BLINKIT ISSUE
Ecom Express targets $170 million via rights issue
Ecom Express plans a $170 million rights issue with existing investors. Revenue grew 20% in FY23 despite widening losses. The company postponed a public listing like Delhivery and Xpressbees. Serving Meesho, Ecom Express ventures into quick-commerce sector.
Food contamination cases: E-tailers turn more watchful, prepare to delist errant manufacturers
A human finger found in an order of ice cream recently brought food etailing into sharp focus. Following this weird episode, etailers are beginning to cast a keen eye on their suppliers, and bringing new policies with provisions to penalise errant partners.
Ice cream nightmare highlights quick commerce's food safety issues
Food safety has become a concern in terms of quick commerce in recent weeks as a Mumbai customer found a human finger in Yummo brand ice-cream from Zepto. Walko Foods, the owner of Yummo, took the incident seriously and halted manufacturing at the third-party facility. A Blinkit facility in Hyderabad was also raided by food safety authorities.
Zomato’s Rs 300-crore Blinkit boost; Ola Electric gets IPO nod
Food delivery company Zomato will infuse Rs 300 crore into its quick commerce unit Blinkit. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.
Food safety violations at Blinkit warehouse: Telangana authority to issue notice
Several products in the Blinkit warehouse were found to have expired and were seized, Telangana's Commissioner of Food Safety said on Thursday. The raid found that cosmetic products were stored with food items and that the licence of Congruence Trade and Services Pvt Ltd – one of the manufacturers of Whole Farm brand – was not as per the Food Safety and Standards Act.
Food safety officials find violations at Blinkit warehouse near Hyderabad, share photos on social media
The Commissioner of Food Safety in Telangana reported on social media that a recent inspection of the Blinkit warehouse in Devar Yamjal, Medchal Malkajgiri District, found the premises disorganized, unhygienic, and dusty, particularly around the storage racks.
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Quick commerce 2.0, and other top tech & startup stories this week
Quick commerce, the buzziest sector in the consumer internet industry, is undergoing a significant transformation. We, at ETtech, have been tracking the sector super closely and bringing the biggest and most impactful stories to you, first.
ETtech In-depth: Quick commerce is diversifying fast. It won’t be easy
As 10-minute delivery expands to include higher-value products, companies will soon realise that with big orders come big hurdles, say executives. Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto have started selling products such as air coolers, fans and luggage, in addition to expanding into fashion, and listing high value items on their platforms.
Blinkit starts offering free dhaniya with vegetables after viral post. Say thanks to a Mumbai mom
A Mumbai man's post on paying for coriander at Blinkit prompts CEO Albinder Dhindsa to offer free coriander with vegetable orders. Ankit Sawant suggests bundling herbs free with veggie purchases. Netizens were amazed by the speed of implementation by Blinkit
Zomato hikes platform fee to Rs 5 per order; pauses intercity deliveries
The platform fee, which is a per-order flat charge, has been hiked in Zomato's main markets like National Capital Region, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Lucknow. Sources said Zomato services 2.0-2.2 million orders per day, and a Re 1 increase for a large order base could add substantially to the company’s earnings over a quarter.
Quick-commerce firms Zepto, Swiggy Instamart bring home the colour in a record Holi-day
Sales were led by Holi-related items such as colour (gulaal), sweets, pichkaris and flowers. Adjacent categories--white t-shirts, coconut oil--also saw a significant surge in demand, said executives at quick commerce firms.
Not in a hurry to add new categories; will focus on grocery: BigBasket CEO Hari Menon
Hari Menon told ET that BigBasket will only diversify into adjacent categories to grocery like kitchen and home appliances. Meanwhile, rivals such as Zomato-owned Blinkit and Mumbai-based Zepto are rapidly diversifying into newer categories.
Zepto, Blinkit to bulk up carts; no let up in Google vs Indian apps tussle
Quick-commerce platforms Blinkit and Zepto are set to expand beyond groceries, adding categories like fashion and electronics. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Zepto, Blinkit adding fashion, electronics, beauty and more
Blinkit and Zepto are entering the fashion segment, partnering with apparel firms and sellers for listing of brands including Adidas, Pepe Jeans, Jockey, Manyavar, XYXX and Mad Over Print. While this is new territory for both platforms, people aware of the developments say the companies could end up becoming the go-to destinations for shoppers in certain use cases.
Zomato’s ecommerce push; Byju’s failure to recover vendor dues
The Deepinder Goyal-led company is looking to augment the front-end offerings of Blinkit by having an in-house back-end supply chain where it would source, manage the inventory and enable distribution of brands, multiple people aware of the company’s plans told ET.
RBI says Paytm’s non-compliance forced action; Zomato’s Q3 report card
Without naming a specific entity, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the regulatory action was driven by a “lack of compliance”.
Kuwait, Singapore sovereign funds place orders for Zomato share
Food delivery platform Zomato has seen large sovereign investors from jurisdictions such as Kuwait and Singapore raising their stakes in the company. While Kuwait Investment Authority bought 88 million shares in Zomato in the September quarter, Singapore government bought 95 million shares in the company in the December quarter.
Karnataka: Unorganised and gig workers’ welfare bill likely in next assembly session
The Labour department plans to place the Bill before the Legislature at its next session, hoping to implement it from the next financial year, sources in the government told ET. The Bill would also encompass the entire sector instead of just focusing on gig and platform workers.
Zomato shares jump over 5% amid block deal reports
Zomato issued fresh equity shares to all the selling shareholders of Blinkit as consideration for the M&A last year. Following the transaction, Zomato had negotiated a 12-month lock-in for these shares, compared to the statutory lock-in requirement of six months.
Zomato stock likely to be volatile near term, says JM Financial. Here’s why
“While we cannot accurately predict when (if at all) these shareholders would want to exit, we note that several of them are already sitting on sizable gains, albeit a large chunk of it is unrealised,” the report said.
Zomato shares zoom over 18% in 7 days, hit 52-week high
Shares of Zomato, an Indian online food delivery aggregator, jumped 17.5% in the past week and touched a 52-week high of Rs 80 ($1.07) on 28 June. The company's shares were listed at a significant premium of Rs 125 per share in 2021 after its IPO. Zomato reported its Q4 results on 19 May, with its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) turning positive at Rs 28 crore. The company has narrowed its losses to Rs 188 crore while recording a 70% YoY increase in consolidated revenue at Rs 2,056 crore.
Scoop: Razorpay’s ‘reverse flip’ to India; Blinkit delivery disruptions continue in parts of Delhi-NCR
Fintech major Razorpay is planning to move its holding company from the US to India amidst tightening regulations in the sector. This and more in Tuesday’s edition of ETtech’s Morning Dispatch.
Visa pauses single-click checkout; trouble mounts for Blinkit as delivery workers join rivals
Card payments major Visa has paused its single-click checkout service in India amid RBI’s attempts to make the digital payments industry safer for customers. This and more in today’s ETtech’s Morning Dispatch.
ETtech Unwrapped: Gig workers versus Blinkit, and other top stories this week
Even for Blinkit, the change in payout structure was the straw that broke the camel’s back with delivery executives telling us that they had been working under poor conditions but stuck around because the quick-commerce platform paid better than its rivals.
Blinkit strike: Zomato-owned company tells riders it is shutting some Delhi-NCR stores permanently
Blinkit riders across some stores in Gurgaon and in some Delhi-based stores said that they had received a message on the Blinkit delivery partner app, which says that specific stores are being shut permanently because no work has been happening in them since the last 3-4 days.
Rivals gain as Blinkit riders continue strike in NCR
Orders have surged 40% at Zepto, a top industry executive said, while two people associated with Swiggy said daily orders had jumped more than 25% for Instamart.
Why is Blinkit showing ‘temporarily unavailable’?
Zomato-owned quick commerce platform Blinkit is facing opposition from its delivery partners for lowering the payout for every delivery. The company has reduced the payout from earlier Rs 25 to Rs now Rs 15 for each delivery. This has led to protests by several delivery partners across the Delhi-NCR region. The delivery partners feel that this will considerably reduce their earnings.
Zomato-owned Blinkit to lose about 1% revenue due to delivery workers' strike: ICICI Securities
A research note from ICICI Securities adds that the tweak in the payout structure for delivery executives will help Zomato rein in costs.
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