2023-05-04 08:00:00
Romain Rouillard / photo credit: RICCARDO MILANI / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP
However, Getir’s first steps in France were promising. Arrived in a thunderous way in France, the Turkish company specializing in the fast delivery of shopping at home had been able to find its audience like its competitors Flink, Cajoo, Gorillas or even Frichti. In Île-de-France, it represented 25% of deliveries of this type according to the consumption monitoring firm NielsenIQ.
With a lot of XXL advertisements, attractive discounts to attract more and more customers, the “quick trade” sector for “fast trade” has experienced rapid development in Europe. But the fall that is beginning seems just as dazzling. This Tuesday, Getir France announced its placement in receivership a few months after acquiring the German Gorillas, himself owner of the French Frichti. While the platforms were fifteen only two years ago, this vast movement of concentration, which already did not bode well, reduced their number to… two. Only Flink and Getir remain.
A model neither profitable nor sustainable
“These are forms of commerce that have not demonstrated their ability to be sustainable and profitable. The first reaction was therefore the concentration to ally and strengthen by being more imposing. But the next step, it’s closing,” analyzes Rodolphe Bonnasse, specialist in mass distribution. Relying on the boom in home delivery and services, these quick trade players have paradoxically never succeeded in building customer loyalty. “The bulk of the need was for troubleshooting products with ‘zapper’ customers. They did not manage to attract to them a form of sustainable trade with a certain frequency of purchase”, explains Rodolphe Bonnasse.
Hence the choice to opt for particularly attractive but economically devastating promotions and discounts. “The cost of customer acquisition is very high,” notes Rodolphe Bonnasse. Difficult under these conditions to ensure the viability of the service, except to count on the massive subsidies granted by the shareholders. A short-term model which these companies are now paying for. Especially since at the same time, they must assume a certain number of costs. In particular land with the famous “dark stores”, these stores located in the city center where orders are stored, but also human resources with deliverers to be paid.
Difficulties “specific” to France
And in France, quick trade players have to face an additional difficulty. Last week, when claiming his placement in receivership, Getir mentioned reasons “specific to France”. An explanation that Rodolphe Bonnasse wants to believe. “There is a density of stores and food services which is very high. France is very well equipped in terms of local food trade. And to this is added market days”, he underlines. Clearly, it is difficult for these platforms to really stand out.
Some municipalities are nevertheless taking the lead and are working on measures intended to regulate this quick trade which, despite the difficulties, retains a certain presence in urban centers. In particular in Paris where the installation of dark stores and the pollution generated by this type of activity are the subject of an information mission co-reported by the MoDem MP Maud Gastel. But according to Rodolphe Bonnasse, these companies must fear their own model more than possible restrictive measures. “Often, innovation goes faster than the legal framework. Municipalities are starting to legislate and ask themselves questions, but anyway, the model is dying on its own”.
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