“At the moment, Glovo is present in over 70 cities in Romania, and the local office is now a regional hub, from which eight countries are managed (…) Romania is a strategic market, so over 10% of the global MFCs (i.e., virtual stores operating under the Glovo Express brand in our app) in our network are here,” Daniel Alonso, vice president of the quick commerce division of Glovo, told ZF in an email interview.
Q-commerce is a newer bet for the company, which sees this segment as the third generation of commerce, where speed dictates how things are delivered. The first Glovo Express opened a year ago, and there are now 12 such micro-fulfilment centers in five Romanian cities (Bucharest, Iasi, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara and Brasov), offering customers a range of more than 2,500 products. The products include vegetables, fruit, frozen food, confectionery, pastry, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, sweets, dairy products, as well as products for children and pets.
Orders in the quick-commerce segment increased by 28% in the first half of 2022 compared with the first half of last year. Romanians most often ordered bottles of still water, bread, bananas, fruit and vegetables, the Glovo representative added.
Glovo’s competition in Romania includes Tazz by eMAG, Bolt and Bringo.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)