How to Sell on Blinkit, Zepto, Instamart and Flipkart Minutes: Quick Commerce Guide for Small Brands

Can a Small Brand Sell on Quick Commerce Apps?

Think about a customer who had to leave his snack before a movie or show. Rather than going to a grocery store, they go to Blinkit or Zepto and order the items that they require. The products will be delivered to their doorstep in little time.

Now visualize your brand's products in that customer's search results.

This is the chance provided by a fast commerce. Customer can easily purchase their daily needs and some products through platforms like Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Flipkart Minutes which have the ability to deliver quickly.

This can be another avenue for small businesses to connect with customers other than storefronts, distributors and the traditional ecommerce websites.

But gaining listed is not as easy as you may think – it's not just about the product photos going up. Brands need to get ready their products, paperwork, pricing and stock before getting to these devices.

Let's get a grasp of how small brands can get started.

What is ‘Quick Commerce'?

Quick commerce, another name for Q-commerce, is an e-commerce platform that aims to provide fast delivery of goods, typically from local fulfilment centres or dark stores.

Quick commerce is different from traditional ecommerce, which can take several days to get your order, and it's all about meeting your needs today.

Popular platforms include:

1. Blinkit: Provides grocery, personal care, household, electronics and other items.
2. Zepto: Groceries and more and more items in categories.
3. Swiggy Instamart: Provides essentials and products of everyday use in various categories.
4. Flipkart Minutes: Offers quick service of eligible products in specific service areas.

Beauty, personal care, electronics and other daily goods are examples of the other verticals that quick commerce is taking off beyond groceries. This is an opportunity for brands to be able to satisfy customers' needs and ensure a consistent stock. This information has been extracted from a SEBI hosted prospectus on the trends in quick-commerce markets.

Step 1: Select the Products that are Suitable for Quick Commerce

Decide which products are suitable for fast delivery, before applying to some platform.

Quick-commerce apps are frequently utilized by customers when they need something quickly. Your products need to fulfill a particular need or promote the ease of repeat sales.

For example:

1. Food brands: Snack bar, dry fruits, instant mixes, ready to eat food.
2. Brands that aim to promote beauty: Face wash, moisturiser, sun care, personal care and so on.
3. Home-care products: Cleaning products, storage products and everyday household products.
4. Pet-care brands: Packaged pet food, pet treats and pet grooming products.
5. Lifestyle brands: A selection of accessories, small gift items and everyday useful products (where available).

First off, determine some products that have some demand and are quality and have enough profit to cover the costs of selling the product.

For instance, a smaller brand that offers a range of healthy snack packs could start by assessing the best-sellers, instead of introducing its entire catalog.

Step 2: Prepare Your Business Documents

One aspect of seller onboarding that's crucial is documentation. The requirements are different for each platform, product category and business structure.

These are some of the typical documents and information you should be ready with:

1. Business/brand information.
2. Registration details of PAN & GST (if applicable).
3. A cheque and Bank Details.
4. Proven ownership of brands and/or proof of registration(s) or authorisation documents (where applicable).
5. Photographs and descriptions of products, sizes and barcodes per platform specifications.
6. Manufacturer/ Supplier details.
7. FSSAI registration / licence in respect of food businesses applicable.

The relevant FSSAI registration/licensing requirements must be complied with by food businesses. Please see the official FSSAI website for relevant rules.

Please note that not all information is required for all categories. Check the existing needs prior to application.

Step 3: How to sell on Blinkit:

Blinkit has an official seller onboarding portal for businesses to register, list products and manage their selling activities.

How to get started:

1. Go to the Blinkit Seller Hub.
2. Fill in the information requested to register the business.
3. Provide tax, bank details, brand and product details.
4. Full verification and product listing/stock supply as per instructions of the platform.
5. Keep track of what is in your stock, how it is doing and how well it is performing once your products are available to sell.

The official seller website of Blinkit also has features like commission calculations, product discovery tools, and more. There is published information about its on-boarding process, which details how to register and how it will be listed. Actual approvals and launch dates will depend on the verification and other requirements.

For small brands: Create a well organized catalogue that has proper product details and competitive pricing. Avoid submitting applications to a stranger named to get guaranteed listings.

Step 4: How to Sell on Zepto

Zepto has its official brand onboarding portal for businesses that are looking to enter their products.

How to get started:

1. Go to a Zepto brand onboarding portal.
2. Register as a seller (or do so if one is available).
3. Have PAN, GSTIN, cancelled Cheque, who they are signatories for, details about brand ownership/authorisation.
4. Submit catalogue information, product dimensions and images based on specifications of the platform.
5. If your brand is deemed suitable by the platform, wait for their review and proceed with the following steps.

Zepto has been putting up published articles that emphasize quality of the products, catalogues appropriateness and its definite value to the customer. No guarantee of acceptance by submitting an application. That's a reference to the Zepto brand onboarding.

For small brands: Give a description of how your product is unique. Its ingredients, its pack size, its unique product benefit or high repeat-purchase value can assist in communicating its value.

Step 5: How to sell on Swiggy Instamart

Swiggy Instamart has an official brand partnership page, on which brands can register their interest in selling their products.

How to get started:

1. Go to the Swiggy Instamart Partner page.
2. Select seller/brand onboarding.
3. Provide the business and contact information requested.
4. Make up your catalogue of products, any applicable licenses, prices and supplies.
5. Follow the review, onboarding and fulfilment process of the platform.

Instamart offers several categories of products, however, the appropriateness of each brand will vary according to the needs of Instamart and how they select their products. Be sure to verify current terms, business arrangements and markets that will benefit services directly with the platform.

Tip for small brands: Be prepared to answer the question "How many are you able to offer? How fast can you deliver them? Where can you deliver them consistently?"

Step 6: How to Sell on Flipkart Minutes

Flipkart Minutes is Flipkart's instant-commerce service that is available in select areas and can't be used outside of the service area.

While a regular marketplace listing may have several categories, fulfilment and availability criteria, the process of having a product considered for quick delivery might require more of these.

The procedure to take advantage of the opportunity:

1. To know more about the service and which areas it is available in, visit the Flipkart Minutes page.
2. Register/Manage your business on Flipkart Seller Hub.
3. Have your business, GST and bank information, and product catalogue information (if applicable) on hand.
4. Please reach out to the relevant seller or channel of the category to ensure that your product category is eligible for Minutes.
5. If your products meet the requirements for onboarding and fulfilment, follow the instructions that apply.

A regular Flipkart seller account should not be considered as Flipkart minutes automatically being approved. Ensure that each unit is eligible and operating and verify them prior to the planned launch.

Step 7: Understand Costs and Calculate Your Profit

One of the largest failures that small brands can make is to only take into account the revenue in sales.

Prior to listing, determine how much you will make after subtracting all your costs.

When working out your costing, take into account:

1. The price of the product that the company has to pay to make or buy the product.
2. Packaging and labelling.
3. Commercial charges, such as platform fees or other charges that may apply.
4. Storage, delivery and shipping costs.
5. Promotional promotion and advertising.
6. Returns, damaged and/or expiry losses (where applicable).
7. Other costs of the business (tax, etc.).

Example:

Suppose that the price of a product is ₹200.

Here, a simplified example, ₹60 will be left after other overheads and applicable taxes. These are indicative fees and not actual fees on the platform.

Visit each platform and inquire about the terms of their current commercial and figure the profits of each product before buying in substantial amounts.

Step 8: Ensure that the inventory is available and track the performance.

A key component of the quick commerce is availability of products. When consumers notice your product in their online shopping cart, but then can't find it again, you could miss out on sales.

Begin with a reasonable level of stock and develop a stock replenishment schedule. Monitor product sales, customer demand, stock and product expiration dates.

Pay attention to comments and complaints from customers. Packaging, quality or product descriptions are issues that can have a negative impact on customer trust when they occur more than once.

With the knowledge of which products are successful, you may want to try adding more to your catalogue or to your service areas, if possible.

Common Mistakes That Every Small Brand Should Avoid

Here are common mistakes that every small brand should avoid while they are creating their own products.

These are the things to steer clear of when going into quick commerce:

1. Not preparing the necessary documents when applying.
2. Selling a lot of products before testing demand.
3. Not taking the platform fees into account when working out profit.
4. Over-promise stock that can't be delivered on a regular basis.
5. Lacking good quality images of products or descriptions.
6. Allowing unofficial agents that guarantee on-boarding.
7. Assuming that the acceptance of one platform means that the other will accept it also.

It's easy to control a concentrated introduction of a well-chosen product line that has a known demand profile versus an expensive introduction that is too bloated to be controlled.

Conclusion

For smaller brands, quick commerce can be an alternative option to deliver the convenience and quick delivery to customers. While there are different opportunities out there, the onboarding process, requirements for different categories and commercial terms is different for each platform like Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Flipkart Minutes.

Choose appropriate products, arrange your paperwork, work out margins and submit on official forms. Gradual development of supply capacity, with the use of actual sales data for guiding development.

The aim isn't just to show up on a fast-commerce application. The aim is to create a business with a successful profit margin that will produce quality products and be able to satisfy customer demand.

If you want more hands on ideas on registering a business, marketing, funding and start-up growth, check out Digital Startup India.