Select and assess sites for a micro-fulfilment centre or dark store using catchment, density and delivery-time criteria.
Warehousing & Procurement
Micro-Fulfilment Centres and Dark Store Operations for Rapid Grocery Delivery
Design and run micro-fulfilment centres and dark stores for rapid grocery delivery, covering site selection, compact layout, order picking, rider dispatch, hyperlocal forecasting and unit economics.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
A ten to thirty minute grocery delivery promise is won or lost inside a few hundred square metres, where every extra metre of picker travel and every minute of rider dwell time shows up directly in the delivery window. Micro-fulfilment centres and dark stores compress the traditional distribution centre into a compact, often automated site placed close to demand, carrying a narrow assortment weighted to the lines that rapid delivery customers actually order. This course works through site selection and catchment analysis, compact layout and assortment design, and the order-to-dispatch sequence that keeps picking and rider hand-off inside a tight time budget. Delegates practise hyperlocal demand forecasting, replenishment planning for short shelf-life stock, and freshness and waste control across chilled, frozen and ambient zones in a single small footprint. The course closes with peak and surge management and a cost-per-delivery model that supports the decision between opening a new site and extending an existing one's delivery radius.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Design a compact SKU assortment and layout that shortens travel distance for the fastest-moving rapid delivery lines.
Sequence order picking and batching so small, frequent orders are released and packed within a tight time budget.
Integrate site order management with rider dispatch and routing to minimise hand-off and rider dwell time.
Forecast hyperlocal demand and set replenishment frequency suited to a small footprint and short shelf life.
Control freshness and waste in a compact multi-temperature site through rotation, markdown and cold chain monitoring.
Build a cost-per-delivery model and use it to decide between new-site investment and extending an existing catchment.
Who Should Attend
Operations managers launching or running micro-fulfilment centres or dark stores for rapid grocery delivery.
Quick commerce and last-mile logistics planners designing hyperlocal fulfilment networks.
Retail and grocery supply chain managers converting store space into dark store picking operations.
Site design and layout specialists working on compact, high-density fulfilment footprints.
Demand planners and category managers setting assortment and replenishment for rapid delivery formats.
Last-mile dispatch and rider operations leads coordinating hand-off between store and delivery fleet.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Designing the Micro-Fulfilment or Dark Store Network
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Site Selection and Catchment Analysis
- Define the delivery-time promise driving catchment size, from doorstep delivery target back to maximum site-to-customer distance.
- Use population density, historical order density and competitor coverage to shortlist candidate sites for a new catchment.
- Assess a retail unit or dark store shell for ceiling height, power supply, loading access and change-of-use constraints.
- Model the number and spacing of sites needed to cover a city area within a target delivery window.
Session 2SKU Assortment and Layout Design
- Select a compact assortment weighted to the high-frequency, high-margin lines that suit small-basket rapid orders.
- Design a layout that shortens travel distance for the fastest-moving SKUs identified from order history.
- Choose between manual pick trolleys, pick-to-cart methods and automated storage for a site's expected volume and footprint.
- Plan chilled and frozen zones within a compact footprint without breaking cold chain integrity during picking.
02Operating a Dark Store or Micro-Fulfilment Site
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Order Processing and In-Store Picking
- Sequence single- and multi-item orders from order receipt to pick release within a tight time budget.
- Batch or wave small orders to keep picker travel low without delaying the fastest orders in the queue.
- Manage substitution and out-of-stock decisions at the point of picking so orders are not delayed by one missing line.
- Coordinate a hand-off point where completed orders wait for the shortest possible time before rider collection.
Session 2Rider and Last-Mile Dispatch Integration
- Integrate the site's order management system with a dispatch or routing engine that allocates orders to available riders.
- Set a staging and hand-off process that keeps rider dwell time at the site to a minimum.
- Plan rider capacity against forecast order arrival by hour to avoid both idle riders and delivery delay.
- Agree service recovery steps for a missed delivery window or a temporary shortage of available riders.
03Demand, Inventory and Freshness Management
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Hyperlocal Demand Forecasting and Replenishment
- Forecast demand at SKU and site level from local, short-history sales data rather than a national average.
- Set replenishment frequency and order quantities suited to a small storage footprint and short shelf life.
- Plan for promotional and weather-driven demand spikes specific to a single catchment area.
- Time replenishment delivery windows so restocking does not block active order picking on the shop floor.
Session 2Freshness, Waste and Perishable Control
- Apply first-expired-first-out rotation suited to short shelf-life grocery lines within a compact store.
- Set markdown and waste triggers for stock approaching its use-by or best-before date.
- Monitor cold chain temperature across chilled, frozen and ambient zones within a single small site.
- Reconcile shrinkage and waste data back to the assortment and ordering plan to reduce repeat losses.
04Performance, Economics and Scaling the Network
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Peak Management and Surge Capacity
- Plan flexible labour and rider capacity for predictable peaks such as evenings, weekends and weather events.
- Set an order-throttling or extended-delivery-window rule for when demand exceeds current site capacity.
- Run a surge playbook that reallocates picking or delivery capacity between nearby sites during a spike.
- Debrief each peak period against plan to refine labour, rider and inventory assumptions for the next one.
Session 2Unit Economics and Network Scaling
- Build a cost-per-delivery model covering site cost, labour, packaging and last-mile transport cost.
- Compare micro-fulfilment, dark store and store-pick fulfilment models for a given order profile and city.
- Decide when a catchment area justifies a new site rather than extending an existing site's delivery radius.
- Track site-level contribution margin to prioritise the next wave of network expansion.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
Complete your registration
We will contact you within one business day to confirm.
Ready to start?
Reserve your seat and start building the skill.