Instamart bets on exclusive SKUs with Switch to Better
Swiggy is building products that exist only on Instamart, pairing large FMCG names, challenger brands and its own private labels. For brands, the unit of exclusivity is the SKU, not the company.
- Switch to Better makes exclusivity SKU level rather than brand level, including multiple high protein oat variants built for Instamart.
- Swiggy is promoting its own private label in categories such as eggs inside the same exclusivity programme.
- Some brands offer exclusive pricing on Instamart rather than an exclusive product.
- CFO Rahul Bothra said Swiggy expects overall cash break-even within the next two quarters.
Swiggy has laid out how it intends to differentiate Instamart, and the answer is products you cannot buy anywhere else. The programme is called Switch to Better. It brings together large FMCG companies, challenger brands and Swiggy’s own private labels to develop products available only on the platform.
The detail that matters is the unit of exclusivity. It is the SKU, not the brand. A company can keep its full range in general trade and on its own site while building one variant that lives only on Instamart. Swiggy pointed to multiple high protein oat variants developed for the platform. In some cases the exclusivity is on price rather than product, with brands offering a rate available only there. In categories such as eggs, Swiggy is promoting its own private label.
Management said the mix is decided category by category, working with established FMCG brands, emerging direct to consumer companies or in house labels depending on the segment. New businesses are assessed for product market fit and business market fit before scale, with an expectation of clear unit economics rather than continued capital support. Separately, Chief Financial Officer Rahul Bothra said Swiggy expects overall cash break-even within the next two quarters. More detail is promised at an upcoming investor day.
For a brand, the calculation is not the listing cost. It is who ends up owning the demand signal. An exclusive SKU means its search volume, review base, repeat cohort and price elasticity all sit inside Swiggy. You give up the ability to run the same pack elsewhere, which is the only clean way to learn whether the product is working or the placement is working.
The second point is who sits on the other side of the table. Swiggy’s private labels are part of the same programme. A brand negotiating exclusivity in a category where Swiggy already runs a label is handing category data to a future competitor. Pick categories with no in house label, insist the exclusive is a real format or pack variant rather than a discount, and put a term and an exit clause on the exclusivity window. A pricing exclusive is a rate cut with a lock-in attached.
Zane’s analysis draws on original reporting by Entrackr. Read the original report.