Indian Delivery Platform Swiggy Narrows Sequential Loss on Instamart Growth
New Delhi – Indian food and grocery delivery platform Swiggy reported a narrower sequential loss in the December quarter, supported by strong momentum in its quick-commerce arm Instamart. The company said improving efficiencies and rapid order growth helped reduce losses despite intense competition in the sector.
Swiggy continues to benefit from rising consumer demand for ultra-fast deliveries, a segment that has become one of the most aggressively funded areas in India’s digital economy. The platform delivers groceries, essentials, and consumer electronics within minutes, reshaping urban shopping habits.
For the quarter ended December 31, Swiggy posted a consolidated loss of 10.65 billion rupees, compared with a loss of 10.92 billion rupees in the previous quarter. While the company remains loss-making, the sequential improvement signals progress toward its profitability goals.
Losses were still higher than the same period last year, reflecting ongoing investments in expansion and customer acquisition. Management has indicated that absolute losses are expected to decline gradually as scale and network efficiencies improve.
Swiggy reiterated its confidence in achieving contribution-margin break-even in the first quarter of fiscal 2027. This milestone would mean that revenue earned from each order is sufficient to cover direct fulfilment costs, an important step toward overall profitability.
The contribution margin for Swiggy’s quick-commerce business improved by 9 basis points from the previous quarter to negative 2.5 percent. This improvement highlights better cost control even as the company continues to offer competitive pricing and fast delivery times.
Instamart remains a central driver of Swiggy’s growth strategy, competing closely with rivals such as Blinkit and Zepto. The race for market share has led to heavy discounting, subsidised deliveries, and rapid expansion of warehouse infrastructure across major cities.
These competitive pressures have weighed on profitability across the sector, but Swiggy believes scale advantages and operational improvements will help offset near-term challenges. The company has focused on increasing order density to reduce per-order delivery costs.
Instamart’s adjusted EBITDA margin improved significantly during the quarter, rising 65 basis points sequentially to negative 11.4 percent. This reflects gains from higher volumes, better utilisation of delivery fleets, and improved inventory management.
Quick-commerce revenue surged 76 percent year on year, driven by a similar rise in net order value. This sharp increase helped lift Swiggy’s overall revenue by 54 percent to 61.48 billion rupees during the quarter.
The company said network density improvements played a key role in narrowing losses. A higher number of active stores in core urban markets allowed Swiggy to fulfil orders more efficiently and reduce average delivery distances.
Swiggy continued expanding its physical infrastructure to support growth. During the quarter, it opened 34 new dark stores, compact warehouses located in densely populated neighbourhoods designed to enable rapid order fulfilment.
This expansion brought Swiggy’s total dark store count to 1,136, following the addition of 40 such facilities in the previous quarter. The company views these locations as critical to maintaining delivery speed and service reliability.
Despite ongoing losses, investor attention remains focused on Swiggy’s path to sustainable profitability. Management believes improving margins, disciplined expansion, and strong demand trends will support long-term financial health.
The performance of Instamart underscores the growing importance of quick-commerce in India’s consumer landscape. As urban consumers increasingly prioritise convenience and speed, platforms like Swiggy are positioning themselves to capture long-term growth.
