Zomato food delivery remains Eternal’s profit engine as Blinkit drives revenue

Zomato’s food-delivery business posted ₹606 crore adjusted EBITDA in Q1 FY27, versus Blinkit’s ₹102 crore, despite quick commerce contributing ₹15,664 crore of Eternal’s ₹20,211 crore consolidated revenue. Rising platform fees, commissions and advertising are underpinning delivery margins.

— Source publishedFri, 24 Jul, 2026, 17:51 IST·First seen Fri, 24 Jul, 2026, 18:25 IST·Source Inc42

What happened

Zomato’s food-delivery unit remains Eternal’s key profit engine despite Blinkit leading revenue. The analysis highlights commissions, platform fees, advertising

Key facts

  • Q1 FY27 food-delivery revenue: ₹3,100 Cr
  • Eternal Q1 FY27 consolidated revenue: ₹20,211 Cr
  • Zomato food delivery share of consolidated revenue: 15.3%
  • Blinkit Q1 FY27 revenue: ₹15,664 Cr
  • Zomato food-delivery adjusted EBITDA: ₹606 Cr
  • Blinkit adjusted EBITDA: ₹102 Cr
  • Zomato EBITDA margin on net order value: 5.6%
  • Blinkit EBITDA margin on net order value: 0.6%
  • Zomato adjusted EBITDA grew from ₹912 Cr in FY24 to ₹2,079 Cr in FY26
  • Q1 FY27 operating profit: ₹621 Cr
  • Q1 FY27 revenue growth: 13% QoQ and 37% YoY
  • Quarterly food-delivery order value: over ₹10,700 Cr
  • Monthly transacting customers: over 27.2 Mn
  • Active restaurant partners: over 3.28 lakh
  • Platform fee increased from ₹2 per order in August 2023 to ₹14.9 in most major cities
  • Cumulative platform-fee revenue since 2023: about ₹995 Cr
  • Q1 FY27 platform-fee revenue: ₹154 Cr
  • Blinkit added 200 net dark stores in Q1 FY27, reaching 2,443
  • Eternal Q1 FY27 advertising spend: ₹945 Cr
  • Consolidated delivery and related charges rose 68.5% YoY to ₹3,150 Cr

Why this matters

Potential partners and acquisition targets should view Eternal as a two-speed platform: a profitable food-delivery cash generator alongside a rapidly scaling, still investment-heavy quick-commerce business.

What to watch

  • Food-delivery adjusted EBITDA margin sustaining above 5% despite fee increases and competitive promotions.
  • Blinkit EBITDA margin progression, especially mature versus newly opened dark-store cohorts.
  • Dark-store additions, same-store order growth, average order value and delivery-cost trends.
  • Restaurant commission/advertising spend growth, merchant churn, and public complaints about platform economics.
  • Changes in customer order frequency or discount intensity after platform-fee increases.
  • Competitive actions from Swiggy, Zepto and other quick-commerce operators, particularly dark-store expansion and price subsidies.
  • Increase food-delivery advertising and premium placement products for restaurants, where incremental margins are high.
  • Push platform-fee and delivery-fee optimization by city, distance, demand period and customer cohort.
  • Prioritize Blinkit dark-store additions in dense micro-markets with faster payback rather than broad geographic expansion.
  • Use food-delivery customer data, loyalty benefits and cross-app offers to lower Blinkit customer-acquisition costs.
  • Frame consolidated investor guidance around contribution profit and mature-store economics rather than revenue alone.

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