Last-mile? There’s an app for that
The competition to take on last-mile demand is heating up everywhere in the South American market, especially in the dense urban areas where B2C shows the most potential. Several “Uber-like” on-demand startups have been searching for ways to compete with the likes of Amazon, eBay, MercadoLibre and other e-commerce giants, and have been attracting the interest of venture capitalists for the last few years. Here’s a look at five of the top delivery service apps, that are jockeying for position in Latin American last-mile delivery:
Cornershop – In January 2015, Cornershop launched its on-demand grocery delivery service in Mexico and Chile, founded by the team behind ClanDescuento, a “daily deals” site in Chile that was acquired by Groupon in 2010. With a rapidly growing portfolio of supermarket and global retailer partners, such as Office Max and Petco, Cornershop delivers hundreds of thousands of orders each month on-demand and has plans to expand. In an interview with Forbes Mexico, the company said it was experiencing double-digit month-to-month growth, and recently raised an impressive US$21 million round led by Accel Partners, bringing its total funding to $31.7 million and a Sept. 2018 acquisition by Walmart for $225 million.
Glovo – Available in dozens of cities in 24 countries, Glovo allows users to order nearly anything for delivery in less-than an hour. Headquartered in Barcelona, Glovo today delivers more than 1 million orders per month – mostly food – and has more than 5,600 partners worldwide. The company launched its on-demand delivery service in Santiago, Chile, at the end of 2017, marking its entrance into the Latin American market. Today, Glovo operates in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru and Uruguay, with more expansion expected, and more than $176 million raised since it was founded in 2015.
Loggi – Another one to watch in Latin America’s megacities, this Brazil-based delivery app, launched in 2013 as a courier service, matches shippers with motorcycle, van and bicycle couriers, covering 70 million people in Brazilian urban areas. Last October, Loggi secured $100 million from Softbank.
Mercadoni – Founded in Bogotá, Colombia, with operations in Mexico, this grocery delivery service enables users to purchase items from local businesses, such as liquor stores, drugstores, pet shops and others, for home delivery. Founded in October 2015, the app has more than 1 million downloads and more than 500,000 registered users in Colombia, plus more than 80,000 customers in Mexico City. The company has raised more than $17.2 million to date, including $9 million in January 2018, from Brazilian mobile giant, Movile.
Rappi – Also founded in Bogotá in 2015, Rappi began by delivering alcohol and other drinks from local stores, but later expanded to other goods shops by popular demand. Rappi offered the option to deliver anything, charging users approximately $1 to $2 per order delivered, or a flat $7 per month via “Rappi Prime” membership. After rapidly expanding in Bogotá and Mexico City, Rappi now serves more than 1 million customers across Argentian, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay, with its fleet of more than 30,000 couriers.
