Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart Expand Dark Stores Rapidly; Zepto Slows Down: JP Morgan

Quick commerce players Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart led dark store expansions across Indian cities including Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, while Zepto moderated its pace, according to JP Morgan's latest report, which tracked dark store additions till March 2025.

The brokerage found diverging trends in dark store additions and city footprints across more than 150 cities.

JP Morgan highlighted that Blinkit and Swiggy's Instamart added approximately 250–300 dark stores each during fourth quarter of fiscal 2024-25. In contrast, Zepto added around 105 stores, continuing its slower expansion seen in recent quarters, suggesting a potential peak in its growth intensity.

Swiggy's Instamart has also narrowed the gap with Zepto in terms of store count and performance. Instamart's total dark store count is now close to Zepto's, driven by higher platform subsidies and wider availability, which are reflected in JP Morgan's price and availability tracker.

Meanwhile, the store vintage—a measure of how long stores have been operational—is still falling for Blinkit and Instamart. This trend is likely to put short-term pressure on profitability. Zepto's store network, on the other hand, is aging and may support stronger margin outcomes.

In terms of city coverage, Blinkit expanded aggressively, increasing its footprint from 85 cities in December 2024 quarter to 153 by March-end. Instamart too expanded from 75 cities in December 2024 to over 100. Many of these city launches were limited to one or two stores, reflecting a strategy of testing waters in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. In contrast, Zepto continued to consolidate its presence in existing cities.

Geographically, Blinkit retained leadership in North and East India, while Zepto and Instamart dominated the South. However, the entry into newer cities by Blinkit and Instamart may bring near-term margin pressure despite easing competitive heat from Zepto.