One thing that actually surprised me this week — Dmart,which everyone knows for those rock bottom grocery prices,has decided to shut down its online delivery service Dmart Ready in seven cities . And the reason they are giving is not exactly confidence inspiring .
According to Vikram Dasu,Director and CEO of Avenue E Commerce Limited,this decision is coming because those seven cities were simply not generating enough revenue . In his own words he said,"Our business model is concentrating more on major urban centers. We will be shutting down operations in these seven cities over the next three months due to the significantly low revenue contribution from these locations." That is pretty direct admission that smaller markets are just not working out for them right now .
And when you look at who is eating into their space,it starts making more sense . Blinkit,Swiggy Mart,Zepto — all three have been aggressively expanding and pulling customers away from slower delivery models . Dmart Ready was never built for 10-minute delivery culture and that gap is clearly showing now .
Few things worth understanding clearly here:
- Revenue from these seven cities reportedly did not meet expectations,prompting full shutdown of Dmart Ready operations there.
- Company is now shifting focus toward larger metropolitan areas where profit potential is much higher .
- Competitive pressure from Blinkit,Swiggy Mart and Zepto has directly impacted Dmart's market share in online grocery space.
To be fair,Dmart is not exactly struggling as whole brand . Physical stores still attract very loyal customer base because of genuine discounts — buy-one-get-one deals,seasonal offers,monsoon discounts on umbrellas,raincoats,wet weather footwear and so on . People still trust the brand for value shopping in offline format .
But online is different story entirely.
And interestingly,founder Radhakishan Damani is reportedly expanding investments in quick commerce sector at same time . So company is not ignoring digital space completely — they are just trying to reorganize and figure out where exactly they can actually compete without burning money .
Honestly,this whole situation reflects something uncomfortable for traditional retailers across India . You cannot just have online delivery as side offering anymore . Either you compete seriously on speed and convenience or customers simply move to whoever delivers faster . Middle ground is becoming very difficult to survive in.
What is unclear right now is whether pulling out of seven cities is beginning of larger retreat from Dmart Ready altogether,or just one course correction before they come back stronger in fewer markets . Because if smaller cities were not working,there is no guarantee metropolitan focus will automatically fix deeper structural problems with their online model…
