To sell on Zepto, a brand applies to the platform’s brand partnership team, clears a category and eligibility review, submits business and brand documents, delivers a catalogue built to Zepto’s image and data specifications, and supplies stock against a first purchase order for the launch cities. Zepto’s metro-focused, impulse-led audience suits new-age consumer brands with distinctive packaging and clear pack sizes.
Key takeaways
- Zepto favours products that look good in a small thumbnail and sell on impulse.
- Approval depends on category fit, demand evidence and margin headroom.
- A short, well-chosen SKU list beats a long one at launch.
- Ratings and availability drive placement after go-live.
What does Zepto look for in a brand?
Zepto’s category teams prioritise products that match how its customers shop: quick top-ups, snacks and beverages, personal care, home essentials and a growing premium and D2C range. Packaging that reads clearly at thumbnail size, pack prices suited to a small basket, and evidence of demand from D2C, retail or another platform all strengthen an application.
What are the onboarding steps and documents?
The sequence is application, category review, documents, commercial terms, catalogue, city mapping and first purchase order. Documents typically include GST, PAN, bank details, trademark or brand authorisation, FSSAI for food, and SKU-level data such as barcodes, MRP, shelf life and dimensions. Requirements change; verify the current list before submitting. Our Zepto onboarding page keeps the checklist current.
Commercial terms are agreed at this stage: margin structure, promotional contributions, payment terms and any onboarding charge. These vary by category and change over time, so get the current structure in writing and run the per-SKU arithmetic before you accept.
How should you build the Zepto catalogue?
Each SKU needs a front-facing pack shot on a plain background, a title with the pack size, and complete attribute data. Combos and multipacks should be created as separate SKUs with their own barcodes and imagery. Because the customer decides in a second or two, the thumbnail does most of the selling; we treat it as a creative task under q-commerce catalogue and creative.
Choose the launch SKUs deliberately. Five to ten packs with clear margins and a reason to be in a small basket will outperform a full-range upload, and they make availability far easier to manage in the first weeks.
How do you turn a listing into repeat orders?
Availability is the first lever: track per-store fill rate weekly and respond to purchase orders without delay. Ratings are the second: early reviews shape placement, so product quality and packaging integrity in delivery matter. Ads are the third, and only once the first two are stable. A brand with a strong D2C story, such as Kitcoz, would carry the same imagery and claims from its own store into the Zepto listing so the customer sees one brand everywhere.
Ongoing operations, promotions, ads and monthly reconciliation are handled under Zepto account management.
Frequently asked questions
Several weeks is typical, covering category review, document verification, catalogue approval and the first purchase order. Delays usually come from incomplete documents or images that fail specification checks.
Business documents such as GST, PAN and bank details, proof of brand ownership or authorisation, an FSSAI licence for food, and SKU-level data including barcodes and shelf life. The list varies by category and can change.
Commercial terms differ by category and include margins, promotional contributions and in some cases onboarding charges. They change over time, so ask for the current structure in writing before signing.
Choose the platform that is stronger in the cities where you already have demand and whose category team is actively listing your product type. Many brands launch on one, prove fill rate and velocity, then add the other.
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