RocketBees now handles 40% of FirstCry's online shipments, up from 28% a year ago. This signals an aggressive push for control over its supply chain, directly challenging third-party logistics and quick commerce players. The move aims to cut costs and improve delivery times as margin pressure intensifies.
How We Got Here
FirstCry began piloting its Qwik 3-hour delivery service in Q3 FY26, leveraging existing COCO stores. RocketBees, its in-house logistics arm, rapidly expanded from 22 cities in Q3 FY26 to 62 cities in Q4 FY26 to reduce reliance on third-party partners.
The Numbers
- RocketBees expects to account for 10% of FirstCry's revenue by year-end.
- Qwik is now operational in five cities, including Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad, handling over 20% of orders in select pincodes.
- FirstCry's India multi-channel business gross margin declined by 140 basis points due to aggressive diaper discounting.
- CEO Supam Maheshwari forecasts "irrational discounts" in the diapering category to persist for 4-6 quarters.
- GlobalBees reported core category revenue of ₹1,876.8 crore in FY26, growing 28% year-on-year.
What Happens Next
🇮🇳 Why This Matters for India
For D2C founders in the baby care sector, the intense discounting pressure in categories like diapers highlights the fierce competition from quick commerce in metro cities.
The Take
Quick commerce players like Zepto and Swiggy Instamart are winning the price war on diapers, forcing FirstCry into a cost-cutting logistics game. Expect FirstCry's "irrational discounts" prediction to hold — this margin compression is a feature, not a bug, of hyper-competitive quick commerce.
Source:
MediaNama ↗