Blinkit, the quick commerce arm of food delivery major Zomato, has introduced an option to purchase items priced above Rs 2,999 on equated monthly instalments (EMI). This comes just a month after its rival Zepto offered early access to some users to its buy now pay later (BNPL) offering, Zepto Postpaid.
Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa announced the rollout of the EMI feature on X. “We believe this will improve affordability and enable better financial planning for our customers,” he said.
The EMI option will not be applicable if the total cart value, with more than one item, is Rs 2,999 or above. The EMI can be availed at an interest rate starting at 13% and on credit cards of seven banks: HDFC Bank, SBI Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, RBL Bank and CITI Bank.
This move is primarily aimed at letting customers make bigger purchases and improve the average order value (AOV). Moreover, it is being launched during the festive season when demand for costlier items for gifting increased.
Last month, Zepto gave some users instant interest-free checkout for bills up to Rs 5,000. Currently, it is offering customers to join the waitlist to get “exclusive early access”.
Notably, both the companies offer BNPL option via Simpl. Blinkit also partners with PayU’s LazyPay.
For the festive season, these q-comm platforms have been ramping up their dark stores and offering discounts to attract more users.
Blinkit has also partnered with several clothing brands and introduced a 10-minute return option in major cities. It is also moving to smaller cities to improve penetration.
Swiggy Instamart, another rival, has partnered with the smart lock screen platform Glance to enable one-tap purchases. In Delhi-NCR, it has also rolled out a 24*7 free delivery service.
With the q-comm space seeing tough competition but high customer interest, big e-commerce and retailers are also looking to enter. Flipkart has launched Flipkart Minutes in Bengaluru. Reliance Retail has also been looking to enter this business.
From: financialexpress
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