Blinkit Expands Into Premium Groceries with Gourmet

Quick commerce platform Blinkit has launched its premium grocery service, Gourmet, across select areas in Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai. The expansion into higher-priced food items, such as artisanal breads and cheeses, aims to boost the company's average order value. These products are priced 20-30% above mass-market brands.

The service operates from a separate network of approximately five dedicated dark stores. This initiative follows Blinkit's first profitable quarter, though the profit margin was only 0.3% of order value, falling short of its 5-6% target. Higher-margin products are seen as a key lever to increase revenue per order.

Blinkit's average order value remained flat around Rs 525 in Q4 FY26, as the company's strategy favors more frequent, smaller orders. While customer numbers doubled year-on-year, the average basket size did not increase, highlighting the need to raise individual order values.

Easy geographic growth in India's largest cities is becoming limited, pushing the company to seek growth in smaller cities. Blinkit emphasizes the increasing importance of order value as volume growth becomes more challenging. Intense competition and aggressive discounting have also pressured margins in the mass-market segment, leading Blinkit to prioritize price discipline over matching rivals' zero-fee tactics.