Food delivery in less than one hour – quick commerce – has accelerated in the last 12 months. Its growth has been driven by new start-up companies and expansion of established players such as Deliveroo in Europe, Instacart in USA, Gojek in Asia and Rappi in Latin America.

With varied new disrupters in the market, with different operational models (aggregator, pure player, retailer), there are three key strategic questions you should ask to help you plan and win in the quick commerce channel.

1. Who will be the winning quick commerce player?

There are more than 30 quick commerce players in Europe today. These include established players such as Gorillas and Uber Eats who operate across multiple countries, as well as local start ups such as Buymie in Ireland.

Given the high-level competition and profit pressure, I expect more market consolidation to take place, driven by both established players as well as global food retailers. We have already seen examples from Turkish Getir who acquired British Weezy in November 2021 and Carrefour acquiring a minority stake in Cajoo in September 2021.

Next step: To invest your resources with the future market leader, you need to assess the outlook of your potential quick commerce customer today.

2. How to unlock opportunities with them?

Opportunities for your category may differ from country to country and between continents. Rappi in Latin America has developed a super app, offering a number of services like Rappi Games and Rappi Care, whilst European players focus mainly on food delivery. In the UK, one quarter of quick commerce shoppers buy food-to-go and a quarter of them buy evening meals, the two biggest shopping missions in the quick commerce channel, whilst bakery, dairy and chilled products are the most frequently bought categories.

Next step: To unlock opportunities, get access to shopper data gathered by quick commerce players to make impactful category decision.

3. How to work directly with quick commerce players?

Each quick commerce player will work in different ways, therefore consider ways of working that are beneficial for both parties. Once you have chosen your strategic player, think about:

• How to set up an efficient way of working with quick commerce players (do you need a new internal team?) and agree with your customer on key KPIs
• Where to invest in your trade spend to avoid duplication (ecommerce players vs retailer)
• What is the most effective way of engagement with a quick commerce player, a process which will be different from the way you work with a retailer. Best practise learnings from more advanced markets like Brazil and Mexico show that smart sampling, cross brand promotions and creating occasions are successful
• What should be your optimal assortment in their dark stores as it will have to be different from retailers’ stores

Next step: To discuss working with quick commerce players and your growth opportunities with them, please contact Miloš Ryba, Head of Retail Solutions at [email protected].