Latest news with #Palicha
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Business Standard
17-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Zepto scales fresh supply chain, sells 22 lakh units daily in May
Quick commerce platform Zepto has scaled its fresh produce category, which comprises fruits and vegetables, fourfold in a year. The company sold 22.1 lakh units of produce per day in May this year, compared to 6.4 lakh units sold per day in the corresponding period last year, the co-founder and chief executive of the platform said in a post on LinkedIn. 'Last month, Zepto's supply chain team hit a huge milestone — 22 lakh units of fruits and vegetables sold per day (up from 6.4 lakh last year)! This volume represents one of the largest and most sophisticated fresh supply chains in the country today,' Palicha wrote. According to the company, a few long-standing challenges in the retail of fresh produce include the overpresence of intermediaries, unpredictable pricing and poor quality produce. However, the company said it could scale because it now works directly with farmers across more than 70 collection centres where produce is graded, packed and dispatched. 'Zepto has achieved this scale through direct sourcing, tech-led procurement and smart last-mile handling — making fresh produce not just faster, but more accessible and affordable. Zepto works directly with thousands of farmers across 70+ collection centres — strategically located hubs where produce is graded, packed and dispatched within 12 hours of harvest,' the company said in a statement. Sharing the vision for the future, Palicha said fruits and vegetables are the largest category of consumption in the country, and the company aims to build a world-class supply chain at a larger scale over the next 10 years. Zepto's Bloom app, a proprietary sourcing intelligence platform, offers real-time mandi price benchmarks, automated vendor scoring and dynamic procurement planning. 'This gives farmers transparency, better pricing power and predictability, all of which were missing in the traditional mandi system,' the company said.
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Where does Zepto's GOV stand in front of rivals?
Quick commerce platform Zepto's gross order value (GOV) will cross Rs 2,400 crore this month, up a whopping 220% from about Rs 750 crore in May 2024, its cofounder and chief executive Aadit Palicha said in a LinkedIn post on Sunday. This represents an annualised gross sales run rate of around $3.4 billion, or around Rs 28,800 crore, which could be higher than rival Swiggy Instamart . Palicha had last month said the Bengaluru-based company's annualised GOV run rate is expected to cross $4 billion soon. So, where does it stand compared to its key rivals? Eternal 's Blinkit , which is the market leader in quick commerce, reported a 134% year-on-year increase in its GOV for the March quarter at Rs 9,421 crore. Its annualised GOV is $4.4 billion (around Rs 37,684 crore). Swiggy Instamart 's GOV doubled year-on-year to Rs 4,670 crore for the March quarter, translating into an annualised GOV of $2.2 billion (Rs 18,680 crore). Uneven GOV definition GOV is simply the total value of all orders placed on a platform. However, different players define it differently. Zepto, unlike its rivals, includes ad revenue. GOV considers the maximum retail price (MRP) of goods sold on a platform. In the case of fruits and vegetables, which don't have an MRP, all the three players use the final selling price of the product. GOV also includes various fees and charges that are levied on the users, including handling charges, processing fees, convenience charges and the actual delivery fees paid by the consumers. However, GOV as a metric, does not account for the discounts extended by the platform, brands or banks and credit card partners. Blinkit recently announced a new metric for calculation called net order value (NOV) during its January-March quarter results. The company calculates NOV by subtracting discounts (funded by the platform and its brand partners) from GOV. The decision to include this metric comes after the company observed a widening gap between Blinkit's GOV and the actual amount paid by the customer. This is happening because a product's MRP (maximum retail price) is usually significantly higher than its market selling price, the company noted in its Q4 results announcement. Swiggy Instamart also started announcing its NOV numbers from the March quarter's results along with the GOV numbers. Dark stores Blinkit is heavily focused on expanding its dark store network to outpace competitors in the rapid delivery space. Currently, it has over 1,300 dark stores, and plans to have 2,000 stores by the end of 2026. Swiggy Instamart and Zepto are closely matched in terms of dark store count, operating over 1,000 stores each. Palicha said in the LinkedIn post that Zepto was ramping up store additions. Tatas-owned BigBasket has a network of over 500 dark stores, while Flipkart Minutes, one of the most aggressive players in the space, operates around 400 mini-warehouses and plans to increase this to 800 by year-end. Profitability and cash burn Palicha said a majority of Zepto's dark stores will be fully Ebitda -positive by the next quarter. He said the company's Ebitda has improved by 2,000 basis points (20 percentage points) between January and May 2025, with cash burn down 65% during the same period. Meanwhile, Blinkit and Instamart's losses have been expanding as these companies step up on their dark store additions. The growth in Eternal's quick commerce arm pushed operating revenue to surge 64% on-year to Rs 5,833 crore, but its expansion plans cost the company and pushed up the operating losses by 75% sequentially to Rs 178 crore. For Instamart, adjusted Ebitda loss increased to Rs 840 crore against Rs 304 crore in the year-ago period.
Time of India
26-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Where does Zepto's GOV stand in front of rivals?
Zepto's GOV is set to surpass Rs 2,400 crore in May, up 220% year-on-year, with an annualised run rate of $3.4 billion. It trails Blinkit's $4.4 billion but outpaces Instamart's $2.2 billion. Zepto has also reported improved Ebitda and reduced cash burn, contrasting rivals' rising losses amid dark store expansion. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Quick commerce platform Zepto's gross order value (GOV) will cross Rs 2,400 crore this month , up a whopping 220% from about Rs 750 crore in May 2024, its cofounder and chief executive Aadit Palicha said in a LinkedIn post on represents an annualised gross sales run rate of around $3.4 billion, or around Rs 28,800 crore, which could be higher than rival Swiggy Instamart Palicha had last month said the Bengaluru-based company's annualised GOV run rate is expected to cross $4 billion where does it stand compared to its key rivals? Eternal 's Blinkit , which is the market leader in quick commerce, reported a 134% year-on-year increase in its GOV for the March quarter at Rs 9,421 crore. Its annualised GOV is $4.4 billion (around Rs 37,684 crore).Swiggy Instamart 's GOV doubled year-on-year to Rs 4,670 crore for the March quarter, translating into an annualised GOV of $2.2 billion (Rs 18,680 crore).GOV is simply the total value of all orders placed on a platform. However, different players define it differently. Zepto, unlike its rivals, includes ad considers the maximum retail price (MRP) of goods sold on a platform. In the case of fruits and vegetables, which don't have an MRP, all the three players use the final selling price of the also includes various fees and charges that are levied on the users, including handling charges, processing fees, convenience charges and the actual delivery fees paid by the GOV as a metric, does not account for the discounts extended by the platform, brands or banks and credit card recently announced a new metric for calculation called net order value (NOV) during its January-March quarter results. The company calculates NOV by subtracting discounts (funded by the platform and its brand partners) from decision to include this metric comes after the company observed a widening gap between Blinkit's GOV and the actual amount paid by the customer. This is happening because a product's MRP (maximum retail price) is usually significantly higher than its market selling price, the company noted in its Q4 results Instamart also started announcing its NOV numbers from the March quarter's results along with the GOV is heavily focused on expanding its dark store network to outpace competitors in the rapid delivery space. Currently, it has over 1,300 dark stores, and plans to have 2,000 stores by the end of Instamart and Zepto are closely matched in terms of dark store count, operating over 1,000 stores said in the LinkedIn post that Zepto was ramping up store BigBasket has a network of over 500 dark stores, while Flipkart Minutes, one of the most aggressive players in the space, operates around 400 mini-warehouses and plans to increase this to 800 by said a majority of Zepto's dark stores will be fully Ebitda -positive by the next quarter. He said the company's Ebitda has improved by 2,000 basis points (20 percentage points) between January and May 2025, with cash burn down 65% during the same Blinkit and Instamart's losses have been expanding as these companies step up on their dark store growth in Eternal's quick commerce arm pushed operating revenue to surge 64% on-year to Rs 5,833 crore, but its expansion plans cost the company and pushed up the operating losses by 75% sequentially to Rs 178 Instamart, adjusted Ebitda loss increased to Rs 840 crore against Rs 304 crore in the year-ago period.
Time of India
26-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Zepto founder Aadit Palicha alleges smear campaign by rival CFO as quick commerce race heats up
Quick commerce platform Zepto 's cofounder Aadit Palicha has alleged that the chief financial officer (CFO) of a rival company is attempting to orchestrate a smear campaign against the startup by circulating false information to its investors, media, and on social media platforms. Palicha claimed that the competitor's CFO had made 'wild allegations' without empirical evidence, and even gone to the extent of sharing 'false numbers and Excel sheets' with journalists through proxy sources. The executive also alleged that bots were being paid to amplify a negative narrative online. 'Candidly, this episode is below the stature expected of the CFO of a high-quality company and makes it obvious that they are starting to get nervous about how fast Zepto's Ebdita is improving,' he wrote in a LinkedIn post. He said the company is choosing to respond preemptively in case any 'inaccurate information' appears in the media or on social media. Palicha shared several performance indicators aimed at underscoring its financial health and growth momentum: Monthly gross order value (GOV) grew from Rs 750 crore in May 2024 to Rs 2,400 crore in May 2025, including ad revenue and fruits and vegetables sold at retail improved by 2,000 basis points (20 percentage points) between January and May 2025, with cash burn down 65% during the same company posted 4–5% month-on-month growth, translating to a 20% GOV jump from January to expects a majority of its dark stores to be fully Ebdita-positive by the next quarter, with company-level Ebdita and operating cash flow nearing firm claims to have Rs 7,445 crore in net cash, reconciled with bank statements, offering 'many years of runway.' He asserted that it is not planning any large-scale store rationalisation, and instead is ramping up dark store launches. Palicha highlighted Zepto's finance and compliance practices, saying it has 'best-in-class' payment systems, vendor audits, asset verification, and a clean statutory audit record with Big Four firms. He cited past financial due diligence exercises with no material irregularities. While the identity of the rival CFO was not named, the allegations come at a time when competition in India's quick commerce sector is intensifying with players like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Flipkart Minutes. Quick commerce sector accounted for over two-third of all e-retail orders in 2024, with its total market share growing about five times to $6–7 billion from 2022, a March by consultancy firm Bain and ecommerce giant Flipkart showed. Despite the rising popularity, quick commerce platforms are still struggling to attain profitability. The top three fast delivery players — Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto — were collectively burning around Rs 1,300–1,500 crore per month with Zepto accounting for the largest share, ET had reported in February. Burn rate measures how quickly a company spends its reserves before generating positive cash flow. Amid rising competition, Flipkart decided to limit the expansion of its quick commerce unit, Flipkart Minutes, to the top six to eight cities to rein in costs, ET reported earlier this month.
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Business Standard
26-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Zepto's Aadit Palicha accuses 'rival q-commerce CFO' of smear campaign
Zepto co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha has publicly alleged that the chief financial officer (CFO) of a competing quick commerce firm is orchestrating a smear campaign targeting Zepto's business, brand, and leadership. Palicha made the claims in a LinkedIn post on Sunday night. Without naming the rival CFO or company, Palicha alleged that the CFO had contacted Zepto's investors to spread false allegations, shared misleading internal data through media intermediaries, and even used paid social media bots to tarnish the firm's image. 'Candidly, this episode is below the stature expected of the CFO of a high-quality company,' Palicha wrote. 'It makes it obvious that they are starting to get nervous about how fast Zepto's Ebitda is improving.' Zepto counters with performance metrics Growth in gross order value (GOV): Zepto's monthly GOV surged to ₹2,400 crore in May 2025 from ₹750 crore in May 2024. Ebitda improvement: The firm's Ebitda margin improved by 20 percentage points between January and May 2025, alongside a 65 per cent drop in cash burn. Sustainable growth: Despite the focus on profitability, Zepto maintained around 20 per cent GOV growth over the same period, with 4-5 per cent monthly growth. Financial health: Zepto claims to have ₹7,445 crore in net cash reserves and expects to reach near-breakeven Ebitda and operating cash flow next quarter. Operational expansion: Contrary to speculation, Zepto is scaling up its dark store network, not downsizing it. The firm currently operates close to 1,000 dark stores. Palicha emphasised the company's strong finance and audit practices, including Big 4 statutory audits and rigorous due diligence with no material concerns flagged. "We have an excellent finance and controllership team with best-in-class H2H payment practices, vendor reconciliations, asset verification activities, internal audit systems and a rigorous Big 4 statutory audit record and Financial Due Diligence record with no material qualifications or variations," Palicha wrote. Eternals, Swiggy question Zepto's financials Zepto, currently valued at $5 billion, has emerged as the second-largest player in the quick commerce sector, overtaking Swiggy Instamart but trailing Blinkit. However, rivals have raised questions about data transparency. Earlier this year, Eternal (formerly Zomato) CEO Deepinder Goyal accused the quick commerce sector of collectively burning ₹5,000 crore per quarter, claiming Zepto accounted for 'substantially more than half' of that figure. The comment sparked a heated debate around the company's financial discipline. Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety also recently expressed doubts about Zepto's reported figures, noting that Zepto does not disclose Net Order Value (NOV), a metric that Swiggy and Eternal have adopted to provide a more accurate reflection of consumer spend. Zepto also considers platforms, including Flipkart Minutes and Tata BigBasket, as rivals.
