Once the darling of the industry, quick delivery companies are experiencing difficulty in raising funds. While these companies seemingly had no problem getting major investments in covid era 2020 and 2021, the marketplace has radically changed, spelling trouble. Inflation and rising interest rates have made investors cautious and they ask the quick deliverers to find a way to become profitable sooner than expected.
Whereas in previous years, the likes of Gorillas, Flink, Getir, Zapp, and Gopuff, among others, had overhired in an attempt to quickly gain market share at all costs, they all have now cut thousands of jobs. In addition, the fast expansion into more and more countries has come to an end now that it has become a bit clearer which markets are profitable. Zapp is leaving The Netherlands. Gorillas announced it is leaving Belgium, Spain and Denmark to concentrate on its five most profitable markets of France, United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands and the United States.
Some quick deliverers have created new business propositions. Jiffy ceased rapid grocery altogether and is now a dedicated software company helping customers run q-commerce operations. Getir launched franchised dark stores in Turkey and France. Others, like Buyk, went out of business. A few were acquired: Cajoo was bought by Flink and Frichti by Gorillas. Finally, some have partnered with traditional brick and mortar retailers. It is expected there will be rapid movement in the rapid grocery market in the coming months.