Flipkart Minutes expands footprint with 200 dark stores in 14 cities

Flipkart Minutes, the quick commerce (q-com) service of the Walmart-owned e-commerce giant Flipkart, has established over 200 dark stores and is currently available in 14 cities in the country, said a senior executive from the company.

 

While delivering a session at the Startup Mahakumbh on Friday, Kanchan Mishra, vice-president at Flipkart Minutes, said, “We (Flipkart) have been around for long but Flipkart Minutes is a new venture where we are now in 14 cities and have over 200 stores. We are going fast and working closely with brands in this journey and taking them to the next stage.”

 

During the event, Mishra also mentioned that customer behaviour is evolving as they are looking for speed alongside selection and value proposition. The q-com platforms are also unlocking different consumer categories.

 

“Q-com is taking convenience a notch above. We have seen an interesting trend over the last year — from largely being a Gen Z-led channel, q-com has started evolving into a preferred channel for homemakers as well. With the homemaker, the largest customer segment in India, coming on to q-com, a much larger set of brands now see q-com as an opportunity, and we are seeing this as well.”

 

Flipkart Minutes, which started operations in August 2024, initially went live in some pockets of Bengaluru. The platform is currently delivering items including groceries, household essentials, electronics, smartphones, and personal care products within 10–15 minutes.

 

In order to intensify its q-com operations, the company was reportedly aiming to establish 500–550 dark stores ahead of its flagship 2025 Big Billion Days sale. The sale event usually takes place in September or October.

 

While Flipkart Minutes currently has over 200 dark stores, its rivals in the q-com space have a comparatively higher count. Q-com unicorn Zepto currently has over 900 dark stores. On the other hand, at the end of Q3 FY25, Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit had 705 and 1,007 dark stores respectively.