[Dark grocery stores exist solely for delivery purposes. There are
no customers to shop the aisles, and there are no checkout lines; it
is less like an ordinary grocery store and more like a shipping center
hidden under the façade of a grocery store.]
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PORTSIDE CULTURE

WHAT IS A ‘DARK GROCERY STORE’ AND HOW DOES IT WORK?  
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Chase Shustack
January 25, 2023
The Daily Meal
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_ Dark grocery stores exist solely for delivery purposes. There are
no customers to shop the aisles, and there are no checkout lines; it
is less like an ordinary grocery store and more like a shipping center
hidden under the façade of a grocery store. _

Integrated technology and a small facility makes delivery faster,
Bloomberg/Getty Images

 

Here's a bit of an experiment for you. Go to your local grocery store,
walk around for a little bit, then drive to the grocery store the next
town over and do the same thing. Do you notice anything different?
Sure, the layout of the stores may not be exactly the same, but aside
from that, are there any fundamental, noticeable differences? They
have the same aisles of similar products, the same long lines of
shoppers, the same squeaky grocery carts, and even the same music
playing over the speakers. All these little things make a grocery
store feel like just that: a grocery store.

Is it possible to run a grocery store without any customers? Without
the shopping carts or sales displays? Without any clerks or
shelf-stockers? According to Forbes, such a thing is possible and
seems to be gathering momentum. This type of place is known as a "dark
store," which exists solely for delivery purposes. There are no
customers to shop the aisles, and there are no checkout lines since
every transaction occurs digitally. Think of it less like an ordinary
grocery store and more as a shipping center hidden under the façade
of a grocery store. Some of these dark stores, suggests Locus
Robotics, may even be partially automated, cutting out a good number
of the average grocery store employee pool.

But how can a dark store operate? What makes such an operation tick?

In 2022, Mara Weintraub of The Kitchn did an in-depth look at the
operations of Gorillas, an online grocery delivery company in New
York. Weintraub's main goal was to discover how the company could
manage such quick delivery times, as her order had been delivered just
under 10 minutes after she placed it.

Weintraub discovered that the grocery store of Gorillas is actually
very small, roughly 3,000 square feet. The interior is more or less
industrial, with products on metal shelving in a very particular way
— such as cans of chickpeas next to pasta and condensed milk,
something credited to helping delivery drivers (called "riders") to
cut down on shopping time. These riders also use a special scanning
tool that tells them what kind of product to grab and alerts them if
it's the wrong product, which helps ensure accuracy. The Gorillas
company serves only small pockets of New York (Weintraub claims the
area of this location has a 1.5-mile radius in her Brooklyn
neighborhood), so the small area allows for drivers to quickly deliver
the order right across town rather than hop on the expressway to
deliver it.

Peerless-Assigns explains that the use of no-frills stocking, a focus
on supplying goods rather than making room for the customer, and
innovative technologies like automated delivery mechanisms help to
give dark stores an edge over the usually crowded and
compartmentalized grocery stores.

While ordering groceries and getting them in just ten minutes sounds
convenient, some worry that this futuristic type of grocery shopping
may not bode well for all of us.

According to The Guardian, some have shown a bit of apprehension
about the idea of dark stores in general, as they believe it will
negatively affect communities and those who live in them. Some, such
as Shelly Steward of Aspen Institute's Future of Work Initiative,
are concerned that grocery employees in these stores may be
mistreated or seen as "... just another expense on a spreadsheet," as
these types of stores seek efficiency and profit above all else.
Others believe that these dark stores may drive out local small
businesses, as they would be unable to compete with the low costs the
dark store can offer.

Food Logistics also notes that the advent of dark stores showcases
that supermarkets must begin to focus more on online sales rather than
brick-and-mortar transactions. If a store cannot offer delivery or
online services, dark stores may be seen as a more acceptable
alternative. A small business may find itself cutting down to try and
match the speed and cheapness of a dark store, which in turn may make
the business lose even more customers.

Whether one is for or against dark stores, they mark a new era in how
we shop for groceries.

* grocery stores; shopping habits; supermarket
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