More Retail bets on dark stores to fight quick commerce, plans 100 more outlets
More Retail, backed by Amazon and Samara Capital, is scaling its dark-store network from 45 to 145 with Rs 300 crore investment as it races Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart. Reliance and Spencer's are making similar moves, even as More posts a widening FY23 loss of Rs 550 crore and a 7.4% revenue drop.
What happened
More Retail, Reliance, and Spencer's launch dark stores to counter quick commerce rivals; More has 45 dark stores with 100 planned. Amazon and Samara back its
Key facts
- 45 dark stores
- 100 more dark stores
- Rs 300 crore investment
- 20% stake
- Rs 550 crore FY23 loss
- revenue down 7.4%
Why this matters
With Reliance and Spencer's making parallel dark-store moves, the grocery quick-commerce arms race is consolidating around well-capitalized backers, creating partnership and acquisition windows for sub-scale players.
What to watch
- FY24 More Retail loss figure and revenue trajectory vs FY23 Rs 550cr loss / 7.4% decline
- Actual dark-store count progress toward 145 and store-closure announcements
- Additional capital raises or Samara/Amazon follow-on funding signals
- Quick-commerce incumbents' delivery-fee changes or city-expansion news
- Reliance/Spencer's dark-store capex disclosures
- Watch Reliance (JioMart/Smart Bazaar) and Spencer's escalate dark-store rollouts, triggering localized delivery-fee and discount wars
- Pure-play quick-commerce players (Blinkit, Zepto, Instamart) defend share via SKU expansion and faster slot guarantees
- Amazon likely deepens fulfillment and capital support to protect grocery beachhead in India
- Supplier and FMCG brands renegotiate placement/visibility terms across the new dark-store inventory