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Agnieszka Sękiewicz‑Magoń WHEN DARK MEANS BRIGHT

When you hear the name “dark store”, you most probably have some sinistersinistersinister or bad associationsassociations withassociations, but it is actually one of the brightest ideas in the online shopping sector, which helped numerous retail businessesretail businesses [retail business]retail businesses survive during the pandemic.

1.

Basically, a dark store is a retail space which is more like a warehousewarehousewarehouse with a customer‑free zonecustomer‑free zonecustomer‑free zone than a shop in the traditional sense. Usually, it’s a location which has been shut down and turned into a centre for fulfilment offulfilment offulfilment of online orders only. Since such distribution outletsdistribution outlets [distribution outlet]distribution outlets are not open to visitors, there is more space for store inventorystore inventorystore inventory, so the orders can be executed quickly and accurately. Dark stores are often found in the suburbsin the suburbsin the suburbs and on the outskirtson the outskirtson the outskirts of cities, taking advantage of affordable prices for real estatereal estatereal estate and easy road access. They provide shoppers with services and options such as purchasing things onlinepurchasing things onlinepurchasing things online, same‑day deliverysame‑day deliverysame‑day delivery, home deliveryhome deliveryhome delivery, or pickup in storestore pickuppickup in store.

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The first step is to process ordersprocess ordersprocess orders which have been placed onlineplaced onlineplaced online. After that, they are sent to the shop floor, where personal shoppers, colloquially known as “pickers”, pick them up and prepare the fulfilment of each order with the use of a tablet and a shopping trolley. All orders are displayed on the tablet which is attached to the shopping trolleyshopping trolleyshopping trolley. Sometimes pickers collect more than one order at the same time. The whole process is controlled by the Warehouse Management System, which automatically shows the staff  the optimal routesoptimal routes [optimal route]optimal routes for completion of orderscompletion of orderscompletion of orders according to the store layout. Once the order is completed, it is then packed and given to another employee or courier to deliver to the customer.

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There are three most common delivery options for dark stores: curbside pickupcurbside pickupcurbside pickup, in‑storein‑storein‑store pickup, and home delivery. In the first option, there is a specially dedicated parking space where a courier or an employee of the retailerretailerretailer will bring the ordered products straight to the boot of a customer’s car. This option is not only the safest from the pandemic perspective, but also the cheapest and the most convenientconvenientconvenient for customers, who do not have to pay extra delivery costs or get out of their cars to receive their orders. For the second option, there is a dedicated area inside the store, usually close to the entrance, where customers can pick up their orders without having to walk through the whole store. Again, it means no delivery expensesexpenses [expense]expenses. The last option, home delivery, is the most convenient way of having your order delivered, as it is fast, contactlesscontactlesscontactless, and perfect for items such as groceries or small essentials. The demand fordemand fordemand for this type of delivery has increased dramatically over the past few years, and it works well for dark stores.

4. 

Dark stores are one of the best solutions for e‑commerce, as they have the edge overhave the edge overhave the edge over retailers. They allow quick and contact‑free shopping, more efficient management of inventory, especially perishable productsperishable products [perishable product]perishable products, and enable the store to stock a more extensive range of products. Also, since dark stores operate 24/7, shift workshift workshift work makes it possible to increase the number of processed orders.

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The format is already very popular not only in China and the USA, but also in Europe, especially in the UK, France, Germany, and Spain. A further development of the dark stores sector is projectedprojectedprojected in the years to come, with an estimated 20% annualannualannual increase. Such types of stores are expected to appear soon in relatively cheap neighbourhoods with easy local distribution systems. Specialists predict that in the future there will also be fully‑automated dark stores, where order fulfilment will be done with the use of advanced intra‑logistics technologies, so the human workforcehuman workforcehuman workforce will be limited to a minimum. It looks like dark stores are not only here to say, but will continue to evolveevolveevolve as a concept.

1 Źródło: Agnieszka Sękiewicz‑Magoń , licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.