Swiggy’s Instamart Slips 80 Basis Points in Q2 as It Promises 80 Back

Swiggy said Instamart’s contribution margin was negative 1.0 percent of gross order value in the September quarter, down from negative 0.2 percent in the June quarter, while announcing that it will begin moving the quick-commerce business to an inventory model, Inc42 reported on Oct. 22.

The company says the inventory shift has the potential to add 80 basis points to Instamart’s contribution margin once fully rolled out. That is the exact size of the slide between quarters, which is the first thing worth noticing and the least comfortable.

What Swiggy reported for Q2 FY27

Instamart	Q1 FY27	Q2 FY27
Contribution margin, % of GOV	-0.2%	-1.0%
Adjusted EBITDA loss	₹778 crore	₹895 crore
Net order value	Not in source	₹6,594 crore
Orders	Not in source	130 million

Net order value rose 34.8 percent from a year earlier and 13.4 percent from the prior quarter, and orders grew 29.3 percent year on year, according to Inc42. Management attributed the margin drop to higher spending on pricing and customer retention and described the figure as within the range it had guided.

Across the group, consolidated revenue from operations was ₹7,571 crore, up 36.1 percent. The net loss was ₹922 crore, 15.6 percent smaller than a year earlier but larger than the ₹791 crore reported for Q1, a figure confirmed by Sahi. Swiggy added 69 net dark stores, taking the network to 1,240 in 133 cities.

How big 80 basis points is

Divide the quarter’s ₹6,594 crore of net order value by 130 million orders and the average order is about ₹507. Eighty basis points of that is roughly ₹4 an order. The adjusted EBITDA loss of ₹895 crore over the same orders is about ₹69 an order. Both figures are our arithmetic, and they mix gross order value, net order value and an EBITDA measure, so they illustrate scale rather than reconcile.

The scale is the point. Sahi’s August note said analysts expected an improvement of ₹4 to ₹5 an order from the shift, which is consistent with the arithmetic above and small beside the loss per order.

Why inventory, and why now

Under India’s foreign investment rules a company must be Indian-owned and controlled to hold inventory directly, Outlook Business wrote in August. Swiggy’s May special resolution to qualify got 72.36 percent of votes, short of the 75 percent required. Shareholders approved it at the Aug. 18 annual meeting, and Swiggy says domestic ownership is now above 58 percent.

Swiggy’s rival got there first. Blinkit has posted margin improvement for five straight quarters since its own inventory shift and turned positive in the March 2026 quarter, per Outlook Business. The Terminal covered Blinkit’s Q2 EBITDA separately.

Holding stock costs cash. Brokerage Jefferies said the shift will need more working capital, per Outlook Business. Swiggy’s own claim runs the other way: it expects the working capital cycle to improve by 8 to 10 days. Inc42 gives no cash balance or burn figure, so the two claims cannot be tested against each other yet.

Who runs it

Nandita Sinha became Instamart’s chief executive on Aug. 3, succeeding Amitesh Jha, according to Sahi. Inc42’s account attributes the margin commentary to the company and management without naming an executive, so this article does the same.

Public-market investors had a verdict by the close: the stock fell 5.01 percent to ₹211.30. For a different Indian listing story, see The Terminal’s report on the Zetwerk IPO.

The number that will confirm or contradict the 80 basis points is Instamart’s contribution margin in the Q3 FY27 results, for the quarter ending in December. Swiggy expects the transition to take two to three quarters.