Quick commerce companies slow dark stores buildout to control cash burn

After a year of rapid expansion of dark stores, quick commerce firms are pulling back on adding such warehouses to control their cash burn. Real estate prices for dark stores had peaked a year ago but now players are renegotiating lease agreements, according to industry executives.

An exception is Blinkit, which is backed by parent Eternal’s $2 billion war chest and plans to expand its network to 3,000 stores from 1,544 dark stores as of June 30. Rivals Swiggy and Zepto, with cash reserves of $600-700 million each, have slowed down.

Swiggy’s