Quick commerce platform Blinkit, which was integrated with Zomato in August 2022, posted losses in Q3FY23 at Rs 288.5 crore, reporting its first full quarter numbers after being acquired by the company.
Blink Commerce’s loss from the time it was acquired by Zomato (August 10, 2022) to December 31 came at Rs 483.4 crore.
Meanwhile, the company's adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) losses narrowed to Rs 227 crore from Rs 259 crore on a sequential basis, even as its revenue surged nearly 30 percent to Rs 300 crore.
Its gross order value (GOV) came in at Rs 1,749 crore, an increase of 18 percent sequentially from Rs 1,482 crore. This, the company said, was due to a 21 percent increase in order volumes.
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The platform had 31 lakh transacting customers in Q3, up from 26 lakh in the preceding quarter, and 3.16 crore orders during the quarter, up from last quarter’s 2.61 crore.
Blinkit’s gross order value per dark store per day shot up from Rs 4.22 lakh to Rs 5.24 lakh. The company said it has not increased its dark store footprint.
Albinder Dhindsa, founder of Blinkit, said any macro slowdown doesn’t have a visible large scale impact on the company’s growth metrics.
“Blinkit is also less impacted vis-à-vis the food delivery business as our typical purchase basket tends to be more skewed towards essential / non-discretionary spends. The slight downward pressure on AOVs might be a result of the slowdown where customers are preferring to buy smaller packs instead of larger ones,” he said.
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However, the company’s average order value (AOV) declined from Rs 568 to Rs 553 in Q3. “ From an economic viability perspective, AOV is important and we think that we can build a profitable business even at 20% lower AOVs. Our job here is to cater to customer needs and shape behaviour where needed to make this a profitable business,” Dhindsa claimed in the shareholders letter.
He said revenue per order increased despite AOV decreasing due to a growth in commission rates and better ad monetisation, adding that quick commerce will help brands do more targeted marketing and get better return on their investments.
“We expect advertisement revenue to be a significant driver for increase in revenue per order going forward. In line with that vision, we launched our new self-serve advertising platform for brands - Blinkit Brand Central, in December 2022. The self-serve platform allows brands to bid on their search keywords of interest, as well as create customised brand stores on the platform,” he explained.
In terms of its dark store footprint, Zomato Chief Financial Officer Akshant Goyal said they can expect to growth their dark store count by ~30-40 percent over the next year.
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