Too many deep-pocket rivals make quick-commerce a no-go bet for now, says Rajeev Thakkar

markets

Rajeev Thakkar, Chief Investment Officer at PPFAS Mutual Fund, said the fund is yet to build conviction on India’s quick commerce and digital platforms, citing fierce competition from multiple large players that clouds visibility on long-term winners.

“In this space you have Walmart, Amazon, Reliance and Tata all trying to compete,” Thakkar said on The Wealth Formula podcast with N Mahalakshmi. “So far, we haven’t built conviction on any one company or the sector overall. Maybe we’ll be a bit late to the party, maybe fashionably late, but we’ll see.”

Thakkar noted that while listed players like Eternal have turned profitable and shown strong volume growth, their moats remain debatable compared with global peers such as Google or Amazon. “We typically invest once profitability is established,” he said, adding that PPFAS is a late-stage investor and would not have invested in early Google before monetization was clear.

Eternal shares have surged this year, buoyed by a turnaround in its food delivery business and the growing scale of Blinkit, its quick commerce arm. Still, concerns persist that valuations already discount aggressive growth, while competition from deep-pocketed rivals could limit market share gains.

For now, Thakkar said PPFAS analysts continue to track the sector closely but prefer to wait for clearer signs of durable profitability before making an allocation.