Just Eat expands its line of business and enters one of the most requested markets of the moment: delivery from shopping at home. He also does it hand in hand with one of the icons in the sector for a few months: Gorillas. teaches her delivery opens, with this step, to a highly competitive sector for many protagonists. “This sector is in its infancy and we still have time to win over customers,” says Patrik Bergareche, managing director of Just Eat in Spain. Hypertext.
The new line of business, which is already available in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante (and which will soon be extended to new geographies), is no different from the activity that Glovo, Dija, Getir or Gorillas himself offer to their direct customers. Basic necessities of all verticals that are integrated into the Just Eat application itself.
From the company itself they point out that the deal with Gorillas is the first of many that are expected to come. Which does not mean that they already have on the table some pact plus some of the leaders of the last mile and immediate deliveries. But they do not close the door to Just Eat being associated with other providers of riders. “There is a commercial exercise at two speeds and it is most likely that in the coming months we will be able to announce new partners”, explains Bergareche.
No ‘dark stores’ for Just Eat
Just Eat is clear, at least for now: They don’t want to get into the business of dark stores in Spain. As is the case in the industry delivery, where they have been operating for 11 years, the company positions itself as a simple catwalk. They do not plan to enter the restaurant business with the dark kitchenbut neither in its version for home purchase.
They do not rule out, yes, importing the model that they are already testing in Canada as a pilot project. “As a group we are very willing to test new models and we are very aware of what happens in Canada,” explains Bergareche. Nevertheless, there is no date or forecast to compete in the tight business of dark store in Spain.
In this way, Just Eat opts for a multi-line business. On the one hand, the association with Gorillas through their own riders. For another, agreements with local establishments with which Just Eat will operate with its own fleets of distributors and in which their commercial agreements govern.
And we said that Just Eat does not have its own dark storebut it will have those of Gorillas. His new partner, known as the German unicorn in this sense, will offer all its activity through the Just Eat application. Differentiated within the company’s own application deliverythe product prices and shipping costs will be those of Gorillas. Just Eat will only charge an intermediary fee.
It’s not a bad strategy. In addition to the maintenance of riders –more expensive since the entry of the Rider Law–, the management of dark store has become a headache for players of the sector. These establishments need many variables to succeed. A large number of stores and a strategic position that in large cities are often not profitable. With huge cities, and if the service wants to overcome the center of the cities, it is necessary to make a large investment in premises throughout the map. Just Eat opts, for the moment, for those already established.
The second model, that of agreements with establishments and distribution with their riders, is not new, far from it, in the Spanish market: the association with proximity markets, small grocery stores and supermarkets. According to the company, about 250 neighborhood businesses between Madrid and Barcelona. Cities in which the entity delivery has more presence.
The Just Eat model is not new to the tech sector. LolaMarket, owned by Glovo Since September of last year, it has already entered the shopping market in large stores with force. Carrefour Market, Alcampo, Sánchez Romero or Lidl were part of their selection lists. DeSuper does the same with similar businesses. As for the markets and local shops, it is not a novelty either. The shopping cart division of Amazon Prime Now it already operates with some of the most important capital markets.
The ‘riders’, the key to the sector
The question rider is, to date, one of the biggest workhorses in the sector delivery. Whether for daily, last-mile and fast shopping or for the restaurant business. Since the inauguration of the Rider Law in the summer of 2021, and much earlier in its negotiations, the delivery sector hand in hand with technology companies has been on a war footing. A law that neither party likes is the one that governs the activity at this time. Months later, the situation has not improved much.
With a Glovo that maintains its self-employed model, the entire sector is on a war footing against the Spanish unicorn. Just yesterday, Uber Eats published a letter asking Yolanda Díaz’s portfolio to take action against Glovo. According to Uber, due to the lack of labor rider that exists, the company that grants the most facilities to its riders. Just Eat, for its part, has always kept its profile in this battle. With an outsourcing model and some direct hire riders, Just Eat has preferred not to enter into debates.
Just Eat’s association with Gorillas opens a new door to outsourced contracting, not only for the service, but also for the riders. With a company, moreover, that has been going strong in Spain. A marketing campaign that has plastered the big cities and a large number of riders under his ensign that, in addition, controls last-mile business and speedy deliveries. It also represents a new way of monetizing a service that was already beginning to suffer from the ravages of a strong entry and a fall that was beginning to appear with the end of user acquisition promotions.