On being asked about the geographical split of the new store addition Goyal said, “Our immediate focus in terms of building out infrastructure and business remains in the top eight cities because we still believe that is underserved from a supplier standpoint, and it’s sort of lower hanging fruit in terms of the opportunity there, before we really start building deeply into the smaller cities.”
He also underscored the company’s strategy of expanding its footprint in cities outside Delhi-NCR, which is its largest market. “The share of Delhi-NCR in our business continues to fall. A few quarters ago, it was around 47%, but today, it has dropped to below 40%. This shift shows that our efforts to expand beyond Delhi-NCR are paying off,” Goyal added.
The company is pushing an aggressive expansion plan, targeting 1,000 dark stores by the end of the fiscal year and 2,000 by the end of 2026. As of September 30, Blinkit operated 791 dark stores (micro warehouses facilitating its 10-minute delivery service), up from 639 stores on June 30. Blinkit is also extending its services to tier-II and tier-III cities, underscoring its growth ambitions.
In September, brokerage firm CLSA said that Blinkit had a 39% market share in the quick commerce segment, followed by Zepto and Instamart at 28% each. BigBasket’s BB Now and latest entrant Flipkart Minutes together had a 6% share in India’s 10-minute delivery market.
When asked about whether Blinkit’s new dark stores were franchise-owned or company-owned, Goyal said, “Our priority is to open franchise stores…but when a franchise partner is not available, then we go ahead and open our own store.”
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