Dark-store ops: the real-world math behind 10-minute delivery
10-minute delivery isn't really a logistics trick. It's a real-estate and inventory problem wearing a logistics costume.
A dark store is a small local warehouse (not open to walk-in customers) stocked with a carefully chosen set of fast-moving items, placed close enough to customers that an order can be picked, packed, and handed to a rider within minutes.
🎯 Explain Like I'm Hired A dark store bets that being close enough to deliver in 10 minutes is worth running many small, less-efficient local warehouses instead of a few big, efficient regional ones. Example: a single dark store might only cover a 2-3 km radius, meaning covering a whole city takes dozens of them, each with its own rent, staff, and inventory, very unlike a normal e-commerce model where one big regional warehouse can cover an entire metro area.
Sign up to keep reading
Sign up free to unlock the worked examples, edge cases, and interview traps below.