Zomato-owned quick-commerce platform Blinkit has been struggling to meet delivery demand in Delhi-NCR after changing its pay structure for delivery partners. The new structure, which pays delivery partners on a per-kilometre basis, has led to protests and strikes by delivery partners.
Over 50% of Blinkit delivery partners across Delhi-NCR have quit since the introduction of the new payment structure, and many have joined rivals such as Zepto, Swiggy, or e-commerce platforms such as Amazon.
To retain delivery partners, Blinkit is now offering extra incentives and referral bonuses. However, the quick-commerce platform is still delivering around 30% fewer orders in the region than the pre-strike period, and the app shows a surge in demand most of the time.
The protests started last month after the company introduced the new payout structure under which delivery partners would have to book their time slots and complete assigned targets. However, the partners said this would reduce their earnings, and they demanded a minimum pay of INR 25 for the first kilometre travelled.
The disruption in Blinkit services resulted in a 25%-50% surge in daily orders of its rivals BigBasket, Zepto, and Instamart in Delhi NCR. While brokerage firm ICICI Securities said that the service disruption would lead to a 1% revenue loss to Blinkit in Q1 FY24, Zomato said the strike of delivery partners of Blinkit would have less than 1% impact on the company’s revenue.
It remains to be seen what impact the strike and disruption in services will have on Zomato’s financial results for the June 2023 quarter. Blinkit’s average order value declined on a quarter-on-quarter basis during October-December, but its order volume grew 21% QoQ to 3.16 Cr, offsetting the 2.6% decline in AOV to INR 553. The adjusted revenue from the quick-commerce vertical surged 27% QoQ to INR 301 Cr in Q3 FY23.
