More Retail bets on dark stores to fight quick-commerce, plans 100 new sites with Rs 300 cr push
More Retail, alongside Reliance Retail and Spencer's, is scaling dark stores to counter Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto. More operates 45 dark stores and plans 100 more, backed by fresh funds from Amazon and Samara Capital despite an FY23 loss widening to Rs 550 crore and revenue down 7.4%.
What happened
More Retail, Reliance Retail and Spencer's are launching dark stores to counter quick-commerce rivals. More has 45 dark stores, plans 100 more; Amazon and
Key facts
- 45 dark stores
- 100 more dark stores
- Rs 300 crore investment
- up to 20% stake
- FY23 loss Rs 550 crore
- revenue down 7.4%
Why this matters
More Retail's Amazon-Samara-funded dark-store scale-up positions it alongside Reliance Retail and Spencer's, creating potential partnership, supply-chain, or consolidation angles in India's grocery quick-commerce land grab.
What to watch
- Dark-store count milestones (next 25/50 site openings vs the 100 target)
- FY24/FY25 loss trajectory and revenue inflection — whether the 7.4% decline reverses
- Average order value, delivery time, and repeat-frequency metrics if disclosed
- Additional capital raises or signals of investor fatigue from Amazon/Samara
- Quick-commerce GMV growth rates from Blinkit/Zepto/Instamart in same cities
- Any 3P fulfilment or platform partnership announcements
- Reliance Retail and Spencer's accelerate their own dark-store counts to defend grocery share
- Blinkit/Zepto/Instamart respond with deeper discounting and exclusive FMCG tie-ups in contested metros
- More prioritizes private-label and high-margin SKUs in dark-store assortment to protect unit economics
- Amazon evaluates deeper integration of More inventory into its own quick-commerce ambitions
- FMCG brands negotiate platform-specific listing and visibility deals across the expanding dark-store base