Leaving no one behind

In just three weeks, business-as-usual around the world has radically changed. At Glovo, with two of our biggest countries of operations being Spain and Italy and the twenty others being subject to stringent confinement measures, we have been heavily impacted by the spread of the coronavirus.

Glovers delivering food to vulnerable communities

With thousands of restaurants closing, demand for groceries products booming and user’s behaviours changing on a daily basis (peak hours, types of usage etc.), we had to adapt our activities to the variations of offer and demand in record times. Globally, the total number of orders from the platform has decreased due to the shutdown of various food chains (like McDonalds in Spain and Italy), and to the interruption of delivery in some of our largest cities (like in Peru). Even for a start-up with so much Gas like Glovo, it is the biggest challenge that we have ever faced.

In this context, our model is being hard tested, and the first results are proving that we create value beyond traditional platform’s ripple effects (i.e. digitalisation of local commerce, trampoline for couriers to access new opportunities, and convenience for customers through gains in time).

• Digitalisation became synonymous with local commerces’ survival in many countries where the State of Alarm has provoked the shutdown of restaurants and shops, apart from their delivery activities.
• Couriers are now considered as essential professionals, for their role in ensuring urban logistics and maintaining the economic activity standing. Like hospital workers, supermarkets employees, and utilities staff, they are considered heroes by making this situation liveable for all.
• Main motive for ordering from delivery went from convenience to safety, with platforms like Glovo contributing to give access to food and paramedical supplies while allowing customers to stay safe at home. We have launched the campaign #OrderFromDelivery to promote the role of the platform economy in this context.

Besides these changes, Glovo has shown its capacity to bring an immediate response in situations of crisis, by helping the most vulnerable communities to access food and medical supplies while their traditional logistics systems are being interrupted by confinement measures (like for instance food banks which are usually counting on volunteers to distribute provisions). Since March 20th, we have realised almost 10,000 solidary deliveries for NGOs, foundations and public administration bodies. For instance, in Barcelona (Spain) and Tbilisi (Georgia), we are delivering more than 300 meals per day to elderly people, on behalf of non-for-profit organisations. In Romania, together with the leading supermarket player Kaufland, we have launched a hotline for the elderly so they can order on Glovo by phone, and avoid leaving their homes. In other cities like in Madrid which is particularly impacted by the virus, we are working side by side with the public administration to facilitate distribution of masks, and we actively participate in the distribution of electronic equipment in hospitals to help people affected to stay connected with their families. For the first time, we are also collaborating with UNICEF to diffuse their crowdfunding campaign to our database of users in several countries where we operate.

Here are a few learnings from these troubled times:

• The effectiveness of Glovo in times of crisis reinforces the need to regulate our sector fairly, in a way that will benefit both the platforms and autonomous workers. Until today, the society was struggling to make room for technological platforms and for the couriers using them. For some people, the combination of the two was paving the way for an individualistic and precarious future. Today, many people now rely on Glovo for delivering their meals and medical supplies within the safety of their homes, proving the virtues of last-mile delivery.
• Last-mile delivery is not only about convenience for the richest few, but rather an efficient logistics model in a world where ⅔ of the people will live in cities by 2050. The first public-private collaboration between Glovo and local authorities illustrate the untapped potential of this model to give access to essential goods and services for all, and to facilitate the opening-up of certain neighbourhoods.
• Glovo has emerged as an industrial and digital champion, still standing-up during the storm. We proved to be essential in these critical times, not only in the two European countries most impacted by the coronavirus — Spain and Italy — but also in the rest of the twenty countries where we operate.
• More than ever, companies’ sustainability and social impact will be at the center of the attention of their stakeholders, from investors to customers. We are all realising that Nature finally has the last word, and that vulnerable communities need a lot more care than what we provided them until now.

The impacts of the coronavirus on society and the economy are just starting to be felt. We are committed to #LeaveNoOneBehind until this is over, and to maximize Glovo’s shared value for all users, whether they are businesses intending to maintain their sales through digital channels, couriers driving streets to deliver products in the safest possible way, or customers willing to keep access to essential goods while staying at home. The consequences of this sanitary crisis on production, distribution and consumption models are likely to remain in the long-term. Together with our users, we are already building a smarter, stronger, and more resilient Glovo. We are confident that it will emerge as one of tomorrow’s most inclusive, safe and sustainable way of moving products in our cities.