Swiggy’s reported advertising expenditure of ₹1,298 crore in the second quarter of FY2026–27 highlights the scale of investment required to compete in India’s food-delivery and quick-commerce markets. The company is spending to attract new customers, encourage repeat orders and strengthen its position against rivals, even as its grocery-delivery business, Instamart, continues to absorb substantial losses.
Swiggy’s broader quarterly results show revenue from operations rising 36% year on year to ₹7,571 crore, while its consolidated net loss narrowed to ₹922 crore from ₹1,092 crore in the year-ago quarter. However, Instamart reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of ₹895 crore as the company invested in pricing, marketing and warehouse expansion. The figures underline the challenge of turning rapid customer and order growth into sustainable profitability.
Key Takeaways
- Advertising expenditure: Storyboard18 reported ₹1,298 crore in advertising spending for Q2 FY27.
- Revenue growth: Swiggy’s operating revenue rose 36% to ₹7,571 crore.
- Net loss: Consolidated loss narrowed to ₹922 crore from ₹1,092 crore a year earlier.
- Instamart losses: The quick-commerce business reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of ₹895 crore.
- Food delivery strength: The food-delivery business recorded adjusted EBITDA of ₹341 crore, its highest to date.
- Dark-store expansion: Instamart added 69 dark stores, taking its network to 1,240 across 133 cities.
- Strategic challenge: Swiggy must balance customer acquisition and expansion with improving unit economics.
1. Why Is Swiggy Spending So Much on Advertising?
Swiggy operates in a market where customer attention, order frequency and delivery convenience are critical competitive advantages. Advertising helps the company reach new users, encourage existing customers to order more frequently and promote categories such as restaurant meals, groceries and everyday essentials.
The reported ₹1,298 crore expenditure reflects the importance of marketing in a business that must continually compete for consumer spending. Food-delivery platforms use promotional campaigns, discounts, brand advertising and targeted offers to influence where customers place their orders.
Quick commerce adds another layer of competition. Platforms promise rapid delivery of groceries and household products, making availability, pricing and convenience central to customer retention. Advertising can help communicate these benefits, particularly when a company enters new locations or expands its product assortment.
However, marketing spending does not automatically produce profitable growth. The value of an advertising campaign depends on whether the customers it attracts place repeat orders, spend enough to cover fulfilment costs and remain active after promotional incentives decline.
For Swiggy, the key question is whether its investment can generate sustainable customer demand rather than relying on continued high spending to maintain order volumes.
2. Swiggy Q2 FY27 Results: Revenue Rises 36%
Swiggy reported a sharp increase in operating revenue in the quarter ended September 30, 2026. The growth reflects expansion across its food-delivery and quick-commerce businesses, although the company remains loss-making at the consolidated level.
| Financial metric | Q2 FY27 | Q2 FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue from operations | ₹7,571 crore | ₹5,561 crore |
| Consolidated net loss | ₹922 crore | ₹1,092 crore |
| Total expenses | ₹8,703 crore | ₹6,711 crore |
| Revenue growth | 36% | — |
Source: Moneycontrol and company results reported on October 22, 2026.
Revenue increased by approximately ₹2,010 crore year on year, while the consolidated net loss narrowed by ₹170 crore. Total expenses, however, rose by nearly 30% to ₹8,703 crore.
The figures indicate that Swiggy is growing its business while continuing to carry significant costs associated with operating and expanding its platforms. These include fulfilment, delivery, technology, employee expenses, marketing and the infrastructure needed to support quick commerce.
The narrower net loss is an improvement compared with the previous year, but it does not establish that Swiggy has reached sustainable profitability. Investors will need to assess whether the company can continue growing revenue without allowing operating expenses to increase at a similar pace.
3. Instamart’s ₹895 Crore Adjusted EBITDA Loss
Instamart remains one of Swiggy’s biggest investment priorities and a major source of pressure on profitability.
The quick-commerce business reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of ₹895 crore for Q2 FY27, according to Reuters. Spending on pricing, marketing and warehouse expansion contributed to the pressure.
Quick-commerce platforms typically operate networks of dark stores: small fulfilment centres designed to store frequently purchased products close to customers. These facilities help speed up deliveries but require investment in property, inventory, employees, technology and logistics.
| Instamart indicator | Q2 FY27 |
|---|---|
| Net order value | ₹6,954 crore |
| Year-on-year net order value growth | 31.4% |
| Adjusted EBITDA loss | ₹895 crore |
| Dark stores added during the quarter | 69 |
| Total dark stores | 1,240 |
| Cities covered | 133 |
The network expansion gives Instamart greater reach and potentially improves delivery convenience. Yet each additional location must generate enough orders and contribution to justify its operating costs.
Promotional pricing can help attract customers, but excessive discounting may reduce the amount earned per order. Swiggy therefore faces the challenge of growing order volumes while improving margins and controlling fulfilment expenses.
The ₹895 crore adjusted EBITDA loss is a segment-level operating measure. It should not be confused with Swiggy’s consolidated net loss, which also reflects the performance and expenses of its other businesses.
4. Food Delivery Provides a More Positive Picture
While Instamart remains loss-making, Swiggy’s food-delivery business delivered stronger profitability.
Reuters reported adjusted EBITDA of ₹341 crore for the food-delivery segment, equivalent to approximately ₹3.41 billion. The business benefited from increased advertising revenue and improved delivery efficiency.
Food delivery has a different operating model from quick commerce. Its platform connects customers with restaurants and delivery partners, while revenue can come from commissions, platform fees, advertising and related services.
Advertising is particularly important because restaurants may pay to improve their visibility within the app. This can create a revenue stream for Swiggy that is distinct from the marketing expenditure the company incurs to promote its own platform.
The food-delivery segment’s profitability provides a more stable part of the business as Swiggy invests in Instamart and other growth initiatives. The challenge is ensuring that investments in newer businesses do not overwhelm the profits generated by established operations.
5. Advertising Spending and the Cost of Customer Acquisition
Advertising is a significant expense for consumer-facing technology platforms, but the reported amount needs to be interpreted carefully.
Storyboard18 reported advertising spending of ₹1,298 crore for the quarter. Separately, Swiggy’s reported expense breakdown lists advertising and sales promotion as a distinct accounting line. The figures may reflect different classifications or definitions, so they should not automatically be treated as identical measures.
For investors, the important issue is how advertising spending relates to customer acquisition, order growth and long-term contribution margins.
Three indicators are particularly useful:
- Customer acquisition cost: How much the company spends to attract a new active customer.
- Repeat-order behaviour: Whether customers continue ordering after introductory offers and campaigns end.
- Contribution margin: How much remains from each order after directly attributable costs and incentives.
If marketing brings in customers who order repeatedly, the spending may create long-term value. If customers primarily respond to discounts and switch platforms when promotions change, the return on advertising may be weaker.
Swiggy’s future disclosures on order frequency, active users, advertising revenue and segment profitability will help investors evaluate the effectiveness of its spending.
6. What the Results Mean for Swiggy’s Strategy
Swiggy is attempting to grow several interconnected businesses at once. Its food-delivery platform provides an established customer base, while Instamart offers an opportunity to capture spending on groceries and daily essentials.
The strategy could increase the frequency with which customers use Swiggy’s services. However, it also requires investment in marketing, delivery infrastructure, technology and fulfilment capacity.
Competition remains intense, particularly in quick commerce, where rivals are expanding dark-store networks and competing on assortment, delivery speed and prices. Swiggy must decide how much capital to allocate to growth and how quickly it expects new locations to become economically viable.
The company’s narrower consolidated loss is encouraging, but Instamart’s operating losses show that the path to profitability remains difficult. A sustainable strategy will require revenue growth to translate into better margins rather than relying indefinitely on promotional spending and network expansion.
The Bigger Picture
Swiggy’s reported advertising expenditure reflects the high cost of building consumer platforms in competitive digital markets. Advertising can increase brand visibility and order frequency, but its value depends on whether customers remain active and whether the revenue they generate covers marketing, delivery and other operating costs.
The company’s Q2 FY27 results reveal two different business dynamics: food delivery is generating stronger profitability, while Instamart is still investing heavily to expand. Swiggy’s long-term performance will depend on improving quick-commerce unit economics, sustaining customer demand and ensuring that the cost of acquiring and serving customers does not rise faster than the value they generate.
FAQs
1. How much did Swiggy spend on advertising in Q2 FY27?
Storyboard18 reported advertising expenditure of ₹1,298 crore for the July–September 2026 quarter. The amount should be distinguished from separately reported accounting categories such as advertising and sales promotion.
2. What was Swiggy’s Q2 FY27 net loss?
Swiggy reported a consolidated net loss of ₹922 crore, down from ₹1,092 crore in the same quarter a year earlier.
3. How much did Instamart lose in Q2 FY27?
Instamart reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of ₹895 crore, reflecting continued investment in pricing, marketing and expansion.
4. Is Swiggy’s food-delivery business profitable?
Yes. Reuters reported adjusted EBITDA of ₹341 crore for food delivery, marking the segment’s highest profit to date.
5. Why is Swiggy continuing to invest in advertising?
Advertising can attract new users, encourage repeat orders and promote services across food delivery and quick commerce. The long-term benefit depends on customer retention and whether the resulting revenue covers the costs of serving those customers.
Looking Ahead
Swiggy’s next results will show whether its advertising investment is producing sustained customer engagement and whether Instamart can improve its operating economics as its dark-store network grows. Revenue growth, order frequency, marketing efficiency and segment-level margins will be important indicators to watch.
The company’s food-delivery profitability provides a foundation for its wider strategy, but quick commerce remains a costly expansion opportunity. Swiggy will need to demonstrate that its spending can produce durable demand and better unit economics if it is to convert rapid growth into consistent consolidated profitability.
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