Glovo Türkiye

What did it do?

The Spanish delivery start-up Glovo launched in Istanbul in June 2018. Through the app, customers could order restaurant meals, coffee, desserts, groceries, gifts and personal care products, and couriers also carried parcels across the city. After Istanbul, it also operated in Ankara and İzmir.

Why did it shut down?

In January 2020 Glovo announced that it would pull out of Turkey, Egypt, Uruguay and Puerto Rico. The company's reasoning was to direct its resources to regions where it could build leadership and turn a profit in the short term, and to reach global profitability in early 2021. According to a report by Webrazzi, the Turkish tech news site, strong local players in Turkey such as Yemeksepeti, the country's dominant food-ordering platform, and Getir, the Istanbul-based quick-commerce start-up, stood in the way of that goal. Founder and CEO Oscar Pierre said the decision was difficult even though they had been running a successful operation in Turkey. In other words, the problem was less a lack of demand than a prioritisation choice by a company that could see it would not take the lead in a capital-intensive market.

The story

When Spain-based Glovo arrived in Istanbul in June 2018, its promise was bold: food, coffee, groceries or a gift, whatever you wanted in the app, a courier would bring it to your door. In September 2018 its Turkey general manager, Austin Kim, told egirişim, a Turkish start-up news site, that Turkey was an important market for the company and that it would keep growing through investment.

The early figures were promising. According to Webrazzi, Glovo reached more than 50,000 downloads, more than 20,000 deliveries and over 300 partners in its first three months. Serving districts stretching from Acıbadem to Maslak and from Kadıköy to Şişli, the company worked with chains such as McDonald's, Burger King and Popeyes. The goal was to cover all of Istanbul first, then Ankara and İzmir. The company achieved part of that goal and began operating in Ankara and İzmir as well.

But the delivery market in Turkey was very crowded. Yemeksepeti had dominated food ordering for years, Getir was growing in rapid grocery delivery, and Yemeksepeti's Banabi, İstegelsin and the big supermarket chains were in the field too. Glovo, meanwhile, was locked on to a different goal at global level. Having raised $167 million in a round led by Mubadala in December 2019 and reached a valuation above $1 billion, the company wanted to become profitable in early 2021.

On 21 January 2020 Glovo announced that it would pull out of Turkey, along with Egypt, Uruguay and Puerto Rico. The app stayed open for a few more weeks to help couriers, users and partners make the transition. Oscar Pierre said it had been very hard to take this decision in a country like Turkey, where they had been running a successful operation. Nazım Salur, co-founder of Getir, offered jobs to Glovo's employees.

The story of Glovo Türkiye shows that even a well-run operation is not enough on its own. Seeing that it could not take the lead in a market like delivery, where scale is everything, the company moved its capital to places where it could win.

Lessons for founders

• In rapid delivery, scale and market leadership determine profitability; being the third player is expensive.
• The local arm of a global company is bound to the parent company's profitability timetable; build that into your plan.
• Assess local rivals' financial firepower and customer loyalty before entering the market.

Sources

1. Glovo pulls out of several markets, including Turkey (in Turkish) (Webrazzi, 2020-01-21)
2. Glovo halts its operations in Turkey (in Turkish) (Habertürk, 2020-01)
3. Glovo pulls out of the Turkish market (in Turkish) (Marketing Türkiye, 2020-01-21)
4. Glovo halts its operations in Turkey (in Turkish) (Bloomberg HT, 2020-01)
5. Three-month figures for Glovo, which launched in Turkey in June (in Turkish) (Webrazzi, 2018-09-24)
6. Delivery app Glovo aims to grow in Turkey (in Turkish) (egirişim, 2018-09-24)

This section is compiled from public sources (Wikidata, news archives and company announcements). Figures are given as they appear in those sources; unknown fields are left blank. If you spot a mistake in an entry, you can send us a correction.

Is something in this entry wrong? Request a correction → Method