Blinkit Adds Sports Goods, Athleisure Wear To Quick Commerce Cart

Expanding its product catalogue, Zomato’s quick commerce platform Blinkit has now rolled out a new vertical with sports and fitness essentials from premium brands such as Adidas, Boldfit, Cosco, Yonex, boAt and The Whole Truth. 

The service is now live on the Blinkit app and available in select cities, including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Jaipur, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Vadodara and Meerut among others.

The Sports Essentials vertical, promoted at the very top of the Blinkit app, has a wide range of products across six segments such as outdoor and indoor sports and games, swimming, yoga and gym, health supplements, clothing and accessories as well as energy and hydration drinks. The price range of these sports essentials ranges between INR 50 and INR 3,000. 

Blinkit has also revamped the splash screen of its smartphone app in line with the new launch to grab the attention of users.

Blinkit: No Longer Just Grocery Delivery 

The launch of a sports vertical is yet another step that Blinkit has taken towards the ecommerce space, as the company looks to increase the average order value and gross volumes. 

Blinkit’s gross order value jumped 97% YoY to INR 4,027 Cr in Q4FY24. It processed over 65.3 Mn orders in the quarter. Crucially, Blinkit’s average order value fell to INR 617 in Q4 from INR 635 in Q3 FY24. 

While Blinkit started as an online grocery delivery platform (named Grofers), it has added a range of non-grocery products into the mix after being acquired by Zomato in 2022. In particular, it is adding high-value products to the catalogue.

Earlier this year, Blinkit began delivering electronics, including smartphones from Samsung and Apple, in under 10 minutes across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru, among other cities.

In April, Blinkit announced it would offer 10-minute delivery of eyewear products from Lenskart in select cities. The quick commerce firm has also started selling PlayStation 5 consoles on its platform.

Coinciding with the start of summer this year, Blinkit even added air coolers and appliances such as fans and third-party AC remotes.

Essentially, Blinkit has come a long way since its grocery delivery days.

Indeed, last year, Blinkit announced it would offer home repair and other handyman services which would pit it against Urban Company. However, the plan has yet to be executed.

Its main rivals – Zepto and Swiggy’s Instamart – have also expanded their offerings amid a surge in demand for quick delivery of daily items, including delivery of packaged food and beverages.

And the competition is set to intensify with Walmart-backed Flipkart set to launch quick commerce offerings across Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, while Tata Digital-owned BBnow is also eyeing a major investment in the space for 2024. 

Notably, India’s quick commerce market grew 77% YoY on average to reach $2.8 Bn in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2023. In comparison, the e-commerce market has been, on average, growing at 13-14%.