Blinkit Plans Pivot, Ola Bets On Diwali, and Bihar Idea Festival

Blinkit is preparing for one of its boldest shifts yet. Starting September 2025, the quick commerce major will begin transitioning from a marketplace model to an inventory-led one. In plain terms, instead of simply listing products from its brand partners and letting them manage pricing, Blinkit now wants to stock those products, control their pricing, and own the entire customer experience - end to end. This isn’t just a backend logistics change. It’s a change in strategy. And it tells us a lot about what Blinkit is chasing, and what it’s struggling with.

Right now, Blinkit operates like a mall with rented shops. Brands list their SKUs, and Blinkit delivers them. But Blinkit doesn’t set prices, doesn’t manage discounts, and doesn’t control inventory. This gives brands more freedom, but it limits Blinkit’s ability to control unit economics or improve margins. This model also creates few problems. Customer experience is inconsistent - pricing varies across geographies, discounting is often left to brands, and the end user sometimes sees price differences that don’t make sense.

Margins are thin as Blinkit earns a commission on every transaction, but it doesn’t get the full upside of pricing optimization. Brands set their own prices, so there’s less room to grow margin without pushing up delivery fees or cutting costs elsewhere. The supply chain becomes reactive since Blinkit doesn’t control inventory fully, therefore forecasting demand or planning procurement becomes more difficult. The company ends up reacting, not planning.

With the new model, Blinkit will buy and stock items directly in its dark stores. That means it can set and unify pricing across geographies, offer promotions and bundles at will, manage inventory centrally and reduce stock-outs, and plan procurement at scale, improving margins with better supplier terms. Essentially, Blinkit becomes both the store and the delivery partner - more control, better margins, faster operations. This is exactly how Swiggy Instamart and Zepto already operate. And the fact that Blinkit is pivoting now, almost three years after its acquisition by Zomato, shows that marketplace-based quick commerce is not sustainable.

So why didn’t Blinkit do this earlier? Two reasons: risk and capital. An inventory-led model means Blinkit has to buy products upfront. That means working capital. It also means forecasting demand accurately to avoid expiry or dead inventory. The logistics costs are already high in Q-commerce, and any inventory mismatch could turn into a P&L nightmare.

Also, the marketplace model was starting to show cracks. Blinkit has been facing heat on several fronts. Restaurant partners are reportedly unhappy. With the food business on Zomato’s side stagnating, restaurant partners raised concerns about aggressive cross-promotion of Blinkit within the app. There were complaints of being side-lined in favor of higher-margin grocery orders. Margin pressure is growing as Blinkit has one of the highest cost-to-serve metrics in the Q-commerce segment. Without better margin control, profitability remains elusive. Blinkit’s attempt to onboard “Blinkit Bistros” inside restaurants promising 10-minute desserts and beverages, hasn’t delivered the scale or traction expected. The company has also seen multiple CXO exits, including heads of strategy and growth. While not directly tied to the model, leadership churn during a strategic shift adds pressure.

This pivot seems to be the culmination of all these concerns. Blinkit needed control, which means owning inventory. Moving to an inventory-led model, however, will bring its own headaches. The cost will increase - buying and storing SKUs isn’t cheap. If Zomato doesn’t inject more capital, Blinkit will be under pressure to generate that money from operations. Operational complexity will also rise and Blinkit will need to optimize its procurement and warehousing. Grocery logistics is hard, especially when managing perishable goods. The tech stack will need a rebuild - managing inventory dynamically across 400+ dark stores will require a revamp of Blinkit's backend systems. Forecasting, replenishment, and expiry tracking all need to be automated and accurate.

But if they pull it off, the rewards are real. An inventory-led model could unlock 3–4% better contribution margins. Even though it sounds small, in a business where profits are very low, it actually makes a massive difference. Internally, Blinkit is targeting a September rollout in 50% of its top dark stores. These include zones in Mumbai, Delhi NCR, and Bengaluru. The rest will follow over the next 3-6 months.

Some suppliers are already being informed. A few are unhappy - they liked the marketplace setup where they had pricing freedom and didn’t carry the risk of inventory movement. But Blinkit, armed with Zomato’s data and cash, is betting that controlling the supply chain is the only way forward.

The big question is: will this pivot help Blinkit finally turn profitable? Or will it simply shift risk from partners to its own balance sheet?

Let’s go through what else is happening in Indian startup world - Grab your simmering cup of StartupChai.in and unwind with our hand-brewed memes.

“Sochna Kya Jo Bhi Hoga Dekha Jaayega”: Blinkit Plans Pivot To Inventory-Led Model From September

Blinkit’s shelves are getting a makeover. Starting September 1, the quick commerce giant will shift to an inventory-led model—meaning it’ll buy goods directly from sellers instead of just stocking them.

Sellers have already received a heads-up, as Blinkit tightens control on supply to streamline speed and margins.

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“Naam Sune Toh Duniya Maun, Ye Hai Bhojpuriya Don”: Bihar Idea Festival portal goes live, a new dawn for Bihar startups

Bihar’s startup dreams just got a digital boost. The Bihar Idea Festival portal is now live, opening new doors for homegrown innovators driven by identity and impact.

Backed by the state government and major partners like IIT Patna and Jeevika, this could be the breakout stage Bihar’s entrepreneurs have been waiting for.

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