Blinkit to launch Urban Company-like vertical for home services: Report

Blinkit is planning to launch a new vertical to offer Urban Company-like services—including plumbing, electrician, beautician, and electronics repair—as it looks to diversify its revenue streams.

The service is expected to be live in the coming weeks, news portal Entrackr reported. It is not known if it will be integrated within Blinkit's app itself.

YourStory is awaiting response sent to Blinkit and will update this report accordingly.

The new vertical will put Blinkit in direct competition with Tiger Global-backed Urban Company.

Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal has also resigned as an independent director in Urban Company's Board to avoid a potential conflict of interest. He was appointed to UC's Board in March 2022.

Blinkit has set up a new team from the group's existing employees as well as hired workforce from other companies to launch the new vertical. It will also attempt to fulfill the service within 10-15 minutes like its grocery vertical, according to the report.

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The move comes as Blinkit attempts to find alternate streams of revenue at a time when quick commerce struggles to keep up with the high cash burn.

In the third quarter of FY22, Blinkit registered a 21% year-on-year growth in order volume. The average order value (AOV), however, fell marginally to Rs 553 from Rs 568.

"The slight downward pressure on AOVs might be a result of the slowdown where customers are preferring to buy smaller packs instead of larger ones," said Albinder Dhindsa, Founder and CEO of Blinkit, previously known as Grofers. He, however, said the third quarter was the highest ever in terms of new and returning customers, without divulging numbers.