There's one number that will never touch a founder's MIS. That number breaks D2C brands in India.
We'll get to it.
Let's start with an example.
You sell a product for ₹1,000. It costs you ₹300 to make.
₹1,000 − ₹300 = ₹700
You have ₹700 left before marketplace fees.
Now let's sell that same product on Nykaa and Blinkit.
Nykaa takes a 20% commission. That's ₹200.
₹1,000 − ₹300 − ₹200 = ₹500 CM1
Blinkit takes a 30% commission. That's ₹300.
₹1,000 − ₹300 − ₹300 = ₹400 CM1
So which marketplace would you choose?
Nykaa. You make ₹500 vs ₹400. More money per order. Better margin.
Nykaa wins. Simple.
But there's a problem. We're only looking at what happens to one sale.
This is where I use a slightly unusual number:
Think about it like an investment. You put money into a mutual fund. The money you put in is your investment. The return is what you get back.
It's the same idea here. Your COGS is the investment. Your CM1 is the return.
Now imagine you have ₹1 to invest. If this were a mutual fund, you'd want to know what that ₹1 gives you back.
For every ₹1 we put into COGS, we get ₹1.67 back from Nykaa, and ₹1.33 back from Blinkit.
So again... Nykaa wins. 1.67× vs 1.33×.
If this were a mutual fund, you'd pick the one giving you 1.67× instead of 1.33×.
But we're still missing the number I told you about.
The real numbers are below.
It's free — just enter your details to see the full breakdown.
What happens to that ₹1 of investment over a full year?
In a mutual fund, we don't care what it makes us in a day, a week, or a month. We care what it makes us over a year. Let's bring that same logic here.
You put ₹1 into COGS.
You sell the product. You get your CM1 back.
Then you can put that capital back to work.
This is where the two marketplaces are very different.
Nykaa takes roughly 45 days to settle. Blinkit takes roughly 10 days.
So in the same 90-day period: Nykaa settles 2 times. Blinkit settles 9 times.
Let's put ₹1 to work in each marketplace and see what it actually produces.
Remember: for every ₹1 of COGS, Nykaa gives you ₹1.67. Blinkit gives you ₹1.33.
Nykaa settles in 45 days.
365 ÷ 45 = ~8 cycles per year
1.67 × 8 = ₹13.36 — ₹1 becomes ~₹13 of CM1
Blinkit settles in 10 days.
365 ÷ 10 = ~36 cycles per year
1.33 × 36 = ₹47.88 — ₹1 becomes ~₹48 of CM1
Stop. Read that again.
Imagine this was a mutual fund. You have ₹1 to invest. Would you want your mutual fund to pay you ₹48 or ₹13 for every rupee you invest in them?
Obviously, you'd want ₹48. And that's exactly what is happening here.
Here's the crazy part. Blinkit had:
But will 3x the ROI of your business.
3x the amount of cash you have in the bank at any given point.
3x less capital you need to raise to hit the same growth target.
Remember the number I told you about at the start?
A number that will never touch your MIS.
This is exactly why D2C brands struggle with cash flow.
Revenues up, great.
Profit up, great.
What about cold hard cash?
Founders who view their business from capital allocation lens, balance their profits and ROI targets simultaneously. Founders who don't will either
70% of Indian D2C brands fail because they can't turn growth into cash.
Now you know why.
Unlock the cash already inside your business, reinvest it faster, and grow without constantly reaching into your pocket.
All figures used are for illustrative purposes only.