Swiggy Instamart is turning to younger brands and platform-exclusive products to give shoppers a reason to choose it over rivals, as quick commerce becomes harder to differentiate on speed and assortment alone.
Under its ‘Switch to Better’ initiative, launched in June, Instamart is steering shoppers towards more than 400 alternative partner brands offering cleaner ingredients or preservative-free formulations. It is also encouraging brands to create products and pack sizes specifically for Instamart, making its assortment less interchangeable with those on competing apps.
The move is significant for Instamart, which trails the two leading quick-commerce platforms. Blinkit had an estimated 47% market share in 2025, followed by Zepto at 24% and Instamart at 22%, according to Datum Intelligence. Amazon India and Flipkart are also stepping up their quick-commerce operations.
“It’s the most vulnerable quick commerce player right now,” said Ankur Bisen, senior partner at retail consultancy The Knowledge Company. He said the platform is trying to stay relevant by offering products consumers cannot find in exactly the same form elsewhere.
Harder to copy
Brands are already tailoring products for Instamart.
Homecare products maker Beco has introduced a 1-litre laundry-liquid pack exclusively for Instamart, while selling 2-litre and 5-litre packs on other platforms. Spices brand Zoff has created 90g packs exclusively for Instamart.
Artisanal baked goods brand The Baker’s Dozen is also looking to make some variants and pack sizes of protein chips and other upcoming launches exclusive to Instamart, co-founder Sneh Jain told Mint. Quick commerce accounts for 85% of the brand’s revenue.
The strategy is beginning to show traction. Zoff co-founder Akash Agrawal said sales of its Switch-tagged products roughly doubled over the past two months.
Beco has also been growing faster on Instamart than the broader category. Its laundry-liquid business on the platform grew 9-13% month-on-month, compared with 6-8% for the category, said Sourabh Narula, head of global sales at Beco.
“We are overriding the category growth,” he said. Quick commerce accounts for 20% of Beco’s revenue, with Instamart among its top three platforms.
Swiggy said products carrying the Switch to Better proposition accounted for more than 15% of sales in the categories where the initiative was present in the June quarter of FY27.
It highlighted differentiated assortment in its FY26 annual report.
“With industry-leading differentiated assortment, improving basket economics, reliable speed and a scalable network, Instamart remains well-positioned to capture the next phase of category growth as more shopping missions move to quick commerce,” it said.
Instamart’s net average order value was ₹691 in the June quarter, up from ₹612 a year earlier. Bisen said younger brands are useful to quick-commerce platforms not only because they tend to spend more on advertising, but also because their premium pricing can help drive larger basket sizes.
Why brands play
For challenger brands, the attraction is less about exclusivity than getting noticed.
“The main thing for a D2C brand like ours is to get visibility on these platforms,” Jain said.
Beco’s Narula said younger brands are better placed to innovate for quick commerce because they can move faster and experiment more easily. “We can take a new product from idea to market in a matter of weeks, rather than months.”
Younger brands get another route to consumers and greater visibility, while Instamart gets products that are less directly comparable with those on rival platforms.
But the advantage may be difficult to defend. Rival quick-commerce platforms can also work with challenger brands and encourage them to tailor products for their own platforms.
Bisen said challenger brands could end up creating different assortments for multiple platforms as quick-commerce companies pursue similar ways to stand apart.
“The problem is that the customer is extremely finicky. Price plays an important role but value plays a bigger role,” he said. “In the end, the customer will make the switch only if there is a compelling reason to do so.”
Big brands stay away
The limits of the strategy become clearer with established fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies.
Unlike young brands that need visibility and distribution, legacy brands already have products established across modern trade and general trade. They therefore have less reason to create products exclusively for one quick-commerce platform.
Parle Products chief marketing officer Mayank Shah said a recommendation may prompt consumers to try something new, but that does not necessarily mean they will abandon their existing brands.
“We don’t need to create a product for one particular platform. Most of our products have already made a dent in modern trade and general trade, and we can take those products across channels,” Shah said. Quick commerce accounts for 4% of Parle Products’ revenue.
Parle has nevertheless adapted its portfolio for quick commerce, with mid-sized packs priced at about ₹30-80 specifically designed for the channel. Shah said these packs were introduced as quick commerce developed, but not specifically for Switch.
Bisen remains cautious about whether the strategy can materially alter Instamart’s competitive position. “Whether this will actually move the needle for Instamart remains to be seen. The customer is extremely picky.”
Shares of Swiggy Ltd ended 0.7% lower at ₹284.55 apiece on Thursday on the National Stock Exchange, while the benchmark Nifty 50 was down nearly 0.5%.