Despite the continued opening of new dark stores, quick commerce companies are now focusing more on higher utilization of existing assets, improving unit economics, and increasing margins.
In India, quick commerce companies have actively expanded their dark store networks, entered new areas, and promised faster deliveries in recent years. However, this strategy appears to be changing.
According to Bernstein estimates, the five largest quick commerce players in the country added nearly 900 dark stores between April and July. Blinkit increased its network by 289 stores, reaching a total of 2,511 locations. Flipkart Minutes added 262 stores, surpassing the 1,000-store mark, while Amazon Now almost doubled its presence, reaching an estimated 600–700 dark stores. Meanwhile, Swiggy's Instamart operated 1,171 dark stores across 131 cities in the quarter ending in June and plans to add another 75 stores in September.
However, alongside network expansion, companies are increasingly striving to improve the productivity of each store and enhance unit economics. Recently, Swiggy stated that its existing Instamart network can support more than double the Gross Order Value (GOV) without significant expansion, by increasing the operational efficiency of already existing dark stores. The company intends to expand its product assortment and encourage customers to place larger orders through initiatives such as Maxxsaver.
How Can Quick Commerce Companies Improve Dark Store Utilization?
Until recently, success in this industry was largely determined by the number of open dark stores, the number of postal codes covered, and customer acquisition speed. These investments allowed companies to rapidly expand their reach and create nationwide networks.
Now, the main task is to make these networks more productive.
Navin Malpani, Partner at Grant Thornton Bharat, noted in an interview with Business Standard: 'Our analysis shows that quick commerce has evolved from a delivery speed-based offering to a demand-generating retail channel. As the network matures, profitability increasingly depends on disciplined assortment management, frequent inventory replenishment, monetization of digital shelf space, and efficient last-mile execution, rather than just expanding coverage area.'
According to Malpani, while geographical expansion will continue into underserved micro-markets, companies can improve their economics by increasing the number of orders processed per hour, handling more orders daily, increasing the average order value, expanding the product range, improving warehouse picking efficiency, and increasing delivery density. These measures allow fixed infrastructure costs to be distributed over a larger number of orders, thereby increasing profitability without a proportional increase in capital expenditure.
According to consulting firm Redseer, the quick commerce market in India exceeded a monthly Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of ₹11,000 crore, showing approximately 100 percent year-on-year growth. Furthermore, the share of sales from non-food categories is becoming increasingly significant, reflecting a shift in consumer behavior beyond emergency food purchases.
Operational Execution Is Becoming Increasingly Important
Malpani believes that three additional operational levers will increasingly define leaders among competitors:
- Smarter assortment optimization by concentrating on fast-moving goods while continuously phasing out slow-selling inventory.
- Basket expansion by encouraging consumers to combine regular grocery purchases with impulse buys, thereby increasing the average order value without significantly raising order fulfillment costs.
- Warehouse productivity improvement through faster picking, better inventory accuracy, and enhanced replenishment planning.
He also highlighted advertising and monetization of digital shelf space as an emerging source of high-margin revenue that does not require additional physical infrastructure.
Investors Are Shifting Focus to Capital Efficiency and Unit Economics
In Malpani's view, during the early stages of the industry's expansion, metrics such as dark store additions, city expansion, and GMV growth dominated investor presentations. As networks mature, analysts are increasingly expecting the focus to shift towards metrics reflecting capital efficiency and unit economics. These include GOV generated per dark store, number of orders processed per store, contribution margin, asset utilization, inventory turnover, order fulfillment efficiency, customer retention, and return on invested capital.
Redseer notes that the quick commerce sector in India has transformed from a convenience-oriented food offering into an increasingly vital retail channel for brands, with categories like cosmetics, home goods, and general merchandise becoming larger contributors to sales. As the product assortment expands and repeat customer behavior strengthens, profitability will increasingly depend on operational execution rather than just network expansion.
