Eternal Limited (formerly Zomato Limited) has reported impressive growth in its quick commerce business, Blinkit, for Q2FY26. The company's earnings conference call on October 16, 2025, revealed significant developments and strategic initiatives across its various business segments.

Quick Commerce Surge

Blinkit, Eternal's quick commerce arm, witnessed a remarkable 137% year-over-year growth in Net Order Value (NOV). This surge in growth has prompted the company to accelerate its expansion plans. Eternal aims to increase its store count from the current 1,800 to 2,100 by December 2025, with a longer-term goal of reaching 3,000 stores by March 2027.

Marketing Spend and Customer Acquisition

To fuel this growth, Eternal has significantly ramped up its marketing efforts. The company reported a 4x year-over-year increase in marketing spend for Blinkit, with a 40% quarter-over-quarter rise. This aggressive strategy is aimed at acquiring new customers at what the company considers to be reasonable costs.

Albinder Singh Dhindsa, Founder and CEO of Blinkit, stated, "What we are seeing right now is that there are new consumers out there in the market, and if we are targeting them, we are able to onboard them at a reasonable marketing cost."

Inventory Model Transition

Eternal has made significant progress in transitioning Blinkit to an inventory-led model, with 80% of the quick commerce business now operating under this approach. The company plans to increase this to 90% in the near future. This shift has already yielded positive results, with gross margins expanding by 300 basis points.

Akshant Goyal, Chief Financial Officer of Eternal Limited, explained, "The overall margin expansion is not just on account of this business model change. There is actually a meaningful margin expansion outside of that also."

Food Delivery Business

While the quick commerce segment showed robust growth, the food delivery business experienced more modest expansion. Eternal reported a 14% growth in this segment, with the company expecting a slow uptick in growth rates in the near term.

Financial Performance Overview

Here's a summary of Eternal Limited's key financial metrics for Q2FY26:

Future Outlook

Eternal Limited remains optimistic about its growth trajectory, particularly in the quick commerce sector. The company plans to maintain elevated marketing spend in the near term, seeing opportunities to onboard new customers cost-effectively.

Akshant Goyal commented on the future outlook, stating, "FY27 should be better than FY26, in terms of losses in the business. That's how I would put it without really pinpointing a particular quarter, but it should happen in the next few quarters."

As Eternal Limited continues to navigate the dynamic e-commerce landscape, its focus on expanding its quick commerce footprint and optimizing its business model positions the company for potential continued growth in the coming quarters.

Eternal Limited , a prominent company in its sector, has recently received a significant GST demand order from the Uttar Pradesh tax authorities. The order, issued by the Deputy Commissioner, State Tax, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, pertains to alleged discrepancies in tax payments for the fiscal year 2023-2024.

Details of the GST Demand

The tax authority has raised concerns over two primary issues:

1. Short payment of output tax
2. Excess availment of input tax credit

The financial implications of this order are substantial, as outlined in the table below:

Timeline and Company's Response

• Date of Order Receipt: 18 October 2023
• Period Under Scrutiny: April 2023 to March 2024

Eternal Limited has stated that it believes it has a strong case on merits. The company plans to file an appeal against the order, indicating its intention to contest the tax authority's claims.

Potential Impact

Despite the substantial amount involved, Eternal Limited has expressed confidence in its position. The company anticipates no financial impact due to this matter, suggesting a high level of certainty in its ability to successfully challenge the order.

Implications and Next Steps

This development highlights the ongoing scrutiny of GST compliance by tax authorities. For Eternal Limited, the immediate next step will be to file an appeal against the order. The outcome of this appeal could have significant implications not only for the company but also for other businesses operating in Uttar Pradesh and potentially across India.

Investors and stakeholders of Eternal Limited will likely be watching closely as this situation unfolds, particularly focusing on:

1. The grounds on which the company plans to contest the order
2. The timeline for the appeal process
3. Any potential short-term financial provisions the company might make in response to this demand

As the situation develops, more details may emerge regarding the specific nature of the alleged discrepancies and the company's defense strategy.