Quick commerce firms Blinkit, Zepto ramp up offerings this Raksha Bandhan
For families and siblings overseas, this Raksha Bandhan offers last-minute shopping opportunities for their counterparts in India. Quick commerce firms like Blinkit and Zepto are expanding their operations and offering consumers last-minute curated Rakhi gifts, including a chance to win cars, iPhones, TVs, and luxurious overseas stays.
Zomato-owned Blinkit has, for instance, expanded its services to overseas markets on this occasion, allowing users from countries like the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Japan to send rakhis and gifts to their siblings in India.
“We have switched on international orders on Blinkit till August 19. Folks living abroad can now place orders on Blinkit to send rakhis and gifts to their siblings in India, and we’ll deliver in 10 minutes,” said Albinder Dhindsa, founder and CEO, Blinkit.
In addition, the company is also offering free delivery on all rakhi purchases within the country.
According to Dhindsa, the company surpassed the previous year’s Rakhi sales by Saturday afternoon by a large margin, as customers engaged in last-minute shopping. Over 90 per cent of the international orders so far have come from the US, with others split relatively evenly between Japan and Australia, he added.
Likewise, Zepto has announced its latest campaign, “Rakhi Aapki, Lifafa Humara,” on this occasion, where it is gearing up to deliver over 3.5 million orders in three days.
Between August 17-19, the company is delivering a free ‘Shagun ka Lifafa’ to its customers. Inside this Raksha Bandhan special ‘lifafa’, both the brother and sister get a special scratch card with a chance to win prizes worth Rs 5 crore, including cars, a luxurious trip to Dubai, iPhones, TVs, speakers, and washing machines, among other gifts, the company said.
“Shagun ka Lifafa holds cultural significance during Raksha Bandhan, and we decided to take sibling rivalry to a whole new level,” said Chandan Mendiratta, chief brand officer, Zepto.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Dabur and many other partners, including EaseMyTrip, Ariel, and Tide, to bring exclusive prizes and experiences to our customers, making this festival even more special,” he said.
Through its partnership with travel aggregator EaseMyTrip, each Zepto order will come with a scratch card offering a chance to win a travel voucher.
This comes at a time when quick commerce players are ramping up their dark store footprints in anticipation of the upcoming festival season, Business Standard had reported earlier.
Competition in the quick commerce sector has intensified with Flipkart’s launch of ‘Minutes’. Ahead of its upcoming flagship sale event – Big Billion Days 2024 – in October, the firm is reportedly planning to open nearly 100 dark stores across top cities.
Blinkit plans to reach a 2,000 dark store count by the end of 2026, up from 639 currently. The company added as many as 113 dark stores in Q1 FY25 alone, and Blinkit is expected to launch a similar number in the September quarter as well, ahead of the festival season.
Zepto in June announced plans to reach 700 dark stores by March 2025, up from 350 currently. It would have to add roughly 80 stores every quarter to achieve this.
First Published: Aug 18 2024 | 4:26 PM IST