How BigBasket is using store-level pricing to fix dark store economics

Dark stores reporting lower volume offer higher discounts to increase demand, while high-volume stores reduce discounts for the same products and quantities.

About a year ago, in early 2025, BigBasket began converting its dark stores into IBBN (Integrated Big Basket Now) stores, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. These stores are larger and stock significantly more products than traditional dark stores. Both sources declined to be identified.

This was part of the company’s larger plan to double down on its swing trading model, known as BB Now.

The first of the two people cited above said that IBBN was “initially launched as a pilot project in a few selected cities.” Later, seeing the success of the model, it expanded across the country.

BigBasket initially built its business around customer-selected time windows and delivery windows where orders were fulfilled from larger warehouses. Over time, the company developed an express commerce arm called BBNow to offer faster deliveries within minutes, reflecting changing consumer demand and intense competition from players such as Swiggy, Blinkit and Zepto.

BigBasket has since “moved fully into express commerce,” integrating its traditional and express delivery offerings into a unified model that prioritizes faster fulfillment, the first person said.

An email sent to BigBasket seeking comment on Friday, January 9, remained unanswered at the time of publishing this story.

Discounts vary in Unnati and Pragati stores

The second person said that an IBBN dark warehouse typically spans around 20,000 sq ft and stocks 40,000-50,000 SKUs. SKU refers to stock keeping units, which are unique identifiers used for inventory tracking.

A Bernstein report from November 2025 noted that Swiggy Instamart operates dark stores with an average size of 4,200 sq ft, while Blinkit operates dark stores ranging from 3,100 to 3,500 sq ft. The larger IBBN format allows BigBasket to offer a wider assortment of products, but success still depends on store-level economics.

But the model’s success still depends on store-level economics. Satish Meena, founder of Datum Intelligence, said dark stores should be treated like other physical retail outlets. “If you run a chain, each store has to be profitable on its own,” he said.

IBBN stores are divided into two categories: Unnati and Pragati. Unnati, which means “to grow,” currently serves about 500 orders a day. BigBasket aims to increase this figure to around 1,500 orders per day for these stores to reach the break-even point. Pragati stores, meaning “progress”, receive around 1,200 orders a day and are already profitable.

The company’s goal is to convert as many Unnati stores as possible into Pragati stores. According to the second source, there are currently 26 Unnati and 14 Pragati dark stores in Bengaluru. Mint could not independently verify the national count.

Meena noted that it is difficult to justify constant losses in a high-cost model. “You can’t run a black store in an area if it’s not profitable for 12 months. At some point you get a call and have to close it down,” he said, pointing to fixed costs such as rent, electricity and cooling that burden the unit economy.

The Bernstein report found that delivery costs accounted for approximately 45% of total spending and that each delivery cost approximately ₹50. Staff salaries (including pickers, packers, and warehouse logistics workers) make up the other 30%.

“To increase the number of orders from Unnati dark stores, products are sold at much higher discounts,” said the first person quoted above. This leads to disparity in discounts when the consumer opens the BB Now app.

For example, the cost of a 1 kg package of local tomatoes is ₹58 in Indiranagar, central Bengaluru, but ₹29 in the eastern suburb of Whitefield. Egg prices show the opposite trend: the cost of a dozen Fresho eggs ₹64 in Indiranagar and ₹126th in Whitefield (Fresho is a BigBasket brand.) Mint observed several similar disparities between groceries and essential goods.

Sensitive discounts, concentrated financing

Deep discounts encourage higher order volumes, both sources said. Meena added that discounts in flash trade are increasingly localised. “Brands are now offering discounts at the postcode or dark store level. Pan-India discounts are no longer necessary,” he said, adding that this approach has become standard across the industry as offers, products and prices vary from one dark store to another.

Funding in the sector has increased in the last 10 months. Zepto has raised over $1.4 billion across multiple late-stage rounds and ₹11,000 crore IPO in 2026. Swiggy, Instamart ₹10,000 crore QIP, Zomato channeled some of it ₹8,500 crore capital raise for expansion of Blinkit’s dark store network.

Competition has intensified sharply. Flipkart Minutes has grown from a few hundred dark stores to over 500 in 2025 and plans to reach around 1,000 stores in more than 60 cities by March or April 2026. Amazon’s 10-minute delivery service is growing rapidly and is targeting nearly 300 micro-fulfillment centers by the end of the year. According to Reliance’s latest investor presentation, JioMart operates 5,000 pin codes and over 3,000 stores in over 1,000 cities.