What is a dark store?
A dark store is a retail site closed to walk-in shoppers that stocks groceries and everyday goods only to fill online orders, usually for quick commerce apps that promise delivery in minutes; Dashmote's delivery data covers 15M+ storefronts, restaurants and shops. For a brand, each dark store is a shelf the shopper never walks past, so the opportunity is to see which ones list you and which list a competitor.
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How a dark store works
A dark store looks like a small supermarket with the customers taken out: aisles laid out for pickers, not for browsing, a short range of fast-moving products, and a delivery zone of a few kilometres. Some quick commerce apps run their own dark stores; others list partner supermarkets and convenience stores that pick online orders from the shop floor. Usage varies, and some reports call both "dark stores". Say which one you mean.
What matters for a brand is who decides. The app's buying team sets the range and most prices centrally, then each store is replenished on its own. So the questions shift from the outlet owner to the platform: is the product listed, is it in stock in the store that serves this shopper, and what does it cost today.
Dark store brands by region
Quick commerce grew fast and then consolidated, so the brand names change by market. Examples of dark-store brands by market are below. Several early brands have since closed, been bought by rivals or left markets.
Marketplaces such as Instacart and the grocery tabs of the big delivery apps are not dark stores: they sell from existing supermarkets and convenience stores.
How to measure a brand in dark stores
There is no single formula; brand teams track three numbers per app and city.
Store coverage (%) = dark stores listing the product / dark stores of that app in the city x 100
Out-of-stock rate (%) = store checks where the listed product cannot be ordered / all store checks for that product x 100
Price and promotion: the regular price and the promotional price, tracked separately per store, plus how many days a month the product is on promotion.
Worked example
Take a quick commerce app in one city and a snack brand that sells through it.
- The app runs 12 dark stores in the city.
- The brand's core product is listed in all 12: store coverage = 12 / 12 = 100%. Its new flavour is listed in 8: coverage = 8 / 12 = 67%.
- Across 12 store checks in the month, the core product was out of stock in 1: out-of-stock rate = 1 / 12 = 8%.
The listing gap (four stores without the new flavour) goes to the account manager for the app. The stock gap goes to the supply conversation. They are different fixes, which is why they are measured apart.
Dark store, dark kitchen or convenience store?
| Dark store | Dark kitchen | Convenience store on a delivery app | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sells | Packaged groceries and everyday goods | Cooked meals | Packaged goods |
| Open to walk-in shoppers | No | No | Yes |
| Who sets the range | The app or the retailer, centrally | The restaurant brands cooking there | The shop owner |
| Channel | Off-trade | Restaurant delivery | Off-trade |
A dark store sells packs at shelf-style prices for consumption at home, so it belongs to the off-trade side of the on-trade vs off-trade split.
How Dashmote data helps
Grocery, convenience and liquor stores listed on the delivery apps Dashmote covers are tracked next to restaurants, with their range, prices and availability. Dark stores are not tracked separately. See food delivery insights for the restaurant side on the same platform.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a dark store and a dark kitchen?
A dark store sells packaged groceries for delivery; a dark kitchen cooks restaurant meals for delivery. Neither serves walk-in customers.
Can shoppers visit a dark store?
No. A dark store is closed to the public and only picks online orders, which is what makes it dark.
Who decides which products a dark store stocks?
Usually the quick commerce app's central buying team. It sets the range and most prices, and each store is then replenished on its own, so listing and stock can differ store by store.
Is quick commerce on-trade or off-trade?
Off-trade. Quick commerce sells packs at shelf-style prices for consumption at home, the same as a supermarket or convenience store.
Why do brands track dark stores one by one?
Because a product can be listed by the app and still be out of stock in the store that serves a given shopper. City or national averages hide those gaps.