Ola Cabs may expand into the quick commerce industry as its parent company, ANI Technologies, plans to open its own dark shops as demand for quick delivery in India develops, according to the report, citing anonymous sources. Dark shops are modest local warehouses that stock the merchandise provided by these businesses. These will be operated by Ola, with robots deployed to limit human participation.

According to the report, the Bhavish Aggarwal business plans to develop its own Unified Payments Interface (UPI) product for consumers. According to the article, announcements about this would most likely be made at Ola's annual Independence Day celebration on August 15.

A source stated, "It's a dark shop as a service in which the entire setup will be supplied with substantial automation, although there will be some individuals participating. A number of these efforts will be showcased as part of Ola's future strategy for the coming year, at a time when the ride-hailing industry has plateaued."

Those running dark storefronts may also employ Ola electric two-wheelers, depending on the agreement. "But an ONDC seller, an offline brand, or any other business can use this," an unidentified insider told the newspaper.

Another insider told, "This is another attempt by Ola to ride the quick commerce wave after it launched Ola Dash as an end-to-end quick commerce service and shut it down in 2022." Given the desire for speedy delivery in the majority of ecommerce categories, warehouses and better management will be in high demand."

This comes as Zomato-owned rapid commerce provider Blinkit announced ambitions to expand its dark storefronts to 2,000 by the end of 2026, up from 639 in the June quarter. Zepto will also double its dark shops to 700 by March 2025, compared to 1,000 for Blinkit at the same period.