Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 11: Flipkart wants its quick-commerce arm, Minutes, to dominate. “We would want to be the default app of India,” said Kunal Gupta, who heads the business. He argued the market cannot support eight or nine large players.
Minutes Scales Fast
Minutes now operates in more than 150 cities. Its Tier-2 customer base grew nearly 25-fold year-on-year, the company said. Around 60% of customers return to shop again, per Flipkart. Revenue is growing fourfold annually, Gupta said, without disclosing actual figures. Minutes expects over 1,200 micro-fulfilment centres by September. It targets 1,500 centres by year-end.
The Dark-Store Race
Competition for physical density is intense. Minutes ran 627 dark stores across India’s top 10 cities in August. That edged past Instamart’s 615, per CLSA data. Blinkit still led with 969 stores, followed by Zepto’s 828. Minutes was estimated to process 1.1-1.2 million daily orders in August. That’s up sharply from 390,000-400,000 in November. It trails Blinkit and Zepto by volume, though it nears Instamart’s 1.4 million.
Beyond Groceries
Minutes recently launched a standalone app, separate from Flipkart’s marketplace. Flipkart is also piloting a food-delivery service called Eat In. It’s currently limited to employees in Bengaluru. Gupta said expansion will run two ways denser coverage in existing cities, and entry into new ones.
Assortment is widening too. Minutes now carries nearly 500 private-label products. These span home care, gourmet food and other categories. Gourmet grocery sales grew eightfold year-on-year, Flipkart said. Men’s grooming grew nearly sixfold, and pet food fivefold.
Profitability Remains Unproven
Flipkart hasn’t disclosed Minutes’ standalone financials. Industry economics vary sharply among rivals. Blinkit posted a ₹102 crore adjusted EBITDA profit last quarter. Instamart reported a ₹778 crore adjusted EBITDA loss. Zepto’s fiscal 2026 revenue roughly doubled, to ₹22,623 crore. Its net loss still widened 26%, to ₹5,905 crore. Gupta rejected the idea that quick commerce stays permanently loss-making. He said economics improve as stores mature and order density rises.
Ecosystem Help, With Limits
Pradyumna Nag of Prequate Advisory said Flipkart’s scale and higher average order values could aid its investor pitch. But he cautioned that quick commerce needs distinct logistics. “You cannot simply use an existing e-commerce delivery fleet,” Nag said.
Flipkart Internet, the marketplace arm, posted FY25 revenue of ₹20,493 crore, up 14%. Its net loss narrowed 37%, to ₹1,494 crore. Those figures reflect the broader marketplace, not Minutes itself.
An IPO in the Background
Flipkart had once weighed filing draft IPO papers by early 2027. Those plans were paused, a Moneycontrol report said in May. Walmart reportedly wants EBITDA break-even by fiscal 2027’s end first.
For now, Minutes remains both a growth bet and an unproven test of sustainable scale.
