges that a business like Blinkit usually faces, but so far, the way they are managing things is what is making a huge difference in their profit margins, and that’s why it is growing so fast in India.