Why Gramiyaa Had To Think Like A Supermarket To Win On Quick Commerce

by · Inc42

SUMMARY

  • Quick commerce has become Gramiyaa's largest revenue channel, contributing 35% of its business, despite high platform commissions, advertising costs and initial losses
  • Gramiyaa's journey shows how smaller D2C brands can compete with FMCG giants by focussing on sales velocity, product availability and smarter inventory allocation
  • The cold-pressed oil brand adopted a supermarket-style approach, prioritising fewer SKUs, city-level demand and pricing discipline to scale its quick-commerce business
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It would be naive to think that getting listed on quick commerce platforms is half the battle won. If anything, that’s where the real battle begins. Building sales velocity, keeping products in stock, managing sky-high platform costs, and, believe it or not, we have barely peered into the abyss.

Gramiyaa, a premium cold-pressed edible oil brand, learnt this the hard way when it boarded the quick commerce bandwagon through Blinkit in 2024.

The first hurdle was affordability. When Gramiyaa finally made it onto quick commerce platforms, it found itself paying nearly twice the commission its national competitors paid. For a small brand already operating on razor-thin margins, that was a steep price to pay just to get a foot in the door.

On top of that, the brand had to set aside a hefty advertising budget, only to burn through it while learning the ropes and figuring out how to make the channel work.

After weathering several battles, including pricing wars between platforms, Gramiyaa has managed to turn the tables. Today, quick commerce is its largest revenue contributor, accounting for 35% of its ₹5 Cr monthly recurring revenue (MRR).

So, how did Gramiyaa navigate these hurdles and turn quick commerce from a costly gamble into its biggest revenue driver?   

In an exclusive conversation for The Quick Commerce Code by Inc42 and Nitro Commerce, Gramiyaa cofounder Mohamed Yaseen shed light on what worked for the brand, how it managed to bring down platform commissions, and the dos and don’ts for emerging D2C brands looking to crack quick commerce.

Why Gramiyaa Had To Look Beyond Its D2C Playbook

Founded by three friends, Mohamed Yaseen, Naveenrajamaran RL and Sibi Manivannan, Gramiyaa’s journey began in 2018 as a local offline business.  

Manivannan’s grandfather ran an oil mill, and Manivannan wanted to breathe new life into the family business, which sold unbranded oil in PET bottles through five to six retail shops in Chennai.

While these shops brought in ₹15-20 Lakh a month, high rents and operating costs ate into the earnings. Besides, each store could only cater to customers in its immediate neighbourhood, leaving little room for growth.