Zomato's Blinkit turned adjusted EBITDA positive in March; GOV growth outpaces food delivery

Blinkit is owned by Zomato and is based in Gurugram

Zomato-owned Blinkit nearly doubled its gross order value (GOV) to Rs 4,027 crore in Q4FY24 from Rs 2,046 crore in Q4FY23, regulatory filings showed on May 13, driven largely by a sharp increase in the number of dark stores. The company had 526 stores at the end of March 31, a 40 percent increase from 377 stores that it had at the end of the same period last year as demand for its services picked up.

The results come at a time when quick commerce as an industry has become a mainstay in the e-commerce ecosystem. The industry was written off by most about three to four years ago but has now become an indispensable one, according to analysts.

Also read: Zomato Q4 results: Firm logs fourth straight quarter of profit at Rs 175 cr, revenue up 73%

That is especially the case for Blinkit. The implied value of Blinkit, the troubled quick commerce startup that Zomato acquired in a fire sale in 2022, is now larger than that of Zomato’s core business (food delivery), analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note earlier.

Zomato had acquired Blinkit for $568 million in 2022 but since then, on the back of improved performance, the latter’s implied valuation has grown to a staggering $13 billion, the note added. And on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the valuation has grown by over 6X.

“We are just grateful that the bet that we took on Blinkit worked out just fine and we are not at a point where Akshant and I are getting fired for an expensive acquisition gone wrong,” Deepinder Goyal, Group CEO, Zomato said in the company’s shareholder letter.

While the company’s GOV grew 97 percent, its revenue grew even faster at 112 percent reaching Rs 769 crore from Rs 363 crore during the same period in the previous financial year.

The company even improved its take rate from 17.7 percent to 19.09 percent during the period. Take rate is what the company earns from brands on each sale.

“One of the key vectors for growth for us right now is store expansion. In Q4FY24, we added 75 net new stores taking our total store count to 526. In the current quarter (Q1FY25), we expect to add another 100 stores. At this point, we are aiming to get to 1,000 stores by the end of FY25,” Albinder Dhindsa, Founder & CEO, Blinkit said in a blog post.

Blinkit's average order value (AOV) came in at Rs 617 in Q4FY24, a 17 percent increase from Rs 522 during Q3FY23. On a sequential basis, the AOV however dropped from Rs a high of Rs 635. The company's management, in the past, has however highlighted that AOVs are volatile and are seasonal.

The way forward

Blinkit is leaving no stone unturned to push its AOVs even higher -- from expensive iPhones to jewellery and bags, the company has begun delivering products across categories.

During Akshaya Tritiya, an auspicious occasion earlier in May, Blinkit and other quick commerce companies delivered gold coins which likely pushed up AOVs as well. Other events like Mother's Day also provided support as customers ordered more products.

Blinkit's monthly transacting users (MTUs) jumped to a staggering 6.4 million during Q4FY24, underscoring that more people were warming up to the idea of delivery in minutes. That base was a jump from 3.9 million MTUs in the same period last year and 5.4 million in Q3FY24.