The Sun Shines Brightly For BigBasket, Zepto & Instamart As Blinkit Strikes Continue

The likes of BigBasket, Zepto and Instamart have reportedly witnessed a surge in daily orders in Delhi NCR after Zomato-owned Blinkit’s delivery executives went on strike over a change in their pay structure implemented last week.

Executives from these three quick-commerce platforms have confirmed a surge in daily orders on their platforms, with increases ranging from 25% to 50%, according to sources cited by ET. 

BigBasket’s CEO, Hari Menon, was cited as saying that the daily orders at BB Now, the company’s quick-commerce vertical, rose by 46% in Delhi and 61% in Gurgaon and Noida on April 13 and 14, compared to the same period last month. 

At the same time, Zepto reportedly saw a 40% increase in orders, while Swiggy’s daily orders at Instamart rose by over 25%. To handle the surge in demand, Zepto is also said to have brought on more than 500 delivery workers in Delhi-NCR.

Blinkit has been struggling with a pay-out structure strikes by its delivery executives, causing the shutting down of about half of its 200 dark stores due to the strike. However, the quick commerce major said on Monday that it reopened almost all of its stores.

In response to the pay-out structure concerns, Blinkit recently informed its protesting delivery executives that it would shut down some of its dark stores in Gurgaon and Delhi. The pay-out structure rollback is the primary demand of the striking delivery executives who claim it has reduced their earnings.

Unlike gig workers in food delivery platforms, riders associated with quick commerce platforms are tied to specific dark stores. Therefore, with Blinkit shutting down some of its dark stores permanently in the aftermath of the strike, many delivery executives have seen their driver IDs suspended.

However, Mint reported that more than 1,000 delivery drivers, nearly a third of Blinkit’s delivery personnel, remained on strike on Tuesday as well, though the quick commerce unicorn has resumed service across most of the NCR region.

The strike looks to have become a major issue for Blinkit, as representatives from the delivery drivers met with the Deputy Labour Commissioner Gurugram on Monday, Inc42 reported, submitting a list of five demands around better pay and social security.

Inc42 had also reported on Monday that the Zomato-owned platform had allegedly fired and suspended some delivery executives during the protests, though Blinkit has yet to comment on the matter.

According to ICICI Securities, the strike is likely to have already resulted in around a 1% revenue loss in the first quarter of FY24.

The strikes emerged after Blinkit implemented a new pay structure that saw payouts being calculated based on the distance travelled, instead of a fixed amount. The quick commerce startup cut the minimum payout to INR 12 from INR 25, which saw drivers take to the streets.

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