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Zepto began as a pandemic-era necessity—a WhatsApp-led grocery delivery service designed to help people access daily essentials quickly. In just a few years, it has rewritten the rulebook for Indian retail. Today, with over 900 dark stores in 70+ cities, Zepto is not just a quick commerce brand—it is a national phenomenon reshaping how India shops. In an exclusive conversation, Vinay Dhanani, President, Zepto, shares how bold vision, operational precision, and an unflinching focus on customer trust have propelled Zepto to become India’s first unicorn of 2023, and how franchising, AI and hyperlocal innovation are unlocking its next phase of growth.
What was the core vision behind starting Zepto, and how has it evolved since inception?
Zepto began during the pandemic as a WhatsApp-led grocery delivery service, built to help people access essentials quickly and reliably. Since then, it has grown into one of India’s fastest-scaling quick commerce platforms, with 900+ dark stores across 70+ cities. While we’ve expanded into new categories and scaled to over 50,000 SKUs, the vision remains unchanged: to make 10-minute delivery the new normal in India.
What differentiated Zepto early on from other players?
Our belief in 10-minute delivery, at a time when most doubted its relevance or feasibility, set us apart. While others waited, we built the playbook. Today, almost every major platform has entered the space—a sign that the market has caught up to what we saw early on. Our execution-first culture, customer trust, operational excellence and innovations like Zepto Café—India's first dark café model—have been key to expanding the boundaries of convenience in this category.
What are the core values and missions that drive Zepto’s leadership and team?
At Zepto, our mission goes beyond just delivery — it's about giving people their time back. Whether it's a consumer receiving essentials in 10 minutes, a delivery partner spending less time on the road, or a vendor getting faster inventory turnover, everything we build is designed to save time. We leverage technology to remove friction, accelerate execution, and simplify daily lives.
What were the key drivers of Zepto’s accelerated growth and unicorn milestone?
Zepto became India’s first unicorn of 2023 during a funding winter—a result of operational discipline, customer-first thinking, and relentless execution. Our model struck a chord because we weren’t chasing hype; we were solving a real, high-frequency need with precision and speed.
Can you share current footprint and scale metrics?
Zepto operates 900+ dark stores across 70+ Indian cities. Our platform hosts over 50,000 SKUs, from fresh produce and groceries to electronics, beauty, toys, and apparel. Zepto Café adds another dimension with 200+ freshly prepared items integrated into the same 10-minute promise.
What major trends will shape the next 3–5 years of Q-commerce?
Quick commerce will evolve from speed-focused to smart and sustainable. AI will drive hyper-personalisation, predictive inventory, and supply chain intelligence. AI chatbots will redefine support experiences. Automation will drive operations. Data science led models will drive sharper decision-making and better ROI. Selection beyond groceries will evolve rapidly in quick commerce.
How are consumption patterns shifting on Zepto?
Fruits and vegetables remain our largest and fastest-growing category, with daily volumes rising from 6.4 lakh units last year to 22 lakh units today. But we’re also seeing strong traction emerging in newer categories like electronics, beauty & personal care, health & hygiene, home utilities and gifting.
How has consumer trust in 10-minute delivery evolved? Are speed and convenience still priorities?
Absolutely. What was once seen as a novelty is now an expectation. Speed and convenience remain core, but the trust comes from accuracy, quality and reliability—orders arriving on time, products being fresh, and service being consistent. That trust has become a powerful growth engine.
Is franchising a viable model for Zepto’s dark store expansion?
Yes, we see great potential in franchising as we scale deeper across markets with a high degree of operational standardization. We are building robust SOPs, tech integrations, and training protocols to ensure consistency across franchise-run stores.
What role does tech play in operations and customer experience?
Tech powers everything. Demand forecasting to supply planning, data science led automated models drive the supply chain, enabling us to improve selection availability and reduce waste. Technology powers the tasks in distribution centers, darkstores and lastmile for replenishment and order fulfillment. Fraud protection improves safety. AI-driven allocation enables route optimization, cuts delivery times and boosts partner productivity. AI driven chatbots resolve queries instantly, creating a seamless and satisfying user experience.
What are Zepto’s current expansion plans within India?
We plan to expand our network with 150 new dark stores in the next quarter, across existing and new cities. Growth isn’t limited to metros—Tier 2 markets like Nashik, Kanpur and Vadodara are already showing strong demand.
Is Zepto seeing success in Tier 2/3 markets?
Yes—in fact, cities like Nashik have crossed 1,000 daily orders within six weeks while Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore took months to get to this. Our model focuses on frequently purchased, small-ticket items delivered with speed and quality. We’re also expanding into categories like apparel and electronics to deepen value.
What innovations can users expect next from Zepto?
We’re focused on making discovery more personalised and delivery even faster. A recent example is emotional search—if a user searches "Monday blues," they might see coffee, chocolate, or skincare. More such context-driven features are in the pipeline.
How is the retail landscape evolving in India with Q-commerce, D2C, and e-commerce intersecting?
Quick commerce is no longer just about delivery. It’s a full-funnel platform for brand building—offering speed-to-market, data-backed targeting, and visibility at scale. As consumption behavior shifts, this channel will only grow in relevance.
What advice would you give aspiring entrepreneurs in fast-growth, high-burn sectors like Q-commerce?
Focus on basics of operations and continuous improvement, not hype. Scale is meaningless without reliability. Stay obsessed with customers, build systems that deliver reliably, and keep learning. The ones who adapt fastest are the ones who last.
