In recent days, Eternal and Swiggy saw market cap accretion of ₹30,000 crore. The rally has been, ironically, led by the troubles that Zepto is currently facing, and a delay in its proposed IPO plans.
Running rough with regulators
The CEO Zepto was quick to blame the CFO of one of its competitors. However, that was not material. The fact was that an FDA investigation found major lapses in the hygiene and safety standards at its Dharavi facility. This pertained to the quick food service offered by Zepto, so the allegations become serious. FDA has put zepto ipo share price a ban on the continuation of the Dharavi dark store and it closely looking at other locations. Clearly, in a rush to meet customer demands on time, safety and hygiene had gone for a big toss.
Dark patterns irks customers
In the online ecommerce world, that is a practice that is not much spoken about; called dark patterns. These are practices used to push higher sales to customers, and quite often customers are not even aware of the same. For example, a push to unwanted products or membership deals that people do not realize, are all cases in point. In the case of Zepto, the common dark patterns noted are subtle direction to products, subtle customer shaming, applying peer group pressure, packaging products, not living up to the promised standards are all issues. That is out in the open at the Redditt forums.
Vendors discomfort adds up
One can argue that some of the issues exist across ecommerce players. For example, zepto ipo launch date dark patterns and delays in payments to vendors are common. That is because; ecommerce players try to operate on negative working capital to offset huge marketing and manpower cash burn that these companies incur. The problem arises when it becomes acute. In the case of Zepto, there were a slew of complaints from vendors and even lessors about inordinate delays in payment, causing substantial working capital challenges for their models. The complaints from vendors and customers have been most pronounced at Zepto, and perception is comparative, after all.
Where does Zepto go from here?
For now, the IPO has been put off from 2025 to the second half of 2026. Market reports suggest that even if the DRHP is filed this year, it is unlikely that Zepto would nse go for an IPO, unless perception issues are fully sorted out. The good news for Zepto is that the market is big and growing; and can accommodate 3 big players easily. However, run-ins with regulators, customer dissatisfaction, and vendor issues are not a good amalgam for any start-up planning an IPO. In food and finance, the business thrives and survives on customer trust. The mandate is to resolve these issues and Zepto IPO also win battle of customer perception. That would pave the road for IPO!
