How Dmart, Blinkit, and Quick Commerce Are Rewriting FMCG Careers
- Maneesh Konkar
- Nov 20
- 3 min read
If you’re a marketing student, a freshly minted MBA, or an industry professional in FMCG, now is your time to embrace change. Gone are the days when knowing how to hustle through general trade and build retail relationships was all it took. Today, Dmart, Blinkit, Zepto, Instamart, and e-commerce giants like Amazon are flipping the FMCG career playbook, forcing a bold new set of skills for every ambitious marketer.
The Big Disruption: From Kirana Dominance to Multichannel Chaos
Not too long ago, general trade (your friendly neighborhood Kirana stores) accounted for 90% of an FMCG brand’s sales. Modern trade and e-commerce barely made a dent. But the tide has shifted dramatically—today, modern trade, e-commerce, and quick commerce command up to 31% of national FMCG sales. If you’re not learning to ride this wave, your career risks getting washed up on the shore.
This isn’t just numbers on paper. It means the way products are sold, promoted, and distributed has completely transformed. Instead of hundreds of tiny retailers, power has concentrated in the hands of a few big-format chains and tech platforms that demand a whole different marketing approach.
What Does This Mean for Your FMCG Career Skill Set?
Negotiation at Scale: In modern trade, you aren’t just convincing a mom-and-pop store owner; you’re negotiating with buyers at giants like Dmart and Reliance who command bulk orders. Your communication needs to be sharper, your data-backed arguments bulletproof.
Mastering Digital Merchandising: In e-commerce and quick commerce, the art of the deal is digital. You need to know how to run platform ads, optimize product listings, and fight for search visibility. It also means understanding how different platforms set their own category focus—one quarter, biscuits may trend on Zepto, the next, cosmetics on Blinkit.
Managing Channel Conflict: It’s a classic case of your own channels competing against each other. Dmart’s prices sometimes undercut even your distributor’s rates. The solution? Unique SKUs for each platform, careful promo planning, and laser focus on channel-specific strategy.
Category and Shopper Marketing: Quick commerce thrives on pushing higher value and impulse products to boost average order value. Marketers must become savvy in growing categories—think driving premium hair color in Chennai or chocolate biscuits in Uttar Pradesh—all while using hyper-localized digital advertising.
Data and Analytics: Forget quarterly Nielsen reports that land weeks late. Today, real-time data from distributor ordering apps and e-commerce dashboards lets you tweak your strategy on the fly. Marketing budgets are shifting to digital, demanding continuous analysis and optimization.
The Modern Marketer’s Playbook
Stay Agile: Channel trends can flip in a year. Remaining rigid means missing out on growth opportunities.
Learn Digital at Every Level: Whether you’re an area manager or a category head, a digital marketing mindset is non-negotiable.
Think Beyond the Shelf: Success in modern trade and quick commerce is as much about getting the right search, front-page exposure, and shopper-offer alignment as it is about in-store displays.
Be a Data Lover: Numbers are your ally. The more you can measure, test, and tweak, the further you’ll go.
The Future Is Multichannel—And So Are You
Quick commerce and e-commerce are not just “new channels”. They are a structural revolution in FMCG distribution and marketing. Students, invest time in understanding these spaces through live projects and internships. Marketing professionals, upskill yourself by engaging with digital platforms and by cross-functioning with supply chain and IT teams.
Ultimately, the winners in tomorrow’s FMCG industry will be those who combine traditional sales grit with new-age digital dexterity and analytical sharpness. The playbook has changed, and so must your approach.
If you want to win in the evolving world of FMCG, start thinking like a digital native, wield data like a pro, and never stop learning from the disruptors leading the way. Your future-ready career in marketing begins now.
For those of you who prefer watching a video - enjoy.
Maneesh is an MBA from IIM Bangalore and started his career with ITC. He runs Direction One, a corporate training & digital agency services company.
Online Courses - www.directiononeconsulting.com
Contact him at directiononeonline7@gmail.com
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