When Eternal’s quick commerce arm Blinkit hinted at moving to an inventory led model, the first reaction was this would increase its up front costs and put a lot of pressure on driving sales.

And earlier this week, reports indicated the platform has already informed sellers about the change. In this new inventory model, Blinkit will directly purchase goods from sellers, rather than facilitating third-party listings on its marketplace.

This is a key reason for Eternal’s recent cap table changes to become an Indian-owned-and-controlled company (IOCC). This allows the company regulatory room to own inventory. If true, it’ll be the second to do so in the Indian quick commerce space after Zepto.

Inventory Switch And Revenue Impact

Blinkit has until now operated under a marketplace model, which caps its take rate at just 18%, a figure that reflects only the value it creates as a platform, not the value of the goods themselves.

This has limited Blinkit’s ability to improve margins, negotiate favourable supplier terms, or meaningfully control pricing. Zepto, by contrast, runs an inventory model that allows it to book the full sale value, giving it a significantly higher take rate of about 23% and much greater margin control.

The change in take rates has a huge impact at Blinkit’s scale. With Blinkit’s expected gross order value (GOV) of INR 57,900 Cr for FY26, even a modest 50–110 basis point improvement in margin, enabled by owning inventory, could result in an incremental INR 290 Cr to INR 635 Cr in operating gains.

In a high competitive intensity segment like quick commerce, this additional cash can make a material difference.

At present, Blinkit’s current unit economics are unsustainable. According to a study, the platform’s customer acquisition cost (CAC) stands at INR 1,240, while customer lifetime value (CLV) is stuck at INR 890, meaning that adding new customers is eroding margins.

Compounding this is a churn rate of 47.35%, with over 60% of departing........

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