Ola to set up 300 new dark stores in quick commerce push

Ola, an India-based mobility firm, has announced plans to expand Ola Dash, its quick commerce service.

In the next six months, the firm plans to have up to 500 dark stores across 20 cities, which the company claims will be the largest dark store network in the country. Currently, it has 200 dark stores, which offer more than 2,500 stock keeping units.

Notably, quick commerce firm Blinkit plans to operate 550 dark stores by the end of this month.

Photo credit: Ola

Ola Dash is currently operational in nine Indian cities and provides “store to door” delivery within 10 minutes. Customers can order items such as fresh produce, instant food, home care products, snacks and beverages, fruits and vegetables, and cooking utensils from the platform.

Ola aims to be delivering 500,000 orders per day by the end of the year.

See also: Will India’s 10-minute quick commerce model last?

“Our advanced geolocation tech, coupled with very low cost of customer acquisition gives us a unique advantage to bring the benefits of mobility to all,” Anshul Khandelwal, Ola’s chief marketing officer said in a statement.

This is the ride-hailing firm’s second foray into the delivery space. In 2019, it had suspended its food delivery services just a year and a half after buying Foodpanda India.

A Zepto dark store / Photo credit: Zepto

Ola’s announcement comes amid increasing investors’ interest in India’s quick commerce space, estimated to hit US$5 billion by 2025. Zepto, Dunzo, SoftBank-backed Blinkit, and Swiggy’s Instamart are already in the race to increase their footprints in the market.

According to a Moneycontrol report, Ola has set aside nearly US$33 million for its express grocery delivery service.

See also: Dark stores light up red-hot grocery delivery market