Retail and consumer goods
Dark store
A small warehouse, closed to shoppers, used only to fill online orders quickly.
Last reviewedWhat does Dark store mean?
A dark store is a retail-style warehouse that shoppers never visit. Staff pick online orders from its shelves for fast delivery. Quick commerce companies such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart in India use dark stores of a few thousand square feet, placed within a few kilometres of customers, to deliver in minutes. The economics depend on order density: rent and staff are largely fixed, so a store handling many orders a day spreads those costs far better. Example: a dark store costing 150,000 a month to run has a fixed cost per order of 5 at 1,000 orders a day, but 10 at 500 orders a day (assuming a 30-day month).
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Related terms
- Quick commerceDelivering groceries and daily items in about 10 to 30 minutes.
- Last mileThe final step of delivery, from a local hub to the customer's door.
- Fixed costA cost that stays the same when volume changes, within a normal range.
- Capacity utilizationActual output as a share of the most that could be produced.
- Like-for-like sales (LFL)Sales growth from stores open in both periods, leaving out new and closed stores.
- Sales per square metreStore sales divided by selling space: how productive the space is.
- Shrink (shrinkage)Inventory lost to theft, damage, errors or spoilage.
- MarkdownA lasting price cut to clear stock that is not selling.