Private labels are gaining ground in the quick-commerce market, with their share of sales rising to 12-16% from 6-8% in early 2025, as platforms are looking to improve margins and gain greater control over pricing, availability and customer retention, according to industry estimates.
The shift is being led by staples, where platforms are building their own brands, while newer labels in premium snacks, beverages and fresh produce are expanding the private-label play beyond commodities.
Tata-owned BigBasket remains the benchmark, with its private labels accounting for around 35% of revenue. Its portfolio includes BB Popular and BB Royal in staples, BB Home in home care and Fresho in fresh produce. Among quick-commerce platforms, Swiggy’s Instamart has emerged as the most aggressive, followed by Zepto and Eternal’s Blinkit.
Instamart’s Supreme Harvest, launched in 2022, now accounts for 22-25% of staples sold on the platform, up from about 18% a year ago, according to e-commerce analytics firm 1digitalstack.ai. Its share of urad dal has risen to 28.7% from 15.1%, while it accounts for 51% of maida and 58% of rice flour sold on the platform.
Zepto’s Daily Good accounts for 12-14% of staples sales, with a strong presence in dals, specialty staples and dry fruits. It accounts for 40% of urad dal, 71% of munakka, 83% of peanuts and 65% of raisins sold on the platform, the data showed. It has also expanded into edible oils, accounting for 16% of soyabean oil and 5% of sunflower oil sales.
Blinkit’s Whole Farm, with an 8-10% share, has taken a more selective approach. It is focused largely on coarse grains and niche staples where consumers are less likely to have a strong brand preference. It accounts for 95% of barley, 67% of chawli and 62% each of white matar and munakka sold on Blinkit, but has a limited presence in larger dal and dry-fruit categories.
“The restraint is deliberate. Blinkit would rather stock the widest possible range than lean too hard on its own label. They want to give as many options to the customer. Swiggy has been the most aggressive, with Zepto also going after a wider range,” Satish Meena, advisor at Datum Intelligence, said.
The economics are driving the push. Private labels in staples earn margins of 15-25%, roughly twice those on third-party brands, Meena said. Platforms are also using lower prices to build scale. Supreme Harvest’s chana dal is priced nearly 30% below the category average, while Daily Good’s mustard oil is almost 37% cheaper and Whole Farm’s ragi about 29% cheaper, according to 1digitalstack.ai.
The strategy is now moving into higher-value packaged foods. Instamart’s premium label Noice has increased its share in beverages to around 7.2% from 5.8% in December and in snacks to 5.5% from 4.4%. Swiggy said Noice spans more than 46 categories and 380 SKUs, and now features in one in every 10 baskets.
Fresh produce offers an even bigger prize, with private-label margins of 35-45%, three to four times those earned on third-party sellers, Meena said. Instamart is piloting its Nectr fruits-and-vegetables label across five dark stores in Bengaluru. Swiggy said the pilot increased fruit-and-vegetable spending by 10%, repurchase rates by 12 percentage points and platform retention by 7 percentage points.
Zepto has also piloted Harvest Store in premium neighbourhoods of Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Beyond margins, owned brands give platforms greater control over inventory and availability, an important advantage in a business where stock-outs can quickly push customers to a rival app.
“In q-comm, predicting demand is critical. Owned brands will have a clear edge here in ensuring wider availability, and reducing wastage by avoiding over indexing,” Meena said.