Adjusted Ebitda margin (as a percentage of net order value) turned positive for the first time on a quarterly basis
Eternal’s quick commerce business (Blinkit) has posted a revenue of Rs 12,256 crore in the third quarter of the current financial year, a jump from Rs 1,399 crore in the same period a year ago. The net order value (NOV) growth remains healthy at 121 per cent YoY despite goods and services tax (GST) changes and seasonality.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margin (as a percentage of NOV) turned positive for the first time on a quarterly basis with Rs 4 crore adjusted Ebitda profit, improving significantly from a loss of Rs 156 crore in the previous quarter.
The Like-for-like (LFL) NOV growth stood at 130 per cent YoY. The company added 211 net new stores in the quarter, taking the total store count to 2,027 stores, about 70 stores short of its guidance of 2,100 stores. The company’s NOV stood at Rs 13,300 crore, an increase from Rs 6,020 crore in Q3FY25. Quick Commerce’s net average order value rose to Rs 547 in Q3FY26 from Rs 546 in Q3FY25.
The company pinned the shortfall on the store front on grap regulations in Delhi NCR and festive period operational constraints. “Extended pollution-related restrictions slowed construction and store fit-outs in our largest city for several weeks. During Diwali and surrounding weeks, we had to refocus our operations teams bandwidth on managing record order volumes rather than opening new stores,” stated Albinder Dhindsa, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Blinkit, who has also been named as the Group CEO of Eternal going ahead.
“This is a timing issue. The stores we didn’t open in Q3 will open in Q4. We remain on track for 3,000 stores by March 2027,” he added in the shareholders letter. The company remains confident on margins expanding to 5 to 6 per cent of NOV. “Our relatively more mature cities are already operating close to our steady state guidance of 5 to 6 per cent,” he added.
Highlighting that the business is growing at a robust pace, he noted that the ceiling of the quick commerce market in India is not visible to them yet. Relatively mature cities like Delhi NCR are still growing at around 55 per cent YoY and newer cities are growing even faster off smaller bases, he added.
“In the near term, however, NOV growth can be influenced by competitive intensity, which introduces some volatility. While aggressive pricing actions can stimulate demand, that demand is often less durable, leading to moderation in subsequent growth,” he noted.
The company’s current guidance of 3,000 stores by March 2027 assumes continued irrational competitive intensity. However, if the competition moderates in the near term, the company is looking to aim for 3,500 to 4,000 stores by March 2027, which would keep the pace of NOV growth north of 100 per cent YoY. The company’s average monthly transacting customers stood at 23.6 million, a surge from 10.6 million in Q3FY25.
