(New York, March 21, 2022) – Driven by the acceleration of Quick Commerce and retailers’ need for expanded online fulfillment space, Dark Stores are projected to be the fastest growing retail format globally in 2022. Tomorrow Retail Consulting, one of the world’s leading digital retail advisory firms, has tracked the rapid development and expansion of dark stores worldwide and today announced the launch of the Dark Store Tracker, a first-of-its-kind interactive tool.
Sourcing data from around the world, Tomorrow’s Dark Store Tracker captures international dark store count by brand, geographic location, automation status, type (pure grocery, convenience, hypermarket, etc.). “We’re committed to sharing the latest insights and trends in digital retail and have heard from retailers on the importance of competitive insights, especially in the field of fulfillment,” said Daryl Porter, Senior Partner of Global Omni Operations. “Retailers want to know who is doubling down on speed; they want to understand which markets have been there and done that.”
Tomorrow Retail Consulting’s Dark Store Tracker has uncovered several exciting insights on the development of Dark Stores. Tomorrow’s research indicated that there are currently 6,300 non-automated stand-alone dark stores globally, with more than 3,400 of those locations in China and India alone. Perhaps even more surprising: pure grocery players are becoming the expert use case with 3,100 dark store locations on the map today.
With more than 90 retailers across 25 countries operating in dark store territory, the Dark Store Tracker will enable industry leaders to keep a pulse on this disruptive trend.
For more details on the official launch of the Dark Store Tracker, visit https://tomorrowretail.com/ or find @TomorrowRetailConsulting on LinkedIn.
About Tomorrow Retail Consulting
Tomorrow Retail Consulting was created in 2019 from Founder and CEO Jordan Berke’s inspiration that retailers globally need guidance on how to turn their digital capabilities into a core advantage. After spending more than a decade launching and leading e-Commerce for Walmart in China where e-Commerce – and digital retail overall – was approximately five years ahead of most developed markets, Berke observed how Walmart and other retailers in China transitioned to a truly digital-first mindset – transforming stores from retail-only facilities to true omni-channel fulfillment centers. During his time with Walmart, Berke and team helped bring digital innovation into the physical store experience, through mobile checkout and personalized in-store digital platforms. They opened dark stores across the country and scaled rapid <1 hour delivery while most retailers were in the early stages of their omni evolution.
In 2019, knowing the retail world outside of China was ready to focus on digital, Berke launched Tomorrow Retail Consulting, a firm dedicated to making digital a core advantage for retailers around the world. Tomorrow Retail Consulting is based in Hong Kong with teams in the US, Canada, the UK, and China. For more information, visit https://tomorrowretail.com/
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