Can Zepto’s Revenue Engine Outrun Quick Commerce Costs?

A deep dive into Zepto’s revenue model shows how it earns from its core quick commerce vertical through commissions, merchant services, advertising, subscriptions and franchise fees

Traded goods generate nearly 78% of revenue, but inventory-adjusted cost exceeded sales in FY26 and delivery costs is a major barrier to improving the quick commerce delivery unit economics

Zepto is relying on services, advertising, the cafe business, private labels and other bets to improve order economics and narrow losses. But these have not grown significantly to keep pace with Zepto's core biz

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In 2021, when much of India was still getting used to ordering groceries online, two teenage Stanford dropouts, Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, entered the market with a proposition that sounded excessive even by startup standards: groceries and essentials delivered by Zepto in 10 minutes.

Many questioned whether Zepto even understood India’s ecommerce market and the capital-intensive nature of setting up such a 10-minute delivery app. But now more than five years later, the bet seems almost prescient.

In those five years, everything has changed. The likes of Eternal and Swiggy listed publicly, and scaled their quick commerce apps Blinkit and Instamart. BigBasket, Flipkart, Amazon and Jio are all trying to get a piece of the quick commerce pie, but Zepto remains the only one which was quick commerce native from day one.

Now on the verge of an IPO, it’s worth examining how the company’s business model has evolved. Its updated draft red herring prospectus released in June 2026 outlines a fresh issue of up to ₹8,010 Cr, along with an offer for sale of as many as 11.35 Cr shares.

If the listing goes through, Zepto could become India’s first pure-play quick commerce company to list on the stock exchanges. And as such it’s pertinent to understand how the company earns its money.

It’s even more imperative now because public market investors will look beyond growth, even though Zepto has plenty of that to show.

In FY26, the company generated ₹22,623.58 Cr in operating revenue and ₹504.79 Cr in other income, against ₹29,026.75 Cr in expenditure. After exceptional items, the net loss was ₹5,905.19 Cr.

The gap became more evident as Blinkit reported an adjusted EBITDA profit of ₹37 Cr in the March quarter of FY26 — a single quarter, measured on adjusted EBITDA, against Zepto’s full year.

Given this, the question public-market investors will ask: how much of Zepto’s growth is being financed through discounts and spending that may have to continue after listing?

Given this, the question public-market investors will ask: how much of Zepto’s growth is being financed through discounts and spending that may have to continue after listing?

Zepto has long argued that expansion, rather than mature stores, explains much of the company’s losses. “As long as our mature stores continue to turn profitable and we are only losing money due to store launches, that is a good place to be,” Palicha said in an earlier interview.

Still, processing an order more efficiently is only one part of the business. The larger question is where the money for that order comes from.

Why Zepto Restructured Before The IPO

Zepto began as KiranaKart in late 2020 as a B2B........

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