As Instant Delivery services are taking off all over the world, it's becoming very clear that supermarket chains want to get in on the action. Over the past months, we've seen more and more supermarkets partner with or invest in big rapid delivery players. And these kinds of partnerships make sense: Supermarkets expand their distribution network and reduce competition in the market, while delivery services benefit from their existing supply chains to increase their margins.
Tesco, UK's largest supermarket chain, is partnering with Gorillas to deliver their products in 10 minutes. As Evening Standards reports, "Tesco products will be available for customers to purchase from the Gorillas app within a selected area." To realize this ambition, micro-fulfillment sites are implemented into existing Tesco stores. Deliveroo is also tapping into the instant grocery market, together with the British supermarket chain Morrisons. Their service is called "Hop" and will use the dark store model. In France, Uber partners with the supermarket Carrefour, launching a service which is called Carrefour Sprint, CNBC reports. Using dark stores, that are operated by the startup Cajoo, shoppers can order their groceries via the Uber Eats app.
🦍 Tesco and Gorillas trial tie-up for 10-minute supermarket deliveries in London
🍏 Deliveroo takes on start-up rivals with 10-minute grocery delivery service
🛍 Uber jumps into Europe’s rapid grocery delivery market with 15-minute service in Paris
All over the world, grocery delivery startups raise money to fuel their operations and try to secure their market shares. Zepto, which was founded by two 19-year-old entrepreneurs, raised $60M valuing the startup at $225 million. Pop Market, a startup from Greece, secured $3.5M and claims it to be the country’s largest seed raise to date. The Russian tech giant Yandex just launched its instant grocery delivery service Yango Deli in London to compete with other big players like Getir and Gorillas.
💰 Zepto, a 10-minute grocery delivery app in India, raises $60 million
💵 Greece’s Pop Market, another dark store grocery delivery startup, gets $3.5M
⚡ London’s ultra-fast grocery delivery war heats up with the arrival of Yandex
In other news, Instacart acquired smart checkout startup Caper AI for $350M. Caper AI offers smart cart and cashier-less checkout technology, and the goal behind the purchase is to unify in-store and online shopping for customers, Instacart says. The Venezuelan food delivery and ride-sharing app Yummy acquired Bolivian delivery company Yaigo. The companies will now focus on expanding their business in Latin America. Wayve, a company offering a new self-driving approach, announced a partnership with the Ocado Group. As stated in Wayves Company News, they want to "accelerate the development of autonomous grocery deliveries for complex urban environments."
🛒 Instacart acquires smart checkout startup Caper AI for $350M
🌎 Venezuelan App Yummy Acquires Yaigo to Speed-Up Its International Expansion
🔗 Wayve and Ocado Group Partner to Develop Autonomous Grocery Deliveries
What's the Point of 15-Minute Grocery Delivery? A question which Aaron Gordon asks in a recent Tech by Vice article. He takes a critical look at the latest instant grocery market developments and what the vision of Ralf Wenzel is, Founder and CEO of the startup JOKR. Interesting insights into the Mexican market developments are shared in a report published by the journalism organization rest of the world. The Turkish instant grocery delivery company Getir operates with a dark store franchise model and with its recent expansion to other countries, the question is if the franchise model will also work in the UK. A shift away from only operating with dark stores is planned by delivery company Gopuff. As Grocery Dive reports, Gopuff wants "to open an omnichannel store in San Francisco outfitted with digital ordering kiosks and built to efficiently manage in-store and online orders"
⏱ What’s the Point of 15-Minute Grocery Delivery?
🇲🇽 The race to build Mexico’s quickest delivery app
🇬🇧 Does Getir’s new dark store model make sense for UK franchisees?
🏬 Gopuff plans to open a digital-first retail store
To tackle the "last mile" many hardware companies develop and test new delivery systems. "For three months last summer, residents in one Seattle neighborhood received their packages via electric cargo bike rather than a delivery van", which reduced CO2 emissions by 30% per package, Kristin Toussaint explains in a FastCompany article. The German company Volocopter developed an electric cargo drone to transport large loads from A to B and create a seamless all-electric delivery system. Its public lift off in Hamburg showed how in combination with cargo bikes, the future of the last mile is going to look like. Smaller items, like food orders from a restaurant, can be delivered by semi-autonomous rovers as Serve Robotics shows.
🌱 This e-bike delivery experiment reduced CO2 emissions by 30% per package
🚁 Volocopter's massive cargo drone lifts off in public for the first time
🦾 Robot Serve Doesn’t Need a Delivery Man to Bring You Food
Building and growing a profitable business is a challenge that every company has to face. "Stores and delivery services are trying to find the delicate balance between what they need to charge to cover their costs and how much customers are willing to pay before deciding to go inside a supermarket to get groceries," states Michelle Cheng in a Quartz article. At the same time, it's important to automate as many processes as possible to cut costs and save valuable time. SaaS tools can therefore help to unlock the full potential of your business. Enjoy these articles, and don't hesitate to get in touch with any questions.
💸 How much should grocery delivery really cost?
🔄 How Rapid Grocery Delivery Companies Can Automate Their Operations
