Habit is the real prize: inside India’s crowded quick-commerce dark store race

‘Habit is the real prize.’ That’s how Datum Intelligence founder Satish Meena describes what is really driving India’s quick-commerce companies to keep opening dark stores, even in cities where they already have a presence. New estimates from equity research firm Bernstein show why the comment lands: the top five operators added close to 900 dark stores between April and July this year, but the growth is concentrated, not expansive.

Blinkit, owned by Eternal, added 289 stores to reach a total of 2,511. Flipkart Minutes, backed by Walmart, grew by 262 stores to 1,003, and Amazon Now added an estimated 250, almost doubling to 600-700 locations. Together, Amazon and Flipkart accounted for more than half of the industry’s additions in the period. Zepto, which is preparing for an IPO, added 90 stores to reach 1,345, while Swiggy Instamart’s network held nearly steady at 1,187.

The five companies together now run about 6,650-6,750 dark stores, up from roughly 5,750-5,850 three months earlier. But unique pincode coverage grew by just 152, to 2,722 — meaning most of the new stores were opened where quick commerce already existed rather than in new markets.

Metros are bearing the brunt of the crowding, with about 4,300 dark stores now packed into large cities against Bernstein’s estimate that only around 3,600 can be run profitably there. All five companies overlapping in the same metro pincode rose from 26% in April to 44% by July.

Meena explained that for Amazon and Flipkart, the strategy is about more than the economics of ten-minute delivery. Frequent grocery orders bring customers into the app regularly, and that habit often expands into beauty, electronics and fashion purchases on the same platform — protecting their larger ecommerce businesses in the process.

Reliance’s JioMart, meanwhile, is taking a different path by leveraging its existing retail network instead of building dark stores from the ground up. The company said JioMart’s average daily grocery orders rose 116% year-on-year in the June quarter, reaching about 5,500 pincodes with more than 2,500 Reliance Digital and Reliance Fashion & Lifestyle stores linked to its two-hour delivery service. EY-Parthenon India partner Angshuman Bhattacharya said several dark stores within one pincode — which can span 8-10 sq km — often reflect delivery-speed needs rather than overcapacity, though newer entrants may take longer to turn a profit.

Wikimedia Commons/by SerChevalerie