The Twenty Minute VC

Q-Commerce in Emerging Markets with the CEOs of Airlift, JOKR, & Zepto | 20VC #892

20VC: Quick Commerce in Emerging Markets: The Most Revealing Breakdown of Unit Economics; AOVs, Retention, Delivery Costs and more, Why The Business Model is Different for Emerging Markets & Will This Be a Market of Consolidation or Many Players ------------------------------------------------ Timestamps: 0:00 Aha moment for Airlift, JOKR, and Zepto 3:37 Why are emerging markets the best place for quick commerce? 9:45 Biggest challenges for emerging markets providers? 16:22 What makes a great site for a warehouse? 19:22 How do you think about procurement margins? 24:16 Picking Costs 30:56 Delivery Fees 37:34 Average Order Values 46:45 Advertising Revenue 1:00:19 Biggest misnomer about quick commerce? 1:01:04 Is this a market of many players? 1:02:10 What would you most like to change about Q-Commerce? 1:02:50 When will Q-Commerce businesses become free cash flow machines? 1:04:01 What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started? 1:05:07 Biggest difference between the West and emerging markets? ------------------------------------------------ Over the last 10 days, we have seen unprecedented levels of layoffs from some of the biggest quick commerce providers in the world from Getir to GoPuff to Zapp and Gorillas. Today we dive into the world of quick commerce in emerging markets to uncover what is the same and what is different about the model in emerging markets. Usman Gul is the Founder & CEO @ Airlift, one of the fastest-growing quick commerce providers in the world with core operations in Pakistan. Airlift has raised over $100M in funding from First Round, Josh Buckley, Sam Altman, and 20VC. Ralf Wenzel is the Founder & CEO @ JOKR, a unique provider in the quick commerce market with their dual operations in both the US and LATAM. They are one of the only providers to operate in both emerging and developed economies. To date, JOKR has raised over $288M from Softbank, Balderton, GGV, and Kaszek to name a few. Aadit Palicha is the Founder & CEO @ Zepto, they have taken the Indian quick commerce market by storm since their early days in YC. To date, Aadit has raised over $360M with Zepto from YC, Lachy Groom, Breyer Capital, and Rocket Internet to name a few. In Today’s Episode on Quick Commerce in Emerging Markets You Will Learn: 1.) Emerging Markets vs Developed Economies: Where is Quick Commerce Best? What are the single biggest benefits for quick commerce providers in emerging markets? What are the single biggest challenges of operating quick commerce companies in emerging markets as compared to developed economies? From a cost of goods and delivery perspective, what is the single biggest difference comparing operating in emerging markets? 2.) Warehouses, Picking and Delivery: The Economics Broken Down: What % of revenue does Zepto, Airlift and JOKR spend on average for new warehouses in mature markets? How does this change over time? How do they select warehouse locations? What % of revenue is picking costs for Zepto, Airlift and JOKR? What are some needle moving things that could reduce this picking cost? What % of revenue is delivery costs for Zepto, Airlift and JOKR? What levers can make this driver efficiency and delivery cost more efficient? What % of AOV does Airlift and Zepto charge for delivery? How does Zepto leverage power users to subsidize the delivery costs for newly acquired users? Why does JOKR not agree with charging delivery fees? How does charging delivery fees impact usage, frequency and AOV? 3.) Product Selection and Margins: Who Goods Have The Highest Margins? How do Zepto, Airlift and JOKR select the products they sell? How do the margins differ across different product categories? Why is fruit and vegetable the most important category for all three providers? What other metrics are heavily impacted by large spend on fruit and vegetable spend? 4.) AOV and Customer Spend: What is Good? What is the AOV for Airlift, JOKR and Zepto today? How do new markets compare to more mature markets? What are the drivers of the increase? Why does Zepto not believe that AOV is the right metric to be tracking? Why is gross profit per order the right metric to be tracking? 5.) Additional Business Models: Advertising: How much revenue does JOKR, Airlift and Zepto make from advertising revenue today? What can be done to increase this? How have JOKR been able to scale advertising revenue in such a short space of time? What has worked? What has not worked? How important is advertising revenue to the future sustainability of the business model? ------------------------------------------------ #UsmanGul #Airlift #RalfWenzel #JOKR #AaditPalicha #Zepto #quickcommerce #venturecapital #harrystebbings #20vc #Investing #businessadvice #qcommerce #business #startups #emergingmarkets

Ralf WenzelguestHarry StebbingshostUsman GulguestAadit Palichaguest

Jun 3, 20221h 6mWatch on YouTube ↗

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Emerging Market Q‑Commerce: High Density, Fresh Focus, Profitability Pathways Explained

Founders of Airlift (Pakistan), JOKR (LatAm), and Zepto (India) discuss how so‑called “quick commerce” in emerging markets is structurally different from Western counterparts and why unit economics can be far stronger. They attribute this to low labor costs, high population density, fragmented offline retail, and the ability to vertically integrate supply chains—especially in fresh categories. The conversation dives into warehouse strategy, picking and delivery costs, average order value (AOV), and new revenue streams like retail media. Overall, they argue Q‑commerce is really “e‑commerce 3.0,” with multiple viable models and clear paths to free cash flow if operators achieve deep operational excellence.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Emerging markets offer fundamentally better economics for Q‑commerce than developed markets.

Low wages, high urban density, and weak supermarket penetration allow higher order volumes per dark store, lower rent as a percentage of revenue, and faster paths to free cash flow than in the West.

Vertical integration and local procurement are core, not optional, capabilities.

In fragmented supply environments, relying on distributors or partner supermarkets doesn’t work; operators must build their own procurement, distribution centers, and farm‑to‑fork fresh chains to unlock 40–50% product margins.

Fresh categories are both the anchor for retention and the engine for margins.

Fruits, vegetables, meat, milk, and bakery drive very high frequency in markets where people already shop multiple times per week and can yield 40–50% buy‑sell margins if wastage and quality are tightly controlled.

AOV alone is a blunt metric; gross profit per order is the real north star.

A lower AOV with a high share of high‑margin fresh can be more attractive than a higher AOV dominated by packaged goods; founders now optimize for gross profit per order rather than basket size alone.

Operational excellence in labor efficiency and capacity planning determines cost structure.

Picking cost percentages are the output; input metrics like orders picked per hour, rider orders per hour, idle time, and order stacking are what materially move total picking+delivery cost toward ~7–10% of revenue.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

Density is destiny.

— Aadit (Zepto, quoting FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam and applying it to Q‑commerce)

In emerging markets, you have to be both a consumer‑facing company and a supplier and producer‑facing company at the same time.

— Ralf (JOKR)

The biggest misnomer about quick commerce is around challenging economics.

— Usman (Airlift)

This is not quick commerce—it is e‑commerce 3.0.

— Ralf (JOKR)

The north star to be focused on is gross profit per order, not AOV per order.

— Aadit (Zepto)

Origins and a‑ha moments behind Airlift, JOKR, and ZeptoAdvantages of emerging markets for Q‑commerce (density, labor, fragmented retail)Key operational challenges (infrastructure, fresh standardization, talent, supply chain build‑out)Warehousing, local procurement, and fresh category economicsPicking and last‑mile delivery costs, and levers to reduce themAOV vs. gross profit per order, and differing Q‑commerce models (10‑minute vs. 30‑minute)Retail media and brand monetization as a significant profit driver

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