Eternal ramps ad spend to Rs 806 crore in Q2 as quick commerce marketing jumps 4x YoY

New Delhi: Eternal, the rebranded food and grocery delivery company formerly known as Zomato, leaned hard into marketing in Q2 FY26 as it chased share in quick commerce, even as profit softened. 

Consolidated advertising and sales promotion (A&P) rose to Rs 806 crore in the quarter, up from Rs 671 crore in Q1 and Rs 421 crore a year ago. 

That took H1 FY26 A&P to Rs 1,477 crore against Rs 817 crore in H1 FY25. 

On a standalone basis, A&P was Rs 464 crore in Q2, up from Rs 423 crore in Q1 and Rs 343 crore in Q2 FY25.

The company said the step-up reflects a deliberate push in quick commerce, where marketing spends were up about 4x year on year and 1.4x quarter on quarter to accelerate user acquisition and frequency. 

“Quick commerce NOV growth accelerated to 137% year on year and 27% quarter on quarter, the highest in the last ten quarters,” Founder Deepinder Goyal said, adding that 272 net new stores were added in Q2, taking the network to 1,816 stores by quarter end.

Consolidated net profit fell 63% year on year to Rs 65 crore in Q2 FY26. Eternal flagged non-comparability with Q2 last year due to the August 2024 acquisition of Orbgen Technologies and Wasteland Entertainment from One97 Communications. 

For H1 FY26, net profit was Rs 90 crore versus Rs 429 crore a year earlier. Total expenses in the half rose to Rs 21,246 crore.

Blinkit remained the growth engine. Quick commerce adjusted revenue rose to Rs 9,891 crore, up 756% year on year, with net order value at Rs 11,679 crore, up 137% year on year and 27% sequentially. 

Eternal said the shift to inventory ownership is nearly complete, with about 80% of NOV now on the own-inventory model. The transition weighed on allied businesses. CFO Akshant Goyal said Hyperpure revenue fell 55% quarter on quarter to Rs 1,023 crore, driven by a 94% decline in non-restaurant revenue to Rs 83 crore as supply moved to the quick commerce inventory model.

On taxes, the GST rate rationalisation effective September 22 lowered the average tax on a typical Blinkit basket by about 3 percentage points. Eternal expects a positive rub-off on demand from Q3 FY26. The company also noted a near-term drag on food delivery from 18% GST on delivery charges, which affects about 25% of orders where delivery is not free. “We have passed on this tax burden to customers, which had a slight negative impact on growth,” the CFO said. Blinkit delivery charges already include 18% GST, so there is no change on that front.

Eternal lifted its store expansion target. It now expects 2,100 stores by December 2025, up from 2,000 earlier. Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa expressed confidence in reaching 3,000 stores by March 2027. 

On the emergence of low-price food delivery apps like Toing and Ownly, Deepinder Goyal said Eternal would wait and watch. “The Zomato app should be able to solve for budget use cases without needing a new app,” he said, pointing to the lowered free-delivery threshold for Gold members to Rs 99 from Rs 199.

The company said the heavier A&P outlay is aligned to festive-season goals and category momentum. Management expects marketing intensity to support near-term growth while operational efficiencies and the inventory model scale up.