How entry of Blinkit, Swiggy, Instamart and Zepto is transforming shopping habits in smaller towns

KOLKATA: The entry of Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto is transforming shopping habits in smaller towns, with consumers increasingly opting for larger packs and premium variants of everyday goods, buoyed by aggressive discounting and free delivery, industry executives said.

Quick commerce has opened a new window of opportunities for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in tier 2 and 3 cities where people hitherto have been mostly buying small, low-priced packs from neighbourhood stores, or kiranas.

"Quick commerce caters to a large catchment area unlike kiranawalas who were hesitant to sell these packs as it was not a viable proposition for them," Mayank Shah, vice president at Parle Products, said.

For the leading biscuit maker, packs priced Rs 40-70 now contribute 30-35% of sales through quick commerce in smaller towns, while such larger packs account for only 10% of its sales through kiranas.

FMCG companies are tweaking their product mix in line with this trend.

The country's leading dairy brand Amul, for instance, has started selling packs priced up to Rs 500 via quick commerce in smaller towns.

AWL Agri Business (formerly Adani Wilmar), the country's largest edible oil company, said large packs such as 5-litre jars and bundled three 1-litre pouches now make up 50% of its sales on quick commerce platforms in smaller towns.

Kiranas largely sell 500-ml to 1-litre pouches, with large packs accounting for less than 10% of sales, it said. "Of course, the platforms are also giving offers, free deliveries and high discounts in these markets to lure consumers, which increases sales of large packs," said Angshu Mallick, chief executive officer of AWL Agri Business. Wipro Consumer Care, maker of Santoor soap and Glucovita energy drink, said its value pack sales grew by over 200% last year, driven by rapid expansion of quick commerce into next-level cities.

Value Pack Sales Up
"Quick commerce is also playing a pivotal role in driving premiumisation across personal and home care categories. For us, value pack sales have grown by over 200% in the last year," said Khatri.

Wipro Consumer Care, maker of Santoor soap and Glucovita energy drink, said its value pack sales grew by over 200% last year, driven by rapid expansion of quick commerce into next-level cities.


Quick commerce companies have said their next phase of expansion will be in towns like Anand, Jodhpur, Rohtak, Bathinda, Haridwar, Vijayawada, Dehradun, Raipur, Siliguri and Thiruvananthapuram.

A month back, Swiggy announced the expansion of Instamart to 100 cities, while Blinkit has plans to set up 2,000 dark stores by this December, doubling the number since December 2024.

Still, there are trade-offs. High discounting by quick commerce while they expand into smaller towns are impacting margins, according to Mohan Goenka, vice chairman of Emami Ltd, which owns personal care and healthcare brands such as Fair and Handsome and BoroPlus.

"However, it has become a big consumer trend and we can't swim against the tide," Goenka said.

To be sure, top cities such as Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune still contribute 80% of the business for quick commerce companies, both Eternal (formerly Zomato, which owns Blinkit, and Swiggy told investors in February.

But smaller towns are catching up. Swiggy in a recent investor note said its smaller town stores have shown a similar growth in six months of launch when compared to large cities including metros.

Eternal's chief financial officer Akshant Goyal told investors recently that smaller towns on a return on investment basis look attractive.

As per a recent Bain and Company report, quick commerce is projected to grow at over 40% annually through 2030, driven by expansion across categories, geographies and customer segments.