Glovo, an on-demand delivery app has launched its operations in Kampala, Uganda, its second market in East Africa after a successful growth trajectory in Kenya compared to SafeBoda.
Glovo is now in four countries in Africa including Morocco, Egypt, Kenya and Uganda. The firm has had plans to launch in Nigeria and Ghana for a while now and these might be in the near future.
Glovo will allow users in Kampala to order anything with a simple tap on their smartphone and have it delivered to them by a specialist Glovo rider, called a Glover. Some of its partners include Carrefour and other partners, restaurant food from KFC, Java House among others.
Speaking during the launch, William Benthall, Glovo’s General Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, expressed his optimism towards the new venture. “We are extremely excited about our launch in Uganda and we think that residents of Kampala should be feeling the same way!.”
Customers can also use the platform to request a rider to send or collect packages, and they can track their rider at all times and whatever they order on the platform should be with them in under 45 minutes and If it arrives in over 60 minutes the delivery is free.
“Uganda is a uniquely interesting market for Glovo. Residents of Kampala are used to using Boda Boda’s to move around and order food and other products. In addition to this informal market, there is also a large segment of the population using apps to move around or order goods for delivery. This provides an interesting opportunity to introduce a fresh new service with low prices and amazing user experience,” he added.
As we mentioned earlier, Glovo also recently launched Q-Commerce to simplify its delivery business. Q-Commerce or quick commerce has fulfillment warehouses that hold and supply the goods that Glovo’s clients sell. Customers buy through Glove Market that has 50,000 active users who make approximately two orders a minute, 24/7.
Some of its sellers include Unilever, Nestle, and L’Oreal and top retailers Walmart, Carrefour and Kaufland. Glovo will hold their goods at its Q-Commerce centers to allow any retailer to plug in to their ordering system and work with Glovo very quickly.
Currently, the firm has virtual dark stores in Barcelona, Madrid and Milan and the firm is planning to open as many as 100 such stores across Europe by 2021.
In a statement, Daniel Alonso, Global Director of Q-Commerce at Glovo, said: “With shops closing down and lockdowns globally, consumers now want and expect more items than ever to be delivered to their doorstep. With this has brought new demands – it is no longer a case of waiting 24-48 hours for a delivery. Rather, the expectation for this is now a matter of minutes. At Glovo we’re committed to thirty minutes or less with all products available on Q-Commerce. As we continue to expand our enhanced offering, we’re excited to launch Q-Commerce in other parts of Spain and the rest of Europe, Eastern Europe and Africa over the next 12 months.”