Ever wonder where your online groceries orders come from?
Well, it’s not a secret society or anything, but a dark store. A dark store is like any other store, except they don’t have a public entrance.
And it is not dark and gloomy as it is in the cover photo 🙂
The term “dark store” comes from being hidden away from shoppers. Although they are also known as micro-fulfillment centers, they are not large retail outlets. Instead, they’re tiny warehouses where orders may be collected or sent to customers.
The term “dark store” comes from being hidden away from shoppers.
I know that you’re probably curious about what goes on behind the scenes at a dark store, and that’s why I want to show you around.
In recent years, dark stores have been popping up all over the place. These commercial facilities look like regular grocery stores but are not accessible to the general public. Instead, dark stores are designed solely to fulfill online orders.
This innovation in package delivery has significantly sped up the process and reduced operational costs. Dark stores are usually located in industrial areas or near transportation hubs, which helps to ensure that orders can be quickly and efficiently fulfilled.
A typical dark store is set up like a regular retail store, with racks and shelves for inventory, but there are no public entrances or storefronts. Instead, they are usually located in industrial areas or near transportation hubs so delivery drivers can easily access them.
Microcommerce platforms like Wolt, Bolt, and Glovo are rapidly changing how we shop and consume, and dark stores are the cornerstone of their expansion towards traditional retail store buyers.
What is the dark store concept?
Dark stores are special warehouses used to fulfill online orders. They are designed to look like regular retail stores, but there are no public entrances or storefronts. This allows businesses to ship products directly from the warehouse, speeding up the process and reducing costs.
What is the difference between a dark store and a warehouse?
A dark store is a special warehouse used to fulfill online orders. It is designed to look like a regular store, with racks and shelves for inventory. However, there are no public entrances or storefronts. A warehouse is a large space used to store goods. It is not designed to look like a retail store and usually has no public entrance.
Who invented dark stores?
The term ‘dark store’ first appeared in 2009, when Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket chain, opened its first customer-free supermarkets. As the supermarket struggled to cope with high demand from online orders, and in-store shoppers had to contend with pickers and personal shoppers, Tesco needed to move their online picking out of its existing stores.
Tesco saw the dark store concept as a more efficient way to deal with the growth in online sales and projected opening one dark store per year.
What are the benefits of dark stores?
Reduced costs:
Dark stores are less expensive to run than retail stores. There is no need to invest money in presentation. You don’t have to be concerned about the shop’s appearance or layout to impress your consumers; they won’t see your interior! All you need is a practical design that ensures everything is accessible for workers to increase productivity.
Quicker order fulfillment:
Online shoppers are used to receiving their orders quickly and efficiently. With a dark store, businesses can ship products directly from the warehouse without going through the process of packaging and shipping items from a retail location. This helps to speed up the order fulfillment process and keep customers happy.
Increased productivity:
Dark stores are designed for one purpose: to fulfill orders quickly and efficiently. This allows workers to be more productive as they are not interrupted by customers and don’t have to deal with other retail tasks. In addition, with your team having the floor to themselves, things will go more smoothly. They can do their job without making many mistakes, and with maximum effectiveness.
Easier to scale:
Adding more space to a dark store is easier than adding it to traditional grocery stores. With no need for public entrances or storefronts, businesses can add to their existing warehouse space as needed. This makes it easier to scale operations and keep up with demand.
Is there a future for dark stores?
The future of dark stores looks bright. They have the potential to alter the e-commerce industry forever. When examining the statistics, one can see that consumers’ behavior has changed. People are putting greater emphasis on convenience rather than price. The pandemic has accelerated this process significantly.
As seen in a 2021 Forbes research:
- 78% of consumers say that today they value convenience more than they did before the pandemic;
- 45% of shoppers choose convenience over price when making a purchase;
- Across the Atlantic, 90% of UK shoppers who have used ‘Click and Collect’ more often since the outbreak will continue to do so once all the restrictions are lifted;
- 84% of consumers that have tried a new online retailer during the pandemic say they will likely keep going back if they’re happy with the product and the experience.
The trend is here to stay, and with it the need for dark stores. In the future, we can expect to see more businesses opening dark stores to fulfill online orders. We may also see a rise in smaller, local dark stores as companies strive to provide consumers with a more convenient and efficient experience.
A combination of microcommerce platforms like Wolt, Bolt, and Glovo with dark stores makes a deadly competition for classic retailers.
To read a bit more about how platforms like Wolt are threatening old-school retailers, you can read my article on How will Wolt Destroy Retailers Without Them Even Being Aware of It?
So, what are your thoughts on dark stores? Do you think they are the future of e-commerce?
Let me know in the comments below!
