Value-focused ecommerce start-up CityMall is expanding into newer geographies including West Bengal, Jaipur and Punjab as it doubles down on grocery-led commerce for consumers in tier-2 and smaller cities, said Angad Kikla Co-founder and CEO, City Mall.
The Gurgaon-based company, which currently operates across 18 cities in four northern States, is positioning itself as a value-commerce platform catering to middle- and lower-income households that remain underserved by mainstream quick-commerce players.
“Our expansion plans are pretty much adjacent. West Bengal in the east, Jaipur in the west and Punjab in the north are the natural markets for us,” said Kikla.
Unlike rapid delivery platforms such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto, CityMall follows a next-day delivery model focused on planned grocery purchases. The company says groceries currently contribute 80 per cent of its overall business, while general merchandise accounts for the remaining 20 per cent.
The start-up handles around 70,000 orders daily with an average order value of ₹450-500 and currently clocks a monthly GMV of nearly ₹120 crore with close to 12 lakh monthly transacting users.
Kikla said the company’s target customer base comprises value-conscious households earning ₹25,000-30,000 a month, including gig workers, small shopkeepers and lower middle-class families.
“Very simplistically, we are building grocery for the Meesho customer segment. What Meesho is to Amazon, we are to Blinkit,” Kikla said, referring to the company’s positioning in the ecommerce ecosystem.
A key pillar of CityMall’s strategy is its growing private-label portfolio. The company said private labels currently contribute 40 per cent of its business and could eventually account for 60-65 per cent.
“Our consumers are value conscious, they are not brand conscious. We are able to offer products almost 15 per cent cheaper to consumers while also making 15% more margin through private labels,” Kikla said.
CityMall’s expansion strategy also hinges on a low-cost logistics network that relies on local micro-entrepreneurs rather than dark stores. The company claims its fully loaded supply-chain and delivery cost is around ₹50 per order, significantly lower than quick-commerce peers.
The start-up works with local delivery partners and small entrepreneurs in neighbourhoods to fulfil orders in batches, helping reduce fixed costs and improve efficiency.
The company said two of its cities, Varanasi and Prayagraj, are already profitable at a net level, while it expects to achieve company-wide profitability over the next 18 months.
CityMall added that most of its growth continues to come from deeper penetration in existing markets rather than from aggressive geographic expansion, with existing cities still capable of growing four to five times their current levels.