To sell on Blinkit, Zepto or Swiggy Instamart, you apply through each platform's brand portal, get assigned a Category Manager, agree commercial terms, submit a catalogue, and then ship stock against purchase orders to the platform's warehouse. Registration is free on all three, but the platforms are selective, and none of them publishes a commission rate card. This guide walks through each step, what documents you need, and the mistakes that get brands rejected.
How quick commerce differs from Amazon and Flipkart
Amazon and Flipkart are open marketplaces. You register, list, and the platform lists you. Quick commerce does not work that way. Blinkit runs "a curated marketplace model" that "only onboards sellers who can maintain consistent product quality, stable inventory, and proper compliance". On Zepto, "you cannot directly list your products on Zepto through any dashboard"; a Category Manager handles terms and onboarding.
The operating model is different too. You do not ship to customers. The platform raises a purchase order, you deliver to its city warehouse, and stock is pushed to dark stores of roughly 1,000 to 3,000 sq ft inside residential areas. Your job is to service purchase orders in full and on time. The platform picks, packs and delivers.
That means you are really a vendor, not a seller. Payouts are typically twice a month, and the key metric the platform watches is fill rate: "when a purchase order lands, do you service it fully and on time".
Blinkit seller onboarding process
Brands apply at the Blinkit seller portal, seller.blinkit.com. Do not confuse this with partners.blinkit.com, which is for people who want to run a Blinkit dark store, not sell on it.
The reported flow is: submit business, brand and bank details; wait for verification and a Category Manager; sign the vendor agreement; add Blinkit's warehouse address to your GST registration as an Additional Place of Business(APOB); submit your catalogue through the New Product Introduction(NPI) sheet; receive your first purchase order; ship to the designated warehouse. Third-party guides put approval at 2 to 4 weeks with clean documents, or 20 to 45 days depending on category.
On fees: Blinkit does not publish a rate card. Agency guides report that there is no registration fee, and that new brands are onboarded on a Sale-or-Return(SOR) model with a refundable deposit of around ₹25,000 per SKU per cluster that is credited back as ad spend, plus per-unit inwarding, storage and fulfilment charges, while established brands move to outright purchase orders with no deposit. These figures come from third parties, vary between guides, and should be confirmed with your Category Manager before you sign anything.
Zepto seller onboarding process
Zepto's official brand page says: "Register to sell in 4 easy steps with valid GST, address, & bank details". Registration happens at brands.zepto.co.in, with the application itself at brands-onboarding.zepto.co.in.
After you register with mobile OTP and a business email, you submit brand details, category, turnover range and product portfolio. A Category Manager then reviews the application, and if you pass, you negotiate commercial terms, submit an NPI with images and SKU data, complete APOB registration for each state, and receive your first purchase order. One guide puts the realistic total at 3 to 6 weeks for a single city; another says verification alone often takes 30 to 45 days.
Zepto does not publish commission rates. Third-party guides quote anything from 8% to 25% depending on category, and one is blunt about it: "do not assume a public third-party number applies to your brand". Some new brands are reportedly asked for a refundable deposit of about ₹25,000. Treat that as unconfirmed.
Swiggy Instamart seller onboarding process
Instamart's brand portal is partner.instamart.in. Note that partner.swiggy.com is built for restaurants. Third-party guides also list an email route, instamart-brands@swiggy.in, and a form where you give company details, GST and PAN, your top three categories, existing online channels, turnover, and links to your top SKUs.
Reported steps after that are the same shape as Blinkit and Zepto: evaluation, commercial terms with a Category Manager, catalogue setup, dark store integration and a soft launch, over roughly 15 to 25 business days. One guide reports a launch package of ₹30,000 plus GST per SKU, split into ad credit and city coverage, capped at 15 SKUs and starting in Bengaluru, with an initial order of about 50 units per SKU. Swiggy has not published this, so verify it directly.
Documents checklist
The list is nearly identical across all three platforms:
- GST certificate, with the same legal name and address as every other document
- PAN card of the business
- Bank account in the business name, with a cancelled cheque
- Company registration or incorporation proof
- FSSAI licence for any food or drink; a central licence if you will sell in more than one state
- Trademark certificate if you own the brand, or a brand authorisation letter if you distribute someone else's
- Product catalogue with EAN(GS1) barcodes, MRP, HSN codes, shelf life, weight and dimensions
- APOB added to your GST registration for each state where the platform's warehouse will hold your stock
APOB is the one that catches people out. Without it, "Blinkit cannot raise purchase orders" and stock cannot be inwarded. Start it the day you are approved.
How to get your product accepted
Category Managers act as buyers, not support staff. They are looking for products that will sell fast from a small shelf. Things that help, according to several guides:
- Proven sell-through elsewhere. "Having a proven sell-through rate in another channel dramatically improves your chances".
- A short hero range. Launch with 5 to 10 SKUs, not the full catalogue; too many SKUs at launch is a common rejection reason.
- Impulse-friendly price points. Sub-₹500 packs are reported to work best on Zepto.
- Clean images. White background, brand name readable at thumbnail size, and for Zepto a picker-view image that shows brand name and barcode together.
- Margin headroom. Your pricing must survive commission, ad spend and logistics; thin economics are a reason to say no.
Stocking dark stores
Stock flows like this: you receive a purchase order, ship to the platform's central or mother warehouse for that city, the inwarding team checks packaging, quantity, barcodes and shelf life, and stock is then dispersed to dark stores, typically within 1 to 3 days. Products only go live once they are physically in dark stores. Zepto brands "ship to Zepto's central warehouses, not to individual dark stores".
Two rules matter. First, shelf life: guides report a minimum of 60% remaining life at inwarding or 90 to 120 days; confirm the rule for your category. Second, fill rate: aim for 95% or better, because a stock-out removes your product from the app and a poor fill rate stops future orders. Keep dedicated quick commerce stock, and keep 15 to 20 days of buffer at the warehouse.
Ads and promotions
All three platforms sell visibility, and it matters more than on Amazon, because a phone screen in a 10-minute app shows very few products. One guide estimates that the large majority of sales come from the first couple of rows of search results.
Reported formats include sponsored product or "product booster" placements in search, banner ads on home and category pages, brand recommendation slots, deal spotlights, combos and brand-funded coupons. Ad prices are not published. The launch deposits described above are usually returned to you as ad credit, so plan for ads from day one rather than treating them as optional.
Mistakes to avoid
- Name or address mismatches across GST, FSSAI, bank and trademark documents
- Using a state FSSAI licence when you plan to sell in several states
- Skipping APOB, which blocks purchase orders
- Non-GS1 or duplicate barcodes, and MRP on the listing that does not match the pack
- Lifestyle photography instead of product-forward images
- Pricing from a third-party commission number instead of the terms in your own agreement
- Under-stocking the first purchase order and missing the fill rate target that triggers the next one
FAQ
Is there a Blinkit seller onboarding fee? No registration fee is reported. Blinkit earns through commission and charges, and new brands are reportedly asked for a refundable deposit that comes back as ad credit. Blinkit does not publish these numbers, so confirm them with your Category Manager.
What commission do Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart charge? None of the three publishes a rate card. Third-party estimates range from single digits to about 25% depending on category, and they contradict each other. Terms are negotiated per brand and category.
Do I need FSSAI to sell on Blinkit or Zepto? Only for food and beverages. If you will sell in more than one state, guides advise a central FSSAI licence, because "state FSSAI license only covers the state it's issued in".
How long does onboarding take? Reported timelines are 2 to 6 weeks for a single city, and longer for multi-city launches because each state needs its own APOB. Delays are almost always caused by documents, not by the platform's queue.
Getting help
Quick commerce onboarding is paperwork, negotiation and supply discipline rolled together, and each platform's Category Manager will judge you on how well you handle all three. Blooprint Automation manages the full process for brands, from document preparation and APOB to NPI submission, purchase order servicing and ad management on Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart. See our quick commerce service at /services/quick-commerce/ if you would rather have it handled for you.