Flipkart Minutes, the quick commerce arm of the Walmart-owned e-commerce giant, aims to double its dark store network to 1,000 by March-April 2026, according to Hemant Badri – SVP and Head of Supply Chain, Customer Experience & Re-Commerce, Flipkart Group. The aggressive roadmap follows a year where the platform fell short of its initial projections, ending 2025 with just over 500 operational dark stores against a target of 800.
The original ambition was laid out by Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy at Walmart’s annual Investment Community Meeting in April 2025. At the time, with the service sitting at nearly 300 stores, up from roughly 100 just nine months prior, Krishnamurthy had projected reaching 800 dark stores by the end of the year. While the company has missed this mark, it now intends to accelerate expansion “having figured out an expansion playbook,” Badri said.
Expansion Playbook
“We intend to go to a 1,000 [stores] by March-April. We are committed to opening three to four new dark stores every day over the next 120 days, which marks a significant acceleration in execution,” he added. Badri dismissed concerns regarding the missed 2025 target, describing the current pace as being “on track” and “strengthening.” He argued that Flipkart holds a structural advantage due to its existing supply chain presence in 21,000 pin codes, which allows it to launch operations in new geographies 20-40% faster than competitors who must build infrastructure from scratch.
The push comes as Flipkart attempts to gain ground in a sector where incumbents have established massive infrastructure leads. Market leader Blinkit, owned by Eternal, continues to aggressively scale its physical footprint. At the end of September, Blinkit reported operating 1,816 dark stores, having added 272 net new stores in that quarter alone.
The company expects to cross the 2000 store mark by end of this year, and has also revised its long-term guidance, now targeting 3,000 dark stores by March 2027. Meanwhile, Swiggy’s Instamart ended the September at around 1,100 dark stores across 128 cities. In its recent Rs 10,000 crore Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), Swiggy had outlined a target to expand its quick commerce fulfillment network from 5 million square feet to 6.7 million square feet by the end of 2028.
The company has recently focused on deploying larger ‘megapod’ dark stores of 8,000–10,000 square feet capable of housing over 50,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) over mere network density in terms of dark store count.
Additionally, IPO-bound Zepto, which currently operates just over 1000 dark stores, is also said to be resuming expansion plans, after a period of restraint aimed at stabilising cash burn in build up to the listing. Meanwhile, Tata-owned BigBasket after announcing a pivot to focus on quick commerce at the end of 2024, under its BB Now vertical, currently operates over 850 dark stores enabled for quick delivery.
Amazon with its ‘Amazon Now’ service, is closing 2025 with roughly 300 micro-fulfillment centers, planning to add 2-3 dark stores daily.
Battle for Dominance
Despite the numerical gap, Badri emphasised that Flipkart’s strategy focuses on distinct geographic penetration rather than just adding metro density. “Minutes is not a 9-10 city phenomenon for us. We want to expand the service to 75-80 cities by April 2026,” he added. Badri noted that the company has been “pleasantly stumped” by the traction in Tier-2 and Tier-3 hubs, where new stores are crossing 1,000 to 1,500 daily orders within 2-3 weeks of launching.
To cater to these non-metro markets, Flipkart is opting for larger dark stores ranging between 4,500 to 5,000 square feet. This format allows the company to stock a broader assortment of electronics and appliances, leveraging its traditional e-commerce strengths, he added. In metro cities, the company will look to open smaller dark stores to add the density required to maintain 10-15 minute deliveries.