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What investors check in a D2C brand's quick commerce numbers
They pull quick commerce out of the revenue line and rebuild its margin after commission, platform ads and returns. On Indian platforms commission alone runs from about 18% to 35% depending on category, against 0 to 5% on your own site. Platform ads can add another 5 to 15% of GMV.
So the channel that looks like the fastest growth in a seed deck can be the thinnest margin in the business. A founder who has already done that sum walks into the meeting with the answer instead of the question.
Why it's in so many seed decks
Brands are raising money specifically to grow on Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart. Three rounds in our file of Indian D2C raises said so when they were announced.
- Snack brand phab raised $2 million in seed, led by OTP Ventures, in April 2025. Its cofounder said the money would help it "go deeper in quick commerce and digital".
- Troovy raised ₹20 crore in pre-Series A, led by Fireside Ventures, in May 2025. Its cofounder said the funds "will be used to grow our sales in quick commerce", and that the brand sees high repeat business there.
- Nothing But announced its seed round in May 2026 as funding to scale across quick commerce and D2C channels.
Investors are funding the channel. That's why they test it hardest.
What the channel costs
These ranges come from a May 2026 guide by base.com, an e-commerce software company. Rates are negotiated brand by brand and change often, so use your own invoices.
| Your own site | Marketplace | Quick commerce | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commission | 0 to 5% (payment gateway) | 15 to 25% | 18 to 42% |
| Getting seen | Your marketing spend | Ads | Listing fee, placement fee and ads |
The same guide puts most quick commerce commission between 18% and 35% by category, with personal care and packaged foods at 20 to 28% and health, gourmet and premium products at 28 to 35%. It puts platform ad spend at 5 to 15% of GMV when a brand scales hard, and notes that a dashboard showing 20% contribution can fall to 10 to 12% once ad spend is counted (base.com).
Brands pay it anyway. Inc42 reported in November 2024 that D2C brands were willing to pay quick commerce platforms 35 to 40% commission, against around 20% on Amazon and Flipkart. And getting on has become harder. BusinessLine reported in April 2026 that D2C brands now face a longer wait and higher costs to enter as platforms tighten how they make money.
Innovist's Rohit Chawla put the brand-building problem plainly at an Inc42 summit in July 2025. "It's very hard to build a brand on quick commerce." Platforms prefer proven bestsellers, he said, so a new product has to show success somewhere else first.
A worked example
Our arithmetic, using the middle of the ranges above. Take ₹100 of quick commerce sales. Pay 25% commission and spend 10% of GMV on platform ads, and ₹65 comes back before the product itself. A brand with a 50% gross margin then has ₹15 left to cover freight to dark stores, damaged and expired stock, and everything else. At a 70% gross margin, it has ₹35.
That gap is why the gross margin question comes first. One investor, Inflection Point Ventures' Vinay Bansal, said in December 2025 that "D2C brands generally need 50–70% gross margins to sustain multiple channels". The quote and its source are on What Indian investors actually say about D2C metrics.
What a fund rebuilds
- The channel's share of revenue, month by month. And the reason it's moving. Quick commerce rising because it works reads very differently from quick commerce rising because your own site stopped working.
- Contribution margin by channel. After commission, listing and placement fees, platform ads, returns and damaged stock. A blended margin hides a loss-making channel inside a profitable one.
- Concentration. Whether one platform carries most of the channel, and what happens to the business if its terms change.
- Who owns the repeat customer. On your own site you can see the second order. On a platform you mostly see sell-through, and a fund will ask how you know the same people are coming back.
The same checks run through our GTM diagnostic for D2C brands.
What this can't tell you
- The fee ranges come from industry guides and press. Platforms don't publish rate cards, and the deal one brand signs isn't the deal the next one gets.
- Some channels are worth a loss. A city launch or a product trial can justify a thin margin for a while. The numbers here can't tell you whether yours is one of them.
What we read into it
This part is our view. Split quick commerce out in your numbers, show its margin after every fee, and say what the channel is for. Discovery, trial and a new city are all good answers. "It's where the growth is" isn't one, unless the margin holds once you take the fees out.
If the channel loses money, say so before the fund finds it, and show what it earns back elsewhere. A founder who names the problem first keeps control of the meeting.
We help founders rebuild these numbers and then raise. If we ran your venture diagnostics, the raise starts after a one-quarter cooling-off period. If not, we start right after our own investability review.
Questions
FAQ
How much commission do Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart charge D2C brands?
A 2026 industry guide puts most quick commerce commission between 18% and 35% by category, with packaged foods and personal care at 20 to 28%. Listing fees, placement fees and ads come on top. Rates are negotiated, so check your own invoices.
Do investors like quick commerce revenue?
They fund it. Brands in our file raised specifically to grow on quick commerce. What a fund tests is the margin left after the platform's fees and ads.
What gross margin does a D2C brand need for quick commerce?
On the record, one investor said D2C brands generally need 50 to 70% gross margins to sustain multiple channels. In our worked example, a 50% gross margin leaves ₹15 of every ₹100 after mid-range fees and ads.
Should a seed brand sell on quick commerce?
It can, if you know what the channel is for and what it costs. Split it out in your numbers and show its margin after every fee before an investor does it for you.