Flipkart Minutes has overtaken Swiggy Instamart in dark store count across India’s top 10 cities, less than two years after entering the quick commerce segment. According to a CLSA report, Minutes had 627 dark stores as of August, compared with 615 for Instamart.
The shift comes as quick commerce platforms continue expanding their fulfilment networks across metros as well as smaller cities. Blinkit remains ahead with 969 dark stores, followed by Zepto with 828 and BigBasket with 497 across the 10 cities tracked by CLSA. The brokerage’s mapping excludes Amazon and JioMart.
Flipkart Minutes expands its fulfilment footprint
Flipkart launched Minutes in August 2024, entering the segment after Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart had already established sizeable store networks. Since then, the platform has expanded across both large urban markets and smaller cities, with the company previously stating that it was adding more than 100 stores every month.
In June, Flipkart said Minutes had crossed 1,000 micro fulfilment centres across more than 130 cities and over 8,000 pincodes. The company also reported a fivefold increase in orders over the previous year, while orders from Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets had grown 42 times.
Tier 3 cities become a key expansion area
CLSA’s latest mapping shows that Flipkart Minutes has increased its presence in Tier 3 cities 42 times over the past year. Its expansion includes smaller markets such as Ara and Muzaffarpur in Bihar, reflecting the company’s broader push beyond the established quick commerce hubs.
Flipkart has previously set a target of reaching 1,500 dark stores by the end of 2026, with a significant part of the expansion aimed at smaller cities. Meanwhile, Minutes is also narrowing the gap with Instamart on daily order volumes, with recent estimates placing Minutes above 1 million orders a day compared with around 1.3 million to 1.45 million for Instamart.
