The All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF), representing 400,000 retail distributors of companies like Nestle and Hindustan Unilever, has asked the antitrust authority to investigate Zomato’s Blinkit, Swiggy, and Zepto for alleged predatory pricing.
Retail group seeks investigation for offering big discount
According to INC42, a letter revealed by Reuters shows that India’s largest retail distributors group asked the antitrust authority on October 18 to investigate quick commerce firms for predatory pricing—offering big discounts and selling below cost to attract customers. The letter said many consumer goods companies are bypassing traditional salespeople, who have delivered orders to shops for years, by working directly with quick commerce firms to expand their reach.
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“Such practices make it impossible for traditional retailers to compete or survive,” the letter further added. It urged the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to protect traditional distributors and small retailers. Quick commerce, the latest shopping trend in India, offers super-fast deliveries with companies like Blinkit, Swiggy, and Zepto delivering items from groceries to electronics in 10 to 30 minutes. This rapid service is changing consumer habits and challenging ecommerce giants like Amazon.
Swiggy, Zomato expands into electronics, beauty, pet care products
These companies use local warehouses or dark stores in cities to ensure fast delivery. Customers place orders through an app, and the nearest facility quickly picks, packs, and dispatches the items. This allows delivery drivers to get goods to customers’ doors in under an hour.
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In the last six months, quick commerce companies have expanded and added more products to meet growing consumer demand. Platforms like Swiggy Instamart and the new Flipkart Minutes now offer items like electronics, beauty products, pet care, toys, and small household appliances.
For Blinkit, the new additions led to a 130% rise in gross order value (GOV) to INR 4,923 crore in Q1 FY25, compared to INR 2,140 crore in the same quarter last year. It also grew 22.2% from INR 4,027 crore in Q4 FY24.
In the recent time, Blinkit has 639 dark stores nationwide, with the average daily gross order value (GOV) per store increasing to INR 10 lakh, up from INR 6 lakh across 383 stores before. The company plans to increase the number of dark stores to 2,000 by the end of 2026 while staying profitable.
