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What is Q-commerce?
Q-commerce - also known as quick commerce, delivery on demand or e-grocery is a fast growing branch of e-commerce. What distinguishes traditional e-commerce from q-commerce is timing. Usually shops offer next day delivery or personal collection, whereas with quick commerce the delivery takes no longer than an hour.
What are Dark Stores?
Dark Store – is a point intended for quick service of orders for own use or for partner networks. Despite the name and the appearance reminiscent of an ordinary convenience store, these shops are not intended for customers from the street. Only couriers and employees of q-commerce platforms are entitled to enter in order to collect a previously prepared delivery, or to shop according to an online order.
Dark Store outlets are generally between 200 and 250 sqm in size. In the case of larger distribution centres, for example in densely built-up commercial or residential areas, these units are as large as 1,000 square metres in order to be able to handle orders efficiently according to the Dark Store concept.
What are Dark Kitchens?
Like Dark Stores, Dark Kitchens or Black Restaurants are not designed for customer service and order processing inside the premises. These facilities are more like food factories and pick-up points for q-commerce couriers. There are no tables or waiters inside, and a customer from the street cannot walk in and order food. These outlets are by design created for fast and mass service of online orders.
Quick commerce in Poland
With the development of e-commerce in Poland observed in recent years, the q-commerce / e-grocery sub-sector has also developed. More and more companies are developing their courier networks in the largest Polish cities. These include Pyszne.pl, Uber Eats, Bolt Food, Glovo, Wolt.
It can be assumed that the French supermarket chain Carrefour was one of the first to start implementing q-commerce solutions. The company has created integrated warehouses at many of its outlets, serving only online orders . This has allowed to offer several types of delivery, including Carrefour Sprint, which takes up to 3 hours and is available in almost every town with a Carrefour shop.
The largest discount store chain in the country, Biedronka, in cooperation with Glovo, offers the Biedronka Express service, while Żabka created the Jush service. MAKRO and InPost have decided to enter the e-grocery segment in joint cooperation.
Dark stores in Poland
At the moment there is no data on the number of Dark Stores and Dark Restaurants in Poland. Our native q-commerce platform, Lisek, also provides fast delivery of q-commerce orders, but only operates in Warsaw. The company has its Dark Stores in Wilanów, Ursynów, Kabaty and Mokotów, delivering orders daily from 8am to 11pm.
Until now, one of the most active players on the market was the American q-commerce platform Jokr, present in Warsaw. By August 2021, the company had 7 Dark Stores located in Wola, Mokotów, Wilanów and Bielany. There were plans to open up to 20 Dark Stores in the capital alone, and in the next stage in Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznan and the Tri-City. In March 2022, it announced that it was closing all of its locations and suspending operations in Poland to focus on its South and North American operations. In November 2021, another platform, Swyft, also announced that it was suspending its operations in Poland despite having started a few months earlier.
New players are preparing to enter the Polish market – Grovy and Gorillas.
There are many indications that, at least in part, the niche for q-commerce was very quickly filled by existing retailers who already had the infrastructure and logistics (a network of existing shops). These same entities, in addition to the existing chain of shops, already had an established pool of customers who had previously bought the same products in stationary shops. In the case of existing shop chains, developed relationships with suppliers and experience in the industry are not insignificant. These large and already experienced players, unlike start-ups, have the capital needed for development and marketing.
Dark stores around the world
Amsterdam and Rotterdam have banned the opening of new Dark Store units and suspended the operations of already open ones for at least a year.
Dark Store outlets and their activities are not clearly regulated by law. At the beginning of 2022 in the Netherlands, the two big cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam banned the opening of new Dark Store outlets and suspended already open ones for at least a year. They point to the negative impact of the establishments on the cityscape as the reason. Local residents protested because of the all-day and all-night noise and the pollution caused by couriers and dark shop employees (Dark Stores often operate 24/7). The ban was imposed for one year until the federal government legally regulates Dark Store operations. Similar voices are being heard in other European metropolises, such as London and Paris. Citizens' dissatisfaction is growing as companies open more and more outlets close to where they live, causing problems similar to those in the Netherlands.
The e-grocery market also proved to be competitive and demanding overseas, such as in New York. Gorillas used to provide express delivery of purchases, up to 10-15 minutes, but difficulties in meeting this demand have led the company to change its policy. Instead of information about the expected 10 minutes needed for delivery of purchases, the company advertises that it will deliver purchases "within minutes". Additionally, Gorillas has begun upgrading its 18 locations in New York to allow customers to pick up their orders in-store, as well as removing dark covers from storefronts.
Prospects for dark stores in Poland and their impact on the real estate market
PwC research shows that the Polish q-commerce market in 2021 reached a value of about 5 billion PLN, and in 2026 it is expected to amount to 18 billion PLN. In 2020-2026 the cumulative growth is expected to be as high as 29%. However, e-groceries are still a fairly new market in Poland, which may be strongly limited by consumer habits and urbanisation constraints. The example of Jokr and Swyft, has shown that the market is competitive. In turn, the example of cities in countries west of Poland shows further difficulties, e.g. with delivery times, which in highly urbanised agglomerations may be a challenge.
According to Savills research on q-commerce premises, "The typical size of these hubs [...] is between 250 and 1,000 sq m, located at ground level and perfectly connected to city centres or densely populated residential areas of more than 50,000 people; ideally within 2 to 3 km of the customer to guarantee promised delivery times." On the other hand, a dark store does not need the prominence and visibility of a traditional shop (therefore lower rent) and requires much less investment in fit-out since customers do not have access to the inside (lower start-up costs).
It is not clear whether and how q-commerce, dark shops and dark restaurants will affect traditional grocery retailers, restaurants and commercial real estate in general. For the time being, all indications are that dark stores and dark restaurants do not need a "new format" in the real estate sector, as they fit into existing segments, i.e. residential or office buildings with service premises on the ground floor and big-city chain shops, which are trying to adapt to new trends. The development of quick commerce and the emergence of dark stores seems to be a natural transformation of the market and an adaptation to changing customer needs rather than a revolution in the industry. The example of Gorillas in New York also shows that what we call dark stores today may in future have unveiled shop windows offering the possibility to pick up purchases on site. The final shape of q-commerce will be seen in the future especially when market consolidation occurs as a result of fierce competition.
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