In its investor presentation for the December quarter 2025 (Q3 FY26), the oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) revealed that the ecommerce arm, JioMart, was doing close to 1.6 Mn orders per day.
The company claims to be on track to become India’s second-largest quick commerce player by volume, behind Blinkit at 2 Mn orders per day, but ahead of Swiggy Instamart and Zepto, which are at around 1.2 Mn orders per day.
This is a huge accomplishment compared to rivals Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart, who have been loss-making for the past several years and burning cash to acquire customers in top markets.
Blinkit turned adjusted EBITDA positive only in Q3 FY26, posting INR 4 Cr in adjusted EBITDA, whereas Swiggy Instamart reported a contribution margin of -2.6% in Q2 FY26. Zepto’s FY25 financials are not public yet. For FY24, Zepto’s net loss declined 2% to INR 1,248.64 Cr from INR 1,271.84 Cr in FY23.
Satish Meena of Datum Intelligence, who has tracked the ecommerce sector for nearly two decades, said that if JioMart alone has done a daily transaction of 1.6 Mn, beating the likes of Instamart and Zepto, in less than two years, then this is an unprecedented moment in the quick commerce industry from a competition point of view.
As per Reliance, the growth reflects its strategy to tightly integrate quick commerce with its broader retail ecosystem, enabling coverage in over 1,000 cities and 5,000+ pincodes, supported by 3,000 overall stores.
In earlier announcements, Reliance said it is running its quick commerce model by repurposing its retail stores as dark stores. This has improved operational efficiency, helping the retail giant reduce the average distance covered per order in the cash-guzzling quick commerce sector.
It added 300 dark stores in the December quarter, taking the total number of dark stores to 800. Blinkit’s dark store count, as per its Q2 FY26 financial report, stood at 1,816, whereas Instamart operated 1,102 dark stores as of Q2 FY26. Zepto had over 1,000 at the end of 2025.
Reliance closing the gap on dark store count and per-order profitability makes us ponder if the dominance of the trio of quick commerce giants, Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto, is at stake.
Late To The Quick Commerce Fray
TL;DR: One of the biggest drawbacks, according to industry watchers, was the subpar consumer experience with the earlier avatar of JioMart.
Reliance Retail has built its business on conventional store formats — supermarkets, hypermarkets, and speciality stores — nearly 20,000 in number, complemented by the digital marketplace JioMart, which offered online shopping with scheduled deliveries.
In its earlier years, Reliance experimented with express deliveries, offering 90-minute services, but these tests lacked the robust network and fulfilment density needed to compete effectively with startup quick commerce models.
One of the biggest drawbacks, according to industry watchers, was the subpar consumer experience with the earlier avatar of JioMart.
Notably, Reliance’s $240 Mn investment in Dunzo for a 26% stake was seen as a strategic move to leverage Dunzo’s dark stores, delivery workforce and partner with Reliance stores for quick deliveries. However, Dunzo shut down last year, leaving Reliance to fend for itself amid the quick commerce boom.
Reliance had also put on hold its plans of rapid deliveries until the likes of Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto proved that the dark store model was sustainable, and their sales soared from 2023 onwards. Rapid consumer adoption followed, especially in urban clusters.
While exact consolidated industry numbers vary from report to report, quick commerce was estimated to handle millions of orders per day across leading players by 2025, with Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart collectively delivering over 4 Mn orders daily.
All this while, Reliance’s strategy was to wait and watch, with JioMart catering to same or next-day deliveries until Q2 FY26 when it adopted the quick commerce model.
Cracking Quick Commerce, The JioMart Way
TL;DR: Unlike startups building networks from scratch, Reliance has a massive physical footprint.
Speaking with Inc42, a senior analyst at a brokerage firm that covers the likes of Blinkit and Instamart said that the explosive growth and sheer size of the quick commerce market means players like Reliance could capture a sizable market share, though dethroning the incumbents at this stage is unlikely.
Unlike startups building networks from scratch, Reliance has a massive physical footprint. This infrastructure allows Reliance to use its existing stores as last-mile inventory nodes, reducing the need to build new facilities in many areas and enabling presence in deeper markets that quick commerce players may find unsustainable due to low order density.
“In its earlier experiments as well, Reliance tried using its supermarkets and other stores as dark stores. There should not be any challenges when it comes to upgrading the infrastructure of these stores to meet the dark store requirements. Also, unlike the incumbents, Reliance would not need to shut down its stores completely if the economics of that store for JioMart don’t work out,” Datum’s Meena said.
He, however, added that JioMart has to maintain a seamless consumer experience this time to attract today’s quick commerce consumer.
Another important aspect to be considered for Reliance to march ahead will be its average order value (AOV). While the retail giant did not disclose its AOV on the JioMart platform, Reliance Retail’s group CFO Dinesh Taluja, during the company’s earnings call, reiterated that when it comes to transactions, fruits and vegetables constitute a significant portion of the basket size. He ascribed the increase in order frequency to this category, with one in four orders comprising fruits and vegetables.
Taluja earlier said that Reliance Retail is one of the largest vendors of fruits and vegetables for most companies in the country, which helps them bag better intake margins, all while offering attractive prices to end consumers.
This is also where JioMart will have an advantage over quick commerce players, as per Meena. However, JioMart will have to retain its consumers, who often look for discounts.
On the other hand, the discount-led war has intensified, with Zepto, fresh off its 2025 capital raise, slashing delivery, handling and surge fees to drive up order volumes.
A senior industry executive working at one of the leading quick commerce companies said that even Zepto may have seen a higher volume in transactions over the last few months, following its new discount strategy, which could make it challenging for JioMart to acquire customers.
Strategic Sweet Spot
TL;DR: Reliance’s focus remains on reducing fulfilment distances and improving unit economics, rather than building tightly clustered urban networks designed for very short delivery timelines.
Reliance’s focus remains on reducing fulfilment distances and improving unit economics, rather than building tightly clustered urban networks designed for very short delivery timelines. The company is already present in over 1,000 cities.
Meena said that while quick commerce is gradually expanding into tier II and III cities, these markets will not contribute as significantly to revenues as metros or urban centres.
“Expansion in tier II and III towns also comes with challenges such as lower order density per square kilometre and higher price sensitivity among consumers,” the analyst quoted above added, corroborating Meena’s contention.
Another industry expert, however, said there are pockets of opportunity in tier II and III markets, though they may not be as large as urban centres.
The good news is that the infrastructure and human resources expenses will be lower than those in tier I cities of India, which means that players like Reliance can strategically expand in these markets.
Industry sources said that while tier II and III expansion may be an afterthought for leading quick commerce players, Reliance’s existing presence in these markets makes JioMart’s expansion easier.
However, Walmart-backed Flipkart Minutes could also join the race in tier II and III markets, with nearly 800 dark stores.
Quick Commerce’s Reset Year
TL;DR: The early years of quick commerce were marked by aggressive discounting and free delivery incentives.
The early years of quick commerce were marked by aggressive discounting and free delivery incentives. As the market matures, players are increasingly focussed on profitability, rider welfare, and sustainable operations rather than grabbing the market by hook or by crook.
Reliance’s proposition — slightly longer delivery promise, deep offline integration, and broad SKU offering — could represent an evolution towards economically tighter execution without eroding core values. Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto still capture 90% of the overall quick commerce market share across the top 30 cities.
However, as per the analysts, it is very likely that there could be further market expansion with deep-pocketed entrants like Flipkart and Reliance eyeing territories beyond the top cities.
Reliance’s quick commerce claim of 1.6 Mn daily orders represents a strategic realignment of how rapid delivery can be integrated with existing retail strengths to capture market share sustainably.
Flipkart Minutes, meanwhile, has escalated its infrastructure ambitions with plans to grow its dark store network to 1,000 locations across 60+ cities by early 2026, and early indications suggest daily order volumes surpassing 3 Lakh.
As quick commerce shifts from blitzscaling to balance, Reliance’s hybrid model signals how scale, profitability and reach could coexist. While incumbents still dominate metros, deeper markets are opening up. The question now is: Can speed-first platforms adapt, with Reliance-like retail giants quietly rewriting the rules of the game?
Curated by Aisha Patel
