Eternal CEO opined that the sector has reached peak competitive intensity, arguing that there is little room for rivals to deepen subsidies without significantly worsening their losses
The end of pricing wars would mean better margins and sustainable profitability. This could push players to invest more in dark stores and infrastructure, instead of relying only on discounts
Citing Blinkit’s own experience with discount-heavy expansion into South India, Dhindsa said that growth improved only after the company invested in better service quality and execution
Eternal CEO Albinder Dhindsa believes that the quick commerce industry’s discounting war may finally be approaching its end.
During the company’s Q1 earnings call, Dhindsa opined that the sector has reached peak competitive intensity, arguing that there is little room for competitors to deepen subsidies further without significantly worsening their losses.
He further said that the quarter represented the most aggressive phase of competition the industry has witnessed so far, driven by both a larger number of competitors and higher spending on customer incentives.
“Q1 so far was the peak of competitive intensity that we have seen till date… both because the number of players were higher and everybody was more aggressive.”
Important to highlight here that both Amazon and Flipkart announced plans of significant expansion and investments to bolster their quick commerce play over the past few months. Meanwhile, Blinkit’s close rival Zepto took a step further in its listing ambitions after filing an updated draft red herring prospectus for an IPO, which comprises a fresh issue worth INR 8,010 Cr.
However, Blinkit believes the industry’s competitive dynamics are becoming more predictable. As per Dhindsa, most of the competitive activity is centred around discounts rather than achieving structural advantages.
“We don’t think there is a lot of wiggle room for people to go much deeper than what they are currently doing because that would pollute losses very significantly,” he noted during the earnings call.
The comments come in the backdrop of Blinkit reporting its fifth consecutive quarter of adjusted EBITDA improvement in Q1. Blinkit’s revenue grew 18.4% sequentially to ₹15,664 Cr, while net order value (NOV) rose 19% QoQ to ₹17,132 Cr.
Important to highlight that Blinkit’s strong revenue growth has come on the back of the quick commerce platform moving to an inventory-led model in September 2025.
During the quarter, Blinkit added 200 net new dark stores, taking its network to 2,443 stores. In Eternal’s shareholder letter, CFO Akshant Goyal reiterated plans to continue investing aggressively in larger stores, warehousing and supply chain infrastructure. This, he believes, will be a more durable competitive advantage than discount-led customer acquisition.
In the shareholder letter, CFO Goyal also said that the company has invested about ₹3,000 Cr in capital over the past four years to build Blinkit’s network of stores and warehouses, adding that these investments in building the investments will continue as long as the company generates healthy returns.
Overall, Eternal reported a consolidated net profit of ₹92 Cr in Q1 FY27, up nearly 3.7X YoY, while operating revenue surged 182% YoY and 17% QoQ to ₹20,211 Cr.
The Quick Commerce Discounting Wars
During the earnings call, Dhindsa argued that platforms, which acquire users primarily through discounts, have limited ability to withdraw incentives later. Elaborating on this, he added that customers that come only for discounts are unlikely to remain loyal.
“If you acquire customers primarily through discounts, that’s what the business becomes,” Eternal CEO said. He further added that once discounts are withdrawn, there is little reason for those customers to stay if the platform has not created any other differentiated value proposition.
Citing Blinkit’s own experience with expansion into southern India for this observation, Dhindsa said that the quick commerce platform’s initial discount-led strategy failed to deliver sustainable outcomes. He added that growth improved only after the company invested in infrastructure, better service quality and operational execution.
This experience has shaped Blinkit’s current strategy, which focuses on expanding supply infrastructure and improving customer experience instead of matching competitors’ discounts.
Blinkit’s Infrastructure Bet
Rather than chasing customers with promotions, Blinkit plans to keep investing in infrastructure and product improvements, allowing customer value to improve gradually.
“Our study is that over time we give customers value as the platform has gotten (gets) bigger and better… This process will continue, but that’s a capital process where, as the platform gets bigger, we pass on the benefits to customers,” said Dhindsa.
The quick commerce platform also reiterated that it expects the current intensity of discounting across the market to ease over the coming quarters.
“We don’t think this level of discounting is sustainable… we expect this will not continue in the near future,” management said, adding that Blinkit expects competitive pressure to moderate as discounting normalises.
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