Even as Australia defeated India and lifted its sixth cricket World Cup, quick-commerce firms in the country celebrated. From flowers to soft drinks and chips, customers ordered it all on platforms like Swiggy and Zepto which helped them clock their best ever daily sales on November 19.
Zepto for instance said it received 4 lakh-5 lakh orders on the day which was its “highest ever order volume”. Orders for “munchies, beverages, ice creams, and other processed foods were up between 50-100 percent compared to a regular Sunday…even bigger than Diwali,” a spokesperson for Zepto said, highlighting how large the event was for the entire country.
Zepto, which gave away a can of thums up on every order that was above Rs 299 in value, said it had delivered 2 lakh cans by 5:30 p.m. That meant Zepto had clocked at least Rs 6 crore in daily sales on November 19, largely in line with its FY23 performance.
The story was not very different for other platforms. "As anticipated, Instamart clocked its highest ever orders during the World Cup finals between India and Australia, beating previous highs like the India-Pakistan match and Diwali,” a Swiggy Instamart spokesperson said.
Zomato-owned Blinkit also said that “orders with chips always peak on days when India is playing. Currently on track to hit a new all-time high of chips sales on Blinkit on November 19,” Albinder Dhindsa, CEO, Blinkit said around 5 p.m. on X (formerly Twitter).
Over one lakh fans were present in the cricket stadium and a majority of them wore blue jerseys to show their support to the home team. Similarly, the fans who cheered for the Indian cricket team from home also bought the latest jersey in large numbers, data showed.
Swiggy said that orders for Indian jersey on Instamart hit a peak of nine jerseys per minute.
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The spike comes at a time when all quick-commerce firms have been diversifying their stock keeping units (SKUs) as they look to push up the average order volumes (AOVs) and fast track their path to profitability.
Selling the cricket jersey for Rs 999 was a step in that direction. The jersey's price point was significant since most quick-commerce firms otherwise have an AOV of just Rs 460-480, with some exceptions during certain seasons.
“Working with Adidas this world cup season was a good decision,” Dhindsa said on November 19. Earlier this year, BCCI said it had inked a kit sponsorship deal with Adidas until 2028.
Not just quick-commerce
While companies saw a surge in the number of grocery orders, even food orders reached an all-time high for some players. Swiggy for instance said that “by late evening on November 19, orders for food had already surpassed previous records of New Year’s Eve and Diwali in the same timeframe by a significant margin.” The food tech startup did not however share specific numbers.
Pizza and burgers were the most ordered food items on the match day. As the match progressed, customers also ordered biryanis, thalis, kachoris and kebabs, Swiggy concluded.
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