Brands
Meesho clocks 87.6 lakh orders on day one of festive season sale
Mumbai: Meesho recorded 87.6 lakh orders on the first day of its festive season event, ‘Mega Blockbuster Sale.’ This is the highest number of orders recorded by the company on a single day. It reached 80 per cent from day one of the previous year’s sale.
On the first day of the ‘Mega Blockbuster Sale,’ tier two, three, and four cities accounted for 85 per cent of orders from Meesho. Reaffirming its continued commitment to underserved users with different needs around selection and affordability, the company saw consumers from deep corners of the country, such as Jamnagar, Alappuzha, Chhindwara, Davengere, Hassan, Gopalganj, Guwahati, Siwan, Thanjavur, and Ambikapur.
With a wide assortment of Rs 6.5 crore active product listings at the lowest prices, the sale exemplifies Meesho’s mission towards democratising e-commerce for everyone.
Fashion, beauty, personal care, home, kitchen, and electronic accessories were the top-selling categories on day one, while consumers bought everything from sarees to analogue watches, jewellery sets, mobile cases/covers, bluetooth headphones, choppers, and peelers in record volumes to fulfil their festive shopping aspirations.
Meesho’s industry-first initiatives like zero commission and zero penalty have been instrumental in getting India’s small businesses online. The first day of the Meesho ‘Mega Blockbuster Sale’ saw a 360 per cent increase in seller participation from the previous year, with nearly 75 per cent coming from tier two markets and beyond. Ahead of the festive season, Meesho created a robust training programme on its supplier learning hub and is educating sellers on everything from demand forecasting to order volume management.
Meesho chief experience officer of business Utkrishta Kumar said, “The ‘Mega Blockbuster Sale’ has started on a high trajectory with a very strong response on day one. This performance is a reflection of the unmatched value sellers and consumers get on our platform and a validation of our relentless efforts towards democratising internet commerce. We are humbled to have had a far-reaching impact in the deepest corners of the country, with 85 per cent of orders and 75 per cent of sellers coming from tier two or higher cities. We will continue to fuel the discoverability of hyperlocal businesses and products, empower MSMEs, and further boost accessibility and affordability for our heterogenous base of consumers.”
Brands
Dunkin’ Donuts to exit India as Jubilant FoodWorks ends 15-year franchise deal
The quick service restaurant giant is ending a 15-year franchise partnership with the American doughnut chain, even as it renews its Domino’s agreement for another 15 years
NOIDA: Dunkin’ is done in India. Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, the country’s leading quick service restaurant operator, has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with the American coffee and doughnut chain, and will wind down its Indian stores in a phased manner before December 31, 2026, bringing a 15-year partnership to a quiet, loss-laden close.
The decision, approved by JFL’s board on March 30, 2026, ends a relationship that began with a Multiple Unit Development Franchise Agreement signed on February 24, 2011. JFL will now evaluate and undertake what it described in a regulatory filing as the “rationalisation and/or cessation of certain operations and/or sale, transfer or disposal of assets and/or assignment or transfer of franchise rights,” all in consultation with Dunkin’s brand owners and strictly within the terms of the original agreement.
The numbers tell the story bluntly. In the financial year 2024-25, Dunkin’ India posted a revenue of Rs 37 crore against a loss of Rs 19 crore — a haemorrhage that was always going to test the patience of a parent company recording revenues of Rs 6,104 crore and a profit of Rs 194 crore in the same period. Doughnuts, it turns out, were never going to move the needle.
The contrast with JFL’s handling of its other marquee franchise could hardly be sharper. Even as it walks away from Dunkin’, the company has just doubled down on Domino’s, signing a fresh Master Franchise Agreement on March 31, 2026, granting it exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza stores in India for 15 years, with an option to renew for a further 10.
JFL, incorporated in 1995 and promoted by the Bharatia family, operates a network of more than 3,500 stores across six markets — India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Its portfolio includes Domino’s and Popeyes on the global side, and two home-grown brands: Hong’s Kitchen and COFFY, a café brand in Turkey.
For Dunkin’, India was always a stretch. The brand never quite cracked the cultural code in a market where filter coffee and chai command fierce loyalty and where the doughnut remains, at best, an occasional indulgence rather than a daily habit. Fifteen years, mounting losses and a parent with better things to spend its capital on was always going to be a difficult equation to solve.
The doughnut has had its last day. The pizza, however, is staying.
