Flipkart pulls ahead of Amazon in quick commerce

The difference is showing up not just in the number of dark stores, but in how quickly the networks are being used. Flipkart Minutes is scaling faster, converting a larger share of Flipkart’s existing customers and generating more orders per store, according to channel checks by UBS.

Amazon Now, meanwhile, has slowed its expansion as it works through backend and inventory-related issues.

Store Expansion

Minutes now operates more than 1,000 dark stores across 120-130 cities and could add another 1,000 by the middle of the next year, UBS estimates. Amazon Now has 500-600 stores across 11 cities, with its expansion slowing over the past two-three months.

The slowdown at Amazon is linked to operational problems involving storage, transfers from hubs to stores, expiry and mismatches between system inventory and what was physically available on shelves, the brokerage said. It expects the pause to be temporary, with Amazon Now potentially adding 200-300 stores over the next two-three months and reaching about 1,000 by the end of this year.

The bigger difference, however, is customer adoption. In cities where Minutes operates, 40-45% of customers visiting Flipkart also visit Minutes, according to the checks. Amazon Now, in contrast, has activated fewer than one in 10 of the 60-70 million customers who regularly use Amazon’s main app. New customers account for less than 6% of Amazon Now’s quick-commerce base.

That gives Flipkart an advantage as the two companies head into their first major festive-season test, with Big Billion Days and the Great Indian Festival approaching. Both already have large customer bases and extensive transaction data; the question is how effectively those advantages can translate into frequent quick-commerce orders.

The challenge is particularly stark because the incumbents have built a substantial lead. Blinkit ended June with 2,443 dark stores, compared with 1,171 for Instamart. Zepto had 1,139 stores across 66 cities at the end of March, while Tata-owned BigBasket had just over 700 at the end of FY26. Reliance’s JioMart operates more than 600 dedicated dark stores and also fulfils quick-commerce orders through more than 3,100 outlets.

Store Economics

For the new entrants, store productivity could prove more important than store count. Minutes averages 800-1,000 orders per store per day, with mature stores reaching 1,200-1,500 orders within five to six months. Amazon Now averages 700-850 orders, down from about 1,000 when its network comprised only 200 stores, as newer outlets take time to ramp up.

Amazon Now needs 1,700-1,800 orders a day for a store to become profitable, according to the checks. Its current throughput, therefore, leaves it some distance from that threshold even as the network expands.

The incumbents have a more established demand base. Zepto averaged 2,071 orders per store per day in the March quarter, while Blinkit averaged about 1,600 in the June quarter. Instamart averaged 1,089, marking its second consecutive quarterly decline.

The economics of expansion are also getting tougher. Eternal raised its steady-state capex assumption for a Blinkit dark store to Rs 2.5 crore in the June quarter from Rs 1 crore two years earlier, citing larger stores, wider assortments and warehousing technology.

UBS estimates that a 2,500-3,000 sq ft dark store costs Rs 1.4-1.6 crore, including apportioned warehouse capex, while a 5,000 sq ft store costs Rs 2.4-2.5 crore. Store sizes have increased as platforms add electronics, beauty, pet care, toys and premium grocery, all of which require more space and inventory handling.

Minutes is also closing the basket-size gap. Its net order value excluding mobile phones is Rs 500-530, compared with Rs 518 for Blinkit and Rs 508 for Instamart in June. Amazon Now’s gross order value is Rs 400-450 and would be lower on a net basis, according to the report.