In a strategic shift to keep pace with the surging demand for instant grocery delivery, major brick-and-mortar retailers including Reliance Retail, More Retail, and Spencer’s have begun rolling out dark stores across key Indian metros. These small, non-customer-facing fulfilment hubs are designed to enable sub-30-minute deliveries within a 2–3 kilometre radius—bringing traditional retailers into direct competition with quick commerce giants such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto.
This pivot follows a period of reluctance among legacy players, now grappling with shrinking market share in urban centres. According to NielsenIQ’s January–March 2025 report, ecommerce volumes soared by 40%, while traditional trade dipped 2.2% and modern trade declined 7.7%.
“There is a shift towards ecommerce in metros, with high shopping engagement impacting share of modern trade and kiranas,” the report noted.
Reliance Retail is among the frontrunners of this transformation. The company’s Chief Financial Officer, Dinesh Taluja, confirmed that dark stores are being deployed in “dark pockets” where traditional outlets cannot meet the 30-minute delivery benchmark. “We want to deliver online orders in less than 30 minutes,” he said, noting that volume thresholds and gaps in store coverage are key factors driving the rollout.
More Retail, jointly owned by Amazon and Samara Capital, has already launched 45 dark stores, including several in Delhi, and plans to add 100 more. The company has exited its physical store operations in Delhi and is now eyeing Mumbai for expansion.
“In markets where we already have stores—like Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Cochin—we will convert hybrid outlets into dark stores as online demand matures,” said Vinod Nambiar, Managing Director, More Retail. He added that the retailer is also operating standalone dark stores in cities with no physical footprint. More Retail is currently Amazon Fresh’s largest preferred seller in India, strengthening its role as a key backend partner.
Spencer’s Retail is taking a more cautious approach. The company has launched a pilot dark store in Kolkata to test feasibility in areas with limited store-based coverage. CEO Anuj Singh said the initiative supports Spencer’s growing quick commerce business, which currently processes 1.7 lakh orders per month, with plans to scale to three lakh by expanding into cities like Lucknow and Varanasi.
The rapid adoption of dark stores comes amid rising online purchase frequency, growing basket sizes, and dense urban living—factors that are reshaping the grocery delivery landscape. As more Indian households become accustomed to the convenience of on-demand service, dark stores are emerging as a critical component of the urban retail infrastructure.
