Urban Shopping Transformed: Legacy Retailers Embrace Dark Stores in Quick Commerce Showdown

India’s retail landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation as legacy giants Reliance Retail, More, and Spencer’s rapidly pivot to dark store models to keep pace with the quick commerce revolution sweeping urban markets. Facing fierce competition from digital-first players like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto, these established retailers are rolling out dark stores-dedicated mini-warehouses without walk-in customers-across major metros to enable sub-30-minute deliveries and meet surging online demand.

 

Reliance Retail, with over 2,000 stores servicing 4,000 pin codes, has begun establishing dark stores in high-density “dark pockets” where traditional outlets can’t meet the speed and volume required for instant delivery. “We want to deliver online orders in less than 30 minutes,” said Dinesh Taluja, Reliance Retail’s CFO, highlighting the company’s aggressive strategy to fill gaps in its store network and capture the growing quick commerce market.

 

More Retail, backed by Amazon and Samara Capital, has already launched 45 dark stores-some in Delhi-and plans to add 100 more, even exiting its physical operations in the capital to focus on this model. The company is targeting Mumbai next and converting hybrid stores in cities like Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Cochin into dark stores as online demand matures.

 

Spencer’s Retail, while taking a more measured approach, has piloted a dark store in Kolkata and is expanding its quick commerce service to new markets like Lucknow and Varanasi, aiming to nearly double its monthly bill volume.

 

Industry data underscores the urgency: e-commerce volumes in metros surged 40% in the first quarter of 2025, while traditional trade and modern retail saw declines. As Indian households increasingly embrace on-demand grocery delivery, dark stores are set to become a cornerstone of urban retail, reshaping how millions shop in the digital age.

 

Source: Times Now News