Quick Commerce Margins: What D2C Brands Should Audit

Why quick commerce margins behave differently

Quick commerce is not simply another marketplace channel. Depending on your agreement, the platform may buy stock from you on purchase orders, or you may operate on a different commercial arrangement. Confirm which model applies to each platform in your signed agreement, because it decides which costs show up as deductions and which are built into your invoice price.

Three features make margin harder to read than on a typical fashion or beauty marketplace:

• Many small, fast-moving orders mean small per-unit errors multiply quickly.
• City and dark store level operations create shortages, damages and expiry issues that vary by location.
• Visibility is often paid for, through ads or promotional programmes, so a good sales month can hide a weak contribution margin.

The cost lines between selling price and net receipt

Before judging whether a platform is profitable, list every line that reduces what you finally receive. Not every line applies to every platform or agreement.

• Platform margin or commission as set in your agreement or rate card.
• Promotional co-funding, where you share the cost of consumer discounts.
• Advertising and visibility spend, billed separately or netted off.
• Freight and handling to the platform's warehouses or dark stores.
• Damages, shortages, expiry and return-to-vendor adjustments.
• Other charges such as listing, data, penalties or compliance fees, if your terms include them.
• Payment terms, since longer credit days raise your working capital cost even when the margin looks fine.
• Tax treatment on invoices and settlements. Check current GST and any applicable TCS or TDS rules with your tax adviser.

Where to find the numbers you need

Never rely on a rate someone quoted in a call or an old email. Use documents that can be traced.

If a rate is not clearly written down anywhere, that is itself a finding. Ask the account manager to confirm it in writing.

A fee audit routine for every settlement cycle

1. Match sales to settlements. Reconcile purchase orders, invoices and payments so you know what has been paid, short-paid or not yet paid.
2. Check each deduction against terms. Compare margin, co-funding and charges with the agreement and any written scheme.
3. Verify quantity differences. Review shortages, rejections and damages against your dispatch and delivery records.
4. Tag disputed items. Record the amount, reason, evidence and claim deadline for each one.
5. Follow up on recoveries. Track every claim until it is credited or formally closed.
6. Recalculate SKU margin. Use actual net receipts, not the planned price list.

Claim windows differ by platform and agreement, so confirm the latest timelines in your contract and do not leave disputes for quarter-end.

Common margin leaks in quick commerce

• Scheme mismatch: a promotion ends but deductions continue, or the share charged differs from what was agreed.
• Short receipts: units dispatched are not fully accepted, and the difference is not documented.
• Expiry and damage write-offs: short-shelf-life stock is deducted without clear proof or batch details.
• Ad costs without matching sales: spend rises in cities where your sell-through is weak.
• Late or partial payments: money is released later than agreed, with no follow-up.
• SKU imbalance: a few fast SKUs carry the margin while slow ones quietly lose money.

Building a margin view you can trust

A usable view is built by SKU, platform and, where data allows, city. Start with the invoice value, subtract each deduction from the settlement, then subtract product cost. Anything you cannot assign to a SKU should be allocated using a method you document and apply consistently.

Doing this in spreadsheets works at small volume but gets heavy as SKUs and cities grow. MarketplaceMetrics by Fundle reconciles marketplace sales and settlements, checks commissions and fees against agreed terms, and tracks returns and recovery cases. It currently reviews Myntra Excel reports, and other marketplaces, including quick commerce platforms, are a matter for scope discussion.