Quick commerce badly hit: two more companies announce cuts

The sky is not the limit for flash delivery companies after all: immediately after Gorillas, Getir and Zapp also announced that they urgently need to make cuts. One London rival even completely throws in the towel.

Gorillas in the mist

For a good year, the whole (retail) world watched in admiration and amazement at the lightning speed in which delivery companies like Gorillas were growing: supported by unprecedentedly deep pockets, they were able to expand enormously in an incredibly short period of time. Money played no role: “growth first, profit later” was the motto. This strategy now appears to have its limitations after all, as the world is turning upside down and inflation is reaching double figures in many countries.

The Germans at Gorillas were the first to apply the brakes: the headquarters are going to be reduced, which will cost hundreds of jobs. Belgians, Danes, Italians and Spaniards in a hurry are also threatened with an exit from their market – although the latter has not yet been fully established.

Inflation clips wings Getir

The next day, Getir too had to accept it had limits: one in seven jobs was axed – accounting for almost 4,500 redundancies, TechCrunch reports. Most of the company’s expansion plans have also been scaled back, although Getir does emphasise that it does not really want to leave any market. Getir currently operates in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In an internal memo, which was leaked to TechCrunch, the Turkish company said the “rising inflation and deteriorating macroeconomic outlook” around the world was forcing it to “adjust to the new climate.”

British quick commerce company folds

Shortly afterwards, British company Zapp also announced that one in ten jobs will disappear, accounting for some 250 redundancies. Here the finger is pointed at the war in Ukraine and global logistical problems, Sifted reports. There simply is “very little visibility of when things will improve”, a spokesman for Zapp explained to our colleagues.

Until recently, Zapp was still active in four British cities, but soon only London will remain. A small form of expansion is still possible for Zapp, however: the platform has taken over the users of Jiffy, a London flash delivery service that delivered from fourteen dark stores, but ended trading last week. Outside the UK, Zapp also operates in France and the Netherlands, but it is unclear at this stage how these markets would be affected by the round of redundancies.