India’s quick commerce battle is heating up as major players accelerate expansion, targeting faster deliveries and deeper market penetration.
Flipkart plans to add 800 dark stores by the end of 2026 for its quick commerce arm, Minutes, effectively doubling its current network, according to a UBS client note. The company currently operates around 750 to 850 dark stores and is focusing heavily on Tier-2 markets where its customer base is stronger.
Despite aggressive growth, expansion has been slower than initially planned. Minutes scaled from launch to about 100 dark stores in 9 months and reached nearly 300 by April 2025. Kalyan Krishnamurthy had earlier projected 800 stores by the end of 2025, but the company reached around 500 to 600, adopting a more calibrated approach. “By the end of this year (2025), we will probably get to 800 (dark) stores, that’s the vision we have,” he said at Walmart’s Investment Community Meeting on April 9.
If the company achieves its expansion target, Flipkart Minutes could reach around 1,600 dark stores within 8 to 9 months, making it the second-largest network after Blinkit. Blinkit currently operates around 2,100 dark stores and plans to add another 900 by March 2027.
Meanwhile, Amazon, through its quick commerce arm Amazon Now, aims to scale to 450 to 500 dark stores. It currently operates around 330 to 370 stores, with an additional 100 to 140 in the pipeline.
Other competitors such as Swiggy Instamart and Zepto each operate around 1,100 to 1,200 dark stores.
This rapid expansion comes as e-commerce companies shift focus from larger grocery formats to dense networks of dark stores, enabling 10 to 15 minute deliveries and improved last-mile efficiency.
However, analysts note that the market is still evolving. While discounts are reducing, customer loyalty remains uncertain. Reports indicate that most platforms have seen a decline in monthly active users, except for a few players, suggesting that long-term user stickiness is yet to be established.
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