Pre-IPO: Zepto - the B-I-Z of quick commerce ... stacking the Top-3 players on key metrics.

Research evidence excerpt

Pre-IPO: Zepto - the B-I-Z of quick commerce ... stacking the Top-3 players on key metrics.

24 June 2026

India Emerging Consumer

Pre-IPO: Zepto - the B-I-Z of quick commerce ... stacking the

Top-3 players on key metrics.

Zepto (not listed) has recently filed its updated Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI Jignanshu Gor

+91 226 842 1494 (link). This is an update to our earlier note: 28 Apr 2026 - Pre-IPO: Zepto - Building A New

jignanshu.gor@bernsteinsg.com Retail Playbook for India., with incremental data coming only from the publicly available DRHP.

A caveat - many metrics and their definitions reported by Zepto differ from those reported by

Dhruv Luthra Eternal for its Blinkit business and Swiggy for its Instamart business. For e.g., NOV is replaced

+91 226 842 1493

dhruv.luthra@bernsteinsg.com by NRV (key difference is advertising income), Monthly Transacting Users (MTUs) are replaced

by Annual Transacting Users or Weekly Transacting Users, Direct Costs are replaced by Supply

Chain Variable costs etc. In this note, we calculate like-to-like metrics to compare the three

peers.

The Zepto Strategy: Density → Dominance. Zepto’s stated approach is to achieve cost

leadership as the north star metric. This is expected to create a virtuous cycle : lower cost

→ lower prices → higher order density → lower cost - eventually leading to overall positive

economics. This strategy manifests itself as (1) Dense dark-store network: High focus on

Top-8 cities and >1 store in each pincode allow lower delivery distance, time and cost. (2)

EDLP (Every Day Low Prices): Our trackers suggest Zepto has been the most aggressive

discounter with low min order values and waiver of platform/ delivery fees. (3) Frequency led

order growth vs. new user acquisition led.