Swiggy Instamart is turning to younger brands and platform-exclusive products to give shoppers a reason to choose it over rivals, as quick commerce becomes harder to differentiate on speed and assortment alone.
Under its ‘Switch to Better’ initiative, launched in June, Instamart is steering shoppers towards more than 400 alternative partner brands offering cleaner ingredients or preservative-free formulations. It is also encouraging brands to create products and pack sizes specifically for Instamart, making its assortment less interchangeable with those on competing apps.
The move is significant for Instamart, which trails the two leading quick-commerce platforms. Blinkit had an estimated 47% market share in 2025, followed by Zepto at 24% and Instamart at 22%, according to Datum Intelligence. Amazon India and Flipkart are also stepping up their quick-commerce operations.
“It's the most vulnerable quick commerce player right now,” said Ankur Bisen, senior partner at retail consultancy The Knowledge Company. He said the platform is trying to stay relevant by offering products consumers cannot find in exactly the same form elsewhere.
Brands are already tailoring products for Instamart.
Homecare products maker Beco has introduced a 1-litre laundry-liquid pack exclusively for Instamart, while selling 2-litre and 5-litre packs on other platforms. Spices brand Zoff has created 90g packs exclusively for Instamart.
Artisanal baked goods brand The Baker’s Dozen is also looking to make some variants and pack sizes of protein chips and other upcoming launches exclusive to Instamart, co-founder Sneh Jain told Mint. Quick commerce accounts for 85% of the brand’s revenue.
The strategy is beginning to show traction. Zoff co-founder Akash Agrawal said sales of its Switch-tagged products roughly doubled over the past two months.
Beco has also been growing faster on Instamart than the broader category. Its laundry-liquid business on the platform grew 9-13% month-on-month, compared with 6-8% for the category, said Sourabh Narula, head of global sales at Beco.
“We are overriding the category growth,” he said. Quick commerce accounts for 20% of Beco’s revenue, with Instamart among its top three platforms.
Swiggy said products carrying the Switch to Better proposition accounted for more than 15% of sales in the categories where the initiative was present in the June quarter of FY27.
It highlighted differentiated assortment in its FY26 annual report.
“With industry-leading differentiated assortment, improving basket economics, reliable speed and a scalable network, Instamart remains well-positioned to capture the next phase of category growth as more shopping missions move to quick commerce,” it said.
Instamart’s net average order value was ₹691 in the June quarter, up from ₹612 a year earlier. Bisen said younger brands are useful to quick-commerce platforms not only because they tend to spend more on advertising, but also because their premium pricing can help drive larger basket sizes.
For challenger brands, the attraction is less about exclusivity than getting noticed.
