Discount Battle: DMart Versus Zepto, Instamart, Blinkit — Here's Where Quick Commerce Players Stand

Smart shoppers swear by DMart to slash their grocery bills. The store remains the discount destination despite the big banner offers that quick-commerce players parade.

But with more players upping their discounts game to champion this race, IIFL Capital dives into what drives DMart's reign and the threats ahead. Struggling opponents of the company reduce the number of players that pose a real threat, it highlighted.

DMart tops the discount charts in two metro cities with significant margins. The company offers up to 16.2% discounts in Mumbai. In the analyst's December 2024 price check, even as new entrants offered lower prices, they struggle to deliver.

While other players like Flipkart Minutes and Zepto Supersaver offer chart topping discounts of 22.3% and 12.8% respectively, they continue to struggle with availability and discount cuts. So, Zepto's discount cuts and Flipkart Minutes' struggle with availability keep DMart ahead of the game.

Rising competition from Flipkart Minutes and potential entry of Amazon could lead to more aggressive discounting, according to analysts. This in turn, may pressure DMart’s earnings. IIFL Capital maintained its ‘reduce’ rating on the stock, citing these potential threats.

In response to increasing competition, DMart has raised its discount to 16.2% from 12.9% last year to regain price leadership. Though this will help the company stay competitive, it could impact margins, according to IIFL. Further, the brokerage remains cautious on the stock because of the heightened competitive intensity in the sector.

Stores in the top eight cities could face significant pressure as other players gain wider acceptance. While product availability of other players like Blinkit and Zepto have improved slightly, Flipkart Minutes still faces issues, according to the brokerage.

"The newly launched Flipkart Minutes fell short in terms of product availability, with the required pack size unavailable 42% of the time. Interestingly, if consumers were willing to adjust their preferred pack size, product availability increased significantly, reaching 98% of the time," said the report.