Zepto’s new ‘Swap and Save’ feature draws D2C founders’ ire

Zepto’s new ‘Swap and Save’ feature draws D2C founders’ ire

Quick commerce platform Zepto is facing flak from founders of direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands over its latest Swap and Save feature. Under this, Zepto automatically suggests cheaper alternatives to items added to a customer’s cart and users can opt to swap the suggested product as a replacement to what they have added in their cart.

While Zepto positions the move as a customer-first initiative aimed at enhancing savings, D2C brands see it as undercutting their efforts to convert interest into sales.

“Are alternative brands running ads to show up as cheaper options?” questioned Rishabh Harish, founder of sustainable clothing brand Wellbi, in a post on X. “This doesn’t help premium brands. Sure, customers save money, but Zepto makes money both ways. Owning your own website and distribution is the safest long-term play.”

Others echoed similar sentiments, flagging the implications for customer conversion, ad pressure, and brand value.

“Ad spends going to increase for sure,” wrote Vanshi Agrawal, founder of Kidara Toys, suggesting that brands might now have to invest more just to hold their place in a shopper’s cart.

Industry stakeholders are also of the view that the move could push brands into yet another advertising channel – this time, to avoid being swapped out.

“Obviously brands will now be made to spend on a new type of ads to make sure their products aren’t switched out,” said Aditya Kamath, founder of Rising Suns - a consultancy firm that helps brands launch and scale their products. “Or they’ll be nudged to offer discounts so they show up as swap options. It’s exhausting to work with these platforms.”

However, a source familiar with the developments told Moneycontrol that Swap and Save is still in its beta phase and feedback from brands has not yet been formally incorporated. The feature is expected to be rolled out more widely in June, once the company irons out early kinks.

In an official statement, Kaivalya Vohra, co-founder, Zepto, said: “The Swap & Save feature is an early-stage experiment born out of our deep customer obsession and commitment to meeting evolving user needs. As this is still in testing, we don’t have further details to share at the moment.”

Still, not everyone is convinced of its long-term merit. “You’re conditioning customers to chase price—every single time,” wrote Aakar Jain, founder of The Marketplace Guru – platform that helps brands scale on e-commerce marketplaces, in a LinkedIn post. “Even if the product isn’t cheap, the platform starts to feel cheap.”

The concerns come at a time when the ad revenue business of quick commerce platforms is growing at breakneck speed. According to a recent report by Elara Capital, the combined annualised ad revenue run-rate (ARR) of major quick commerce players — Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart — has already reached Rs 3,000–3,500 crore. That’s nearly half of Amazon India’s estimated Rs 6,700 crore ad revenue in FY24. Blinkit leads with 45 percent of that share, followed by Zepto at 35 percent and Instamart at 20 percent.

In fact, Zepto co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha recently disclosed that the startup has grown its advertising vertical from $40 million to $200 million in annualized revenue run rate (ARR) over the past year.

Globally, too, e-commerce platforms are witnessing a surge in ad-driven revenues. Walmart, for instance, reported a 20 percent growth in its international advertising business for the quarter ending April 30 – driven primarily by its Indian arm, Flipkart.

The friction with brands over Swap and Save also underscores a larger issue: D2C brands are increasingly fighting for visibility on quick commerce platforms, as Moneycontrol reported earlier. In a crowded and competitive catalogue, smaller brands often struggle to stand out unless they pay for premium placement or promotional visibility.

With customer acquisition costs already surging, D2C founders say the economics of operating on marketplaces like Zepto are becoming harder to justify

Whether Zepto tweaks the feature based on this feedback – or doubles down on it – could shape how other platforms approach pricing nudges in the future.