The Shizz D2C Spend Index — India Benchmarks, Q3 2026
Every spend, ROAS, CAC, RTO, festive, quick-commerce and retention benchmark we publish for Indian D2C — one page, every figure traced to its source, refreshed quarterly.
In short: this index curates the benchmark figures already published across The Shizz Journal into one quarterly reference. Three kinds of numbers appear, each labelled in its own row: our portfolio record (160+ brands, ₹150 Cr+ managed spend, ₹450 Cr+ attributed revenue, 3.8× average ROAS over six years — with individual brand budgets currently running ₹25–60 lakh a month), figures from named public sources as cited in the source posts, and directional ranges from portfolio experience flagged as exactly that. No panel medians, no invented percentiles — where an honest number does not exist, the row says so.
How to read this index
Benchmark pages usually launder their numbers: a table copied from a table copied from a guess, with the caveats amputated somewhere along the way. This index works the other way. Every row shows its basis — portfolio record (our published engagements, with sample sizes where they are published), named public source (industry estimates, platform statements and trade reporting, cited in the linked post that introduced them), or directional, from portfolio experience across 160+ brands (a range we will stand behind while telling you plainly it is not a panel statistic). Every row links the post where the figure lives with its full working and caveats. If a figure you need is missing, the honest reason is in the row or the source post — several of the most-requested numbers in Indian D2C do not deserve the precision people quote them with.
The index is frozen quarterly — this is the Q3 2026 edition, compiled 19 August 2026 — and figures update only when their source posts do. Cite it as: The Shizz D2C Spend Index, Q3 2026, theshizz.in.
The portfolio constants
The record every other row is calibrated against: 160+ D2C brands grown over six years, ₹150 Cr+ of ad spend managed, ₹450 Cr+ of revenue attributed, a 3.8× average ROAS across the portfolio, and a 1.5-year average client relationship. The Shizz currently manages individual brand budgets between ₹25 lakh and ₹60 lakh a month — the band the enterprise engagement serves. Two scale engagements are published in full: 1970 Shop and My Pahadi Dukaan. These are cumulative portfolio numbers, not a claim about any single account; the case studies carry the account-level truth.
Marketing budget benchmarks by spend band
| Metric | Benchmark | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing budget, validating stage (first ₹5L/month revenue) | 30–50% of revenue | Published Shizz budget bands (method shown in post) | D2C marketing budget guide |
| Marketing budget, growth stage (₹5L–50L/month revenue) | 20–35% of revenue | Published Shizz budget bands | D2C marketing budget guide |
| Marketing budget, scale stage (₹50L+/month revenue) | 15–25% of revenue | Published Shizz budget bands | D2C marketing budget guide |
| Budget split | 65–75% paid media · 15–20% creative · 10–15% retention, CRO, tooling | Published Shizz working split | D2C marketing budget guide |
| Creative volume at scale | 8–12 genuinely new concepts/month, rising with spend | Published Shizz working norm | How to reduce CAC |
The bands are a published method, not a rule — the source post shows the contribution-margin derivation and when to ignore the percentages entirely. For what breaks operationally as spend crosses ₹50 lakh a month, read the scaling guide alongside.
ROAS and CAC: the published record
| Metric | Benchmark | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio average ROAS | 3.8× (160+ brands, ₹150 Cr+ spend, 6 years) | Canonical portfolio record | ROAS benchmarks |
| Published account-level ROAS, food & beverage | 2.7× to 8× (n=5 published engagements) | Published case-study record | ROAS benchmarks |
| Staged ROAS expectation, low-AOV snacks | Near break-even in testing → 2.5–3.5× consolidating → 3.5×+ with 25%+ repeat base | Published Shizz staging model | Snack ROAS math |
| CAC reductions, published record | 28% to 70% over 3–8 month windows (n=4) | Published case-study record | CAC benchmarks |
| Paid CAC repricing, India-wide | Up 20–40% over two years | Directional, from portfolio experience across 160+ brands | State of Indian D2C 2026 |
| Absolute rupee CAC | Deliberately not published — no honest cross-category figure exists | See methodology note in source | CAC benchmarks |
Two things this table refuses to do, on purpose: average the account-level ROAS figures into a fake “industry ROAS”, and publish an absolute rupee CAC — the source post explains why any such number would be noise across categories, margins and price points. Affordable CAC is derived from contribution per order and repeat rate; the CAC payback calculator runs that derivation on your numbers.
Order economics by category
| Category | Benchmark | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snacks | ₹400–800 direct-site AOV | Published Shizz bands (portfolio + industry reporting) | AOV benchmarks |
| Pantry staples (ghee, honey, oils, spices) | ₹700–1,500 | Published Shizz bands | AOV benchmarks |
| Beverages | ₹600–1,200 | Published Shizz bands | AOV benchmarks |
| Nutrition & supplements | ₹1,000–2,500 | Published Shizz bands | AOV benchmarks |
| Personal care | ₹600–1,400 | Published Shizz bands | AOV benchmarks |
| Marketplace AOV vs direct site | 15–30% lower | Published Shizz bands | AOV benchmarks |
| A2/bilona ghee listings vs commodity ghee | ₹1,200–3,000/litre vs roughly ₹550–700 | Live-listings observation, verifiable on marketplaces | Selling A2 ghee online |
| Honey shelf: mass vs origin-labelled | ₹150–300 per 500g mass shelf; origin/NMR-proofed jars routinely 2–3× that | Live-listings observation, verifiable on marketplaces | Honey positioning guide |
COD, RTO and delivery economics
| Metric | Benchmark | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| COD RTO rate | 15–35% of COD orders | Published Indian D2C ranges (industry reporting + portfolio) | RTO benchmarks |
| Prepaid RTO rate | 1–4% | Published Indian D2C ranges | RTO benchmarks |
| Blended RTO at ~60% COD share | 12–20% | Published Indian D2C ranges | RTO benchmarks |
| All-in cost per refused order | Roughly ₹150–350 before ad spend | Published Indian D2C ranges | RTO benchmarks |
| COD share of Indian e-commerce orders | Around 60% | Industry reporting cited in source post | COD and real ROAS |
| Festive-season returns, COD vs prepaid | 58% vs under 15% | Unicommerce festive data, as cited in source post | COD and real ROAS |
Festive auction inflation
| Metric | Benchmark | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Diwali fortnight CPMs, general F&B | 1.5–2.5× own September baseline (stepping up from Navratri) | Published Shizz festive benchmark work | Festive CPM inflation |
| Pre-Diwali fortnight CPMs, gifting-core categories | Up to 3× September baseline | Published Shizz festive benchmark work | Festive CPM inflation |
| BFCM window | Second, sharper but shorter spike, metro-concentrated | Published Shizz festive benchmark work | Festive chocolate budget guide |
Quick commerce economics
| Metric | Benchmark | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick-commerce ad revenue (Blinkit + Zepto + Instamart), 2026 | Nearly ₹4,900 crore projected this calendar year | Datum Intelligence estimate reported by Storyboard18 (June 2026), as cited in source post | Snacks on quick commerce |
| Total quick-commerce advertising, annual | ₹5,000–6,000 crore estimated | Same reported coverage | Snacks on quick commerce |
| FMCG digital budget shift to quick commerce | 10–25% of digital performance budgets (impulse categories) | FMCG executives quoted in the same coverage | Snacks on quick commerce |
| Reported entry costs | Blinkit ~₹25,000/SKU/state (as ad credits) · Zepto ₹5–6 lakh package · Instamart ₹8–10 lakh quarterly pack | Practitioner guides published March 2026, as cited in source post | Blinkit vs Zepto vs Instamart |
| Gross margin needed to clear the channel stack | Roughly 60–70% | Reported practitioner threshold | Blinkit vs Zepto vs Instamart |
| Blended ROAS to stay contribution-positive at ~65% margin | 4–6× | Practitioner-published threshold, as cited in source post | Snack ROAS math |
| Early-quarter ROAS, small brands on QC ads | Rarely beat 1.2–1.5× | Market reporting, as cited in source post | QC ad economics |
| Published outlier: Meta-to-Blinkit collab ads | ₹19 cost per purchase, ROAS touching 10× (n=1, ₹1,500 Cr brand capturing existing demand) | Published Shizz case study | QC ad economics |
| Quick commerce share of e-commerce, large FMCG example | Nearly 70% of e-commerce business (Britannia) | Company earnings-call statement, as cited in source post | Snacks on quick commerce |
Quick commerce is the fastest-moving section of this index; the March 2026 entry-cost figures in particular should be treated as reported snapshots, not rate cards. The quick commerce P&L guide builds the full per-SKU deduction stack these figures slot into.
Retention and owned channels
| Metric | Benchmark | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email + WhatsApp share of monthly revenue, healthy | 15–30%, with flows contributing 60–75% of it | Published Shizz retention bands | Email & WhatsApp benchmarks |
| WhatsApp marketing bands | 92%+ delivery · 55–75% reads · 10–25% clicks on segmented sends · ₹3–15 revenue per send · blocks under 1.5% | Published Shizz retention bands | Email & WhatsApp benchmarks |
| Email bands | 15–25% opens · 1.5–3.5% clicks · ₹1–5 per campaign send | Published Shizz retention bands | Email & WhatsApp benchmarks |
| Annual list decay | 20–35% | Published Shizz retention bands | Email & WhatsApp benchmarks |
| Repeat revenue share, healthy D2C food base | 25%+ (one published account: about a third) | Published Shizz benchmark + case record | Repeat & retention guide |
| Repeat revenue share, mature supplement brands | Commonly reported in the 30–50% band | Unicommerce / Shiprocket annual D2C reports, as cited in source post | Supplement retention playbook |
Conversion rates: published points, not a benchmark
| Published point | Figure | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soothys | 1.3% → 6% in three months | Published Shizz case study | Conversion rate benchmarks |
| Vediko Origins | Reached 2.8% | Published Shizz case study | Conversion rate benchmarks |
| Pure Whites | Funnel conversion up 350% | Published Shizz case study | Conversion rate benchmarks |
Three figures from three incomparable businesses, published because they are real — and deliberately not averaged, because the source post’s whole argument is that a cross-category “average D2C conversion rate” misleads more than it informs. Segment your own rate by device, channel and intent before comparing anything.
What is deliberately missing
No absolute rupee CAC. No cross-category ROAS average beyond our own portfolio figure, clearly labelled as ours. No medians or percentiles of any kind — we are an agency publishing its record and its reading of named public sources, not a measurement panel, and this page will not dress one up as the other. Where a row says directional, it means: consistent with what we see across 160+ brands, stated as a range, and open to correction by anyone with better data. That standard is the point of the index.
Put the numbers to work
- D2C marketing budget calculator
Revenue and stage in, a defensible budget out — using the bands in the first table.
- CAC payback calculator
Turn AOV, margin and repeat rate into months-to-payback.
- COD RTO cost calculator
What the RTO rows above cost your P&L monthly, on your own volumes.
- The full benchmarks hub
Every benchmark post behind this index, in reading order.
- Enterprise performance marketing
For brands spending ₹20 lakh+ a month: the engagement these benchmarks get applied inside.
Want your numbers read against this index?
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