Swiggy spends ₹1,160 crore on advertising in Q1

Swiggy narrowed its consolidated loss by 34 per cent year-on-year during the June quarter as stronger food delivery margins, improving quick commerce economics and higher monetisation offset continued investments in expansion. Even as the company stepped up advertising and promotional spending to ₹1,160 crore, improving unit economics across businesses signalled that profitability is gradually becoming more sustainable.

The food and quick commerce platform reported a consolidated net loss of ₹791 crore for the first quarter of FY27, compared with ₹1,197 crore a year earlier. Revenue from operations rose 37.3 per cent to ₹6,812 crore, while total expenses increased 25 per cent to ₹7,813 crore. Advertising, sales and promotional expenses climbed nearly 12 per cent year-on-year to ₹1,160 crore as Swiggy continued investing in customer acquisition and brand visibility amid fierce competition in quick commerce.

Food delivery strengthens profitability

Food delivery remained Swiggy's strongest earnings contributor during the quarter, with revenue from operations rising 22.6 per cent year-on-year to ₹2,208 crore. Gross Order Value (GOV) increased 17.4 per cent to ₹9,490 crore, while adjusted EBITDA improved by ₹100 crore year-on-year to ₹292 crore as operating leverage continued to improve.

Instamart edges closer to sustainable growth

Instamart remained the company's fastest-growing business, with revenue from operations increasing 52.8 per cent to ₹1,232 crore and GOV rising 39.8 per cent to ₹7,907 crore. The business reached contribution break-even in May, with contribution margin improving 440 basis points to minus 0.2 per cent, while adjusted EBITDA losses narrowed by ₹80 crore sequentially to ₹778 crore.

Management said higher monetisation, wider assortment, larger basket sizes and growing advertising revenue supported the improvement in profitability, suggesting the platform is increasingly generating incremental earnings beyond delivery commissions.

Retail media gains importance

Swiggy's results underline the growing importance of retail media within digital commerce. As restaurant partners, consumer brands and sellers increasingly pay for sponsored listings and in-app visibility, advertising is emerging as one of the platform's highest-margin revenue streams. While the company did not separately disclose advertising revenue for the quarter, management identified advertising as one of the key factors improving monetisation within Instamart, alongside scale efficiencies and product mix improvements.

Beyond deliveries

The company's out-of-home consumption business continued to scale profitably, with revenue increasing to ₹126 crore from ₹77 crore a year earlier and GOV rising 44.8 per cent year-on-year. Monthly transacting users grew 27.4 per cent to 27.5 million, while budget-focused food delivery offering Toing expanded to 50 cities, with two out of every three new users either joining Swiggy for the first time or returning after being inactive.

Separate filings also show Swiggy continues allocating substantial capital towards technology, cloud infrastructure, brand marketing and quick commerce expansion, indicating that management remains focused on strengthening its platform and advertising ecosystem while pursuing long-term profitability.