Once the government implemented rigorous lockdown measures, including mobility restrictions, shopping became physically difficult.
As a result, purchasers were compelled to order things online via major delivery services.
Yet, consumers required rapid delivery, but e-commerce may take up to three days.
Increasing need for speedier delivery In essence, q-commerce refers to the speedier delivery of items to clients. Delivery may take two to three hours.
This is a dialogue between Capital Business and Glovo Regional Q-commerce Regional Director Marta Ayala Ruiz.
Please explain what q-commerce is.
Q-commerce, also known as fast commerce, is a kind of e-commerce that emphasises speedy deliveries, generally within one hour. Q-commerce began with food delivery, and it currently accounts for the majority of the company’s revenue.
The Q-commerce branch of Glovo offers users to order from their preferred supermarkets, neighbourhood retailers, and the Glovo Market using the Glovo app. Glovo Market utilises the most advanced in-store digital technology and committed resources to ensure that consumers receive their orders within 20 to 40 minutes.
At Glovo, we are changing the future of retail by being quicker than what e-commerce now provides, and we are not only about food, but also non-food businesses such as pharmaceuticals, bookstores, electronics stores, and clothing – practically everything.
Our objective is to provide everyone in the city with simple access to anything, and we’re just attempting to promote our multi-category value offer through rapid commerce.
Why did you, as an early adopter, embrace q-commerce?
The multicategory component of the business performed exceptionally well from the very beginning since clients could essentially request anything in a blank textbox and have it delivered. This demonstrates that from day one, Glovo’s value proposition is virtually anything and is not restricted to food. We are certain that food and restaurants will remain our key business for the foreseeable future.
Our aim and ambition have never been confined to a single vertical, but rather to whatever the users truly require.
According to statistics, what are the most popular q-commerce products?
This continues to evolve in Kenya, although about 40 per cent of Glovo Kenya’s total revenue comes from q-commerce. This demonstrates that there is a strong demand and favourable impact, and it reaffirms that we are delivering on our value promise. We are forming strategic alliances with our leading merchants and developing our own mini fulfilment centre (MFC).
To date, we have built three micro fulfilment centres (MFC). Glovo is interested in leveraging its advanced affordability value proposition and supplying inexpensive fresh and consumer-packaged products (CPG) to lower-middle-income earners.
With the passage of time, we’ve witnessed a development, and currently, the most popular product on our site is fresh produce, which means that Glovo is a viable alternative for purchasing household necessities. Thus, we see that fresh and necessities remain the most popular products currently.
How many firms have you enrolled in q-commerce?
Nowadays, we work with hundreds of businesses in addition to leading retailers such as Naivas and Carrefour. We are also cooperating with medium-sized merchants and small businesses that are specialised in particular sectors, such as stores that supply exclusively fruits, vegetables, beverages, and flowers.
To enhance company sales, we’ve broadened our business strategy to target both large partners and merchants and small businesses. In 2022, we will launch campaigns with small, medium, and micro businesses in the food and quick-service industries since it is one of our primary pillars to help them expand and have a positive social impact in all of the areas where we operate.
What technologies have you adopted to ensure the success of q-commerce?
When it comes to product distribution, it is not all that unlike the rest of our applications; we use the same technology and methodology. Our technology enables a highly efficient logistical strategy. This is one of the primary aspects that ensure our delivery is quick or as quick as our users want. It is also how we effectively manage our fleet or the fleet of drivers cooperating with worldwide partners, as well as the algorithm behind this business model.
The manner in which we connect with our partners is of utmost importance to us. We strive to onboard our partners from the start inside a framework of operational excellence by teaching and supporting them on a regular basis so that they know how to manage those deliveries correctly.
They understand what delivery entails, and in addition to focusing on their offline business, they also use and emphasise their online presence.
Apart from Nairobi, do you provide q-commerce in other cities?
We do in all the places where we are now present in Kenya, and we do feel that there is a possibility to develop further. We anticipate that rapid commerce will play an even larger role in Nairobi, where there are more orders and where user behaviour may change.
What problems does q-commerce now face?
Obviously, there are quite a few obstacles, and I believe there are obstacles everywhere because our aspirations are so lofty. We are working really hard to ensure that the availability of our items is constantly near one hundred per cent. And we are aware that this is the greatest obstacle, given how offline businesses operate as well. Even if you go to the store personally, you may not find all the things you’re searching for, therefore we’re trying to increase the availability of these items so that the user experience is faultless. And it would be our current top focus.
Are you also considering expanding into other cities?
We are also searching for opportunities to expand, and in 2023 we will be studying various options to determine what opportunities are available while ensuring that we thrive in the places where we are already present and are 100% solid.
The expansion will undoubtedly be one of our growth levers. We intend to serve the greatest number of Kenyans possible.