BENGALURU: The quick commerce race is no longer mainly about reaching new neighbourhoods. It is becoming a fight over the same pin codes. India’s five largest operators added close to 900 dark stores between April and July this year, with Blinkit, Flipkart Minutes and Amazon Now leading the expansion, according to estimates by equity research firm Bernstein.Eternal-owned Blinkit added 289 stores, taking its network to 2,511. Walmart-owned Flipkart Minutes added 262 stores to reach 1,003. Amazon Now added an estimated 250 stores, nearly doubling its network to 600-700 locations. Together, the latest quick-commerce entrants from Amazon and Flipkart accounted for more than half of the additions. IPO-bound Zepto added 90 stores, taking its count to 1,345, while Swiggy Instamart’s network remained largely unchanged at 1,187.The five companies had around 6,650-6,750 dark stores in July, up from about 5,750-5,850 three months earlier. However, the number of unique pin codes served rose by only 152 to 2,722. Most new stores, therefore, opened in areas where quick-commerce services were already available.
The squeeze is sharpest in the metros. Large cities now have about 4,300 dark stores, while Bernstein estimates they can profitably support only around 3,600. In April, all five companies were present in 26% of metro pin codes. By July, that share rose to 44%, showing concentrated competition among the players. Satish Meena, founder of Datum Intelligence, said Amazon and Flipkart were not chasing quick-commerce profits alone. They were also protecting their larger e-commerce businesses. .“Habit is the real prize. It is about the top 50-60 million wallets and about which app owns their daily habit,” Meena said. “A pin code can span 8-10 sq km, so denser networks are often needed to meet delivery timelines and improve order economics. New entrants, however, may face a longer path to profitability,” said Angshuman Bhattacharya, partner and national leader, consumer product and retail, EY-Parthenon India.
