| On-demand delivery platform Glovo is expanding across various city estates in Nairobi to meet the growing demand, the company told TechMoran. |
| The firm has launched in Nairobi’s Central Business District with an innovative approach using skaters who can move to and from restaurants and offices to fulfill orders on behalf of Glovo. “We are pleased to let you know that we are live and delivering in CBD. You can now enjoy deliveries within minutes right from CBD. In addition, enjoy free deliveries until 20th July on all CBD orders,” the company said. adding that apart from its popular food category users can order for anything through its Anything button and have it delivered to them within minutes. ️ Glovo General Manager William Bentall told TechMoran, ” We have launched our courier services in CBD. We are in Thika Road, Ruaka, Eastlands and are expanding to Karen in a week. We are constantly thinking of where next to launch.” Bentall told TechMoran that the firm recently raised $170m for global expansion and across its individual markets like to major markets across Kenya. Globally, the firm is looking at expanding into Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa. Glovo believes South Africa is a mature market for its food and everything else delivery business. Glovo chose to launch in Kenya as one of its earliest markets in Africa because Kenyan consumers are already educated and aware of such services. The market is also not as saturated as Brazil in Latin America. “Kenya is a hub for East Africa and has a pool for riders. Its population is not as big but there is a culture of delivery already from restaurants, pharmacies, drinks and even among offices and online stores. We are now educating consumers to move from telephone orders to everything online and on smartphones,” Bentall said. The delivery firm is also working with various government agencies in Kenya around the two-wheeler motorcycles which are charged heavily to operate in Nairobi’s CBD. For someone to be licensed to work in CBD, its like buying a new bike. Glovo says its huge growth is organic and the firm is happy with the growth now. It’s supporting owner riders or independent riders for its 15-minute courier service promise against the normal 1-2 hour maximum time taken by its competition. recently, the firm partnered with Simbisa brands for food delivery. The firm has a B2B interface for SMEs and corporate firms but at the moment it’s pushing its consumer-facing platform to sign up as many users as possible. Though Glovo has locally marketed itself as a food ordering and delivery app, its platform is being used by SMEs for business to business courier services. The firm recently partnered with Showmax to give credits to both their users and is in talks with a top local FMCG to take over its day-to-day logistical needs. “We have been meeting regulatory requirements and are going live in CBD with skaters first. We are using skaters in the CBD because of time and efficiency,” Bentall said adding that the firm had signed up over 500 riders already. Glovo takes a percentage of the merchant’s value sold depending on their agreement with the partners. Glovers, as the firm calls its riders, can work for anyone as long as they are available for their shift. The firm schedules shifts to make sure those working for it are available. A shift can be an hour or a whole morning or afternoon or a whole day. Bentall says control over the shifts helps it to plan to help predict to meet its demand. “The business is growing in double digits every week and being able to march demand and growth is a challenge,” he said. With 30 or 40 coming in for training daily, Glovo says its pay is competitive and depends on the riders’ rating according to quality and reliability. It’s delivery fees of Ksh 50 for food and Ksh 100 for everything else is better than its competition the firm says and it also gives a 1hr delivery guarantee. |
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