🕵️♂️Qcomm Maze and FMCG Diplomacy
Rapido's delivery mutiny, Naagin's fire, Insta shelf space, Sanya's Bree matcha
Before we dive into the week’s chaos- funding rounds, platform pivots, q-comm plot twists- let’s take a deep breath.
We’re here. Alive. Breathing. Scrolling. Building. That alone is a privilege.
In a world where nothing is guaranteed- not the holiday, not the victory parade, not the flight- every inbox refresh and WA ping means we made it through another day, in the presence of those we love. So pause, even for a second. Be kind. Be present. Above all, be grateful. Build like it matters, because it does.
Now, let’s get into it.
🗞️ Marketplace Buzz
Amazon’s in. The q-comm war just got its final boss. With ‘Amazon Now’ launching in Bengaluru, the OG ecomm giant is officially gunning for Blinkit, Zepto, and Flipkart Minutes. The promise? Essentials in 30–60 minutes, powered by 2,000+ SKUs and strategic dark stores. This isn’t just another pilot; it’s Amazon testing same-day muscle in India’s most lucrative turf. The moat? Prime loyalty. The play? Total cart takeover.
And on cue, BigBasket just hit turbo mode; hello, 10-minute food drops. India’s OG grocery player is jumping into the q-comm kitchen with BBNow set to launch ready-to-eat meals in under 10 minutes. Think biryani, rolls, khichdi, and chaats, all prepped in cloud kitchens across 8 cities. Swiggy and Zomato just got a new lunch rush rival, and q-comm’s latest frontier isn’t just FMCG- it’s fresh, fast, and fully cooked.
With 400+ dark stores live and 800 in sight by year-end, Flipkart’s 10-minute play has gone national, targeting Tier 2/3 like it’s the next IPO KPI. From grocery to pharmacy, this isn’t a metro-only flex. CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy even hopped on a delivery ride in Bengaluru to hammer the point: Q-comm’s not a deck- it’s a discipline.
Zepto’s not always a launchpad, sometimes it’s a maze. Chasing visibility, D2C upstarts dove into 10-minute storefronts, only to watch 60% margins vanish under ad bills, stock blackouts, and zero intel on returns. One founder burned ₹15L to clock just ₹3L in sales. Toss in expired SKUs and you have a backend that’s more chaos than commerce. Enter if you must- but go in claws out, clauses tight, and eyes wide open.
Nykaa isn’t a marketplace. It’s a brand house with retail pipes. A ₹2,100 Cr house of brands- Dot & Key scaled 14x post-acquisition, Nykaa Cosmetics does ₹350 Cr+ GMV solo, and they’ve quietly built 9+ in-house brands across beauty, fashion, and wellness. Now Nykaa is layering B2B superstore muscle- 270K retailers, 1,000 cities. While others chase D2C noise, Nykaa’s stacking distribution, margin, and brand equity in parallel.
Remember when logistics was just Flipkart’s cost centre? Once Flipkart’s backend burden, Ekart is now profitable, EBITDA up 12x, and scaling like a startup in stealth. CBO Mani Bhushan says revenue’s up 10x, client base 50x in four years- now powering 1,000+ external brands with FTL, refurb, warehousing, even document delivery. The real flex? Logistics isn’t just surviving, it’s stacking profits.
q-comm is fuelling India’s niche D2C boom. Sexual wellness in Siliguri? Curly hair care in Kota? Welcome to the new frontier. Zepto, Blinkit, Instamart aren’t just metro plays- they’re now piping niche D2C SKUs into Tier II/III cities at 10-min speed. Discreet delivery + underserved demand = explosive new TAM. This isn’t reach- it’s relevance on steroids.
Rapido’s cooking up a delivery mutiny, and is Swiggy funding it? In a bold pitch to restaurants, Rapido is proposing to offer a ₹25 flat fee per order, no forced price inflation, and full control over margins. Unlike Swiggy and Zomato’s much higher squeeze, this model swaps commission cuts for vendor subs. The twist? Swiggy’s already on the cap table. If this pilot goes live, it’s not just a new player, it’s an inside revolt.
Dabur’s not picking sides, it’s playing both. While q-comm now drives up to 7% of sales, the company’s trimming general trade inventory by 30% to avoid channel war. Translation? Serve Blinkit without burning the kirana. This is FMCG diplomacy 101: optimise GT, feed new-age demand, and don’t spark distributor mutiny. If you’re scaling multi-channel, this is the masterclass.
🍕 D2C Snippets
CaratLane just piloted 4–6 hour jewellery delivery in Gurugram, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. The twist? No lab-grown bling. The MD says natural diamonds = brand trust + margin muscle. With 24% topline growth and 50+ new stores last year, this is Titan’s fastest flex yet in turning gold into a speed game.
And speaking of sparkle, GIVA is fresh off a ₹450 Cr raise, valued now at ~$374M and clocking ₹500 Cr in revenue. The silver-led brand is using its margin engine to scale gold, lab-grown, and 250+ stores. GIVA’s playbook is clear: stack categories, lock loyalty, and make bling a habit, not a festival fling.
This isn’t a “local-for-vocal” moment- it’s China’s exodus with India cashing in. Shein and Reliance plan to scale from 150 to 1,000 factories and start listing Made-in-India styles on US/UK sites in 6–12 months. Forget domestic scale—this is export-grade, algorithm-fed, margin-maxed fashion made for global carts. And if this hits, Surat might just become the new Shenzhen.
Hot sauce? Nah, it’s FMCG with flames. Naagin just grabbed ₹18 Cr to crank up everything -retail, exports, HORECA, and R&D. Already in 700+ stores, q-comm carts, and D2C palates, now it’s going premium B2B, export-first, and full-blown 🔥 mode. With shelf ambition that screams Sriracha-who, this isn’t just sauce; it’s India’s spicy passport.
Actors launching D2C brands? Yawn. But Sanya’s going niche with Bree- India’s newest matcha label, riding the wellness x aesthetic wave. ₹1 Cr in pre-seed cash (plus her own skin in the game), two SKUs, and a mission to make matcha the new masala chai. Live on Blinkit, Amazon, and her site, this is a bet on ritualised health in a ₹450 Cr green drink market.
Sudathi’s not just selling sarees, it’s stitching the Zara playbook in Surat with Shark Tank cred, ₹499 price tags, and Reels-fuelled drops. Sudathi has turned Surat’s powerloom prowess into an ethnic fast-fashion engine. With 800% growth and 7L+ app installs, it’s moving culture (and sarees) at q-comm speed.
While Sudathi races through reels, Kisah’s building ethnic wear muscle from the ground up. Backed with a ₹13 Cr raise, it’s blending marketplace smarts with offline trials- already 5 stores in. With a ₹100 Cr run rate in sight, Kisah is proving that men don’t have to rent or repeat to show up styled.
BigLilPeople bags ₹4Cr to turn kids wear into India’s next D2C rocket. This isn’t just cute clothes, it’s the serious biz of chasing ₹10Cr in FY26 and tripling YoY with comfort-first fashion for tiny tyrants. But this isn’t just onesies and pastels- omnichannel’s live, from their own store to marketplaces, with community-led feedback loops stitched in.
📢Power Talk
“If quick commerce was hurting beauty, we wouldn’t be growing at 30% year-on-year.” Adwaita Nayar, co-founder Nykaa
📚 Reads & Recos
Flipkart’s Glam Up report is 80 pages of Gen Z beauty obsession, and a blueprint for what sells. 148M BPC units moved in 2024, with premium growing 70% YoY. But this isn’t just more lipstick; it’s science-core shopping. Face serums are up 80%, niacinamide searches jumped 70%, and gel moisturisers surged 120%. Read the full deck here. If you’re building in beauty, this isn’t a report, it’s a cheat code.
What started as cute collars and kibble is now a full-blown FMCG moment. Unicorn rounds, AI vet startups, and clean-label treats are turning petcare into the next battleground for trust, repeat, and subscription play. Folks aren't just parenting pets; they’re demanding purpose, packaging, and premium. The insight? Pet D2C is no longer about products- it’s about lifestyle, loyalty, and love on auto-renew.
This LinkedIn drop is a reality check for brand builders. FMCG isn’t just shifting, it’s fragmenting. The breakdown of NielsenIQ data shows 70% of growth is now coming from beyond the top 20 cities. What’s working? Small packs, sharp pricing, regional flavour, and relentless GT reach. The punchline? If your growth playbook still reads “Instagram + influencers,” you’re missing the ₹10,000 Cr wave.
Reels are the new rack. Meta’s latest India Retail Report says 90% of shoppers discover products via Instagram, and 70% have actually bought post-Reel scroll. Beauty, fashion, food are all riding the ‘see now, shop now’ loop. For D2C brands, Insta isn’t just marketing, it’s shelf space. If your product doesn’t pop on Reels, it may never hit the cart.
That’s all for this week! Bye!
PS: Folks at some companies have told us this newsletter is almost mandatory weekly reading for their teams 🥰. If your company is not in on it yet, get your teams on the latest in the e-commerce space every week