Why Swiggy Instamart is experimenting with an offline experiential store in Gurugram

Instamart, the rapid-delivery arm of Swiggy, is testing a small but telling shift in how quick-commerce companies think about shopping. In Gurugram, the Bengaluru-based company has opened its first Instamart-branded experiential store, a compact, offline format designed less for transactions than for discovery, at a moment when the sector is maturing and consumers are seeking more tactile ways to engage with products.

The store allows shoppers to see and handle a curated selection of items typically ordered through the app, bridging the gap between the efficiency of on-demand delivery and the familiarity of physical retail. It is a notable experiment in an industry that has, until now, relied almost entirely on dark stores and invisible infrastructure.

For Instamart, the move does not signal a pivot to conventional retail. The stores are intended to function as mini experiential formats, operated by sellers in and around residential societies, much like the company’s dark stores. Under this model, sales proceeds flow directly to the sellers, rather than first being routed through Swiggy and later settled after commissions are deducted.

The scale is deliberately modest. Each outlet is expected to be about 400 square feet — roughly a tenth the size of a typical dark store — and will stock only 100 to 200 products, compared with the 15,000 to 20,000 stock-keeping units available in Instamart’s fulfilment centres. The assortment will focus on fresh fruits and vegetables, pulses, new product launches and select direct-to-consumer brands.

People familiar with the matter said the Gurugram outlet should be seen as a pilot rather than the start of an omnichannel strategy. Swiggy has not yet decided whether it will expand the format or continue operating such stores beyond this initial test, they said. The company did not respond to queries seeking comment.

The experiment comes shortly after Swiggy raised about ₹10,000 crore through a qualified institutional placement, which drew strong investor interest. Roughly half of those proceeds, the company has said, will be deployed toward expanding its quick-commerce business — underscoring that, even as it flirts with offline touchpoints, Instamart’s ambitions remain firmly anchored in the rapid-delivery economy.