Speedy grocer Getir acquires Weezy to solidify UK presence
Speedy grocery app Getir announced yesterday that it will acquire its rival Weezy, in a quest to solidify its UK’s presence.
The emerging ‘quick commerce’ market – which delivers food and groceries to consumers in less than an hour – is currently worth £1.4bn in the UK.
According to a report from IGD, retail data firm, one in three shoppers in the UK have used, or are interested in using quick commerce.
Rachel Sibson, retail analyst at IGD, described consolidation as “inevitable” in such a “cluttered” market.
She said: “To achieve profitability, players need to increase volume of orders, frequency and spend per order. Consolidation amongst players will be key to improving profitability as there isn’t room for multiple pure plays to thrive within the same area.”
This was echoed by Danni Hewson, financial analyst at broker AJ Bell, who said: “Snapping up a competitor is a quick and efficient way for Getir to scale up operations in the UK and presumably one with an eye on trouncing the competition.”
“It’s already a pretty packed market and not all of these new names will become household ones, the acquisition of Weezy suggests Getir is banking on being one of them”, she continued.
The Turkish-based Getir currently operates in several west European countries, as well as the US. It launched in the UK in January this year, and now operates in 15 towns and cities nationally.
Weezy, which launched in 2019, has a presence in the capital, as well as a handful of other cities across the UK.
For Getir, the acquisition “made sense” for a convenience business model, which Turancan Salur, UK General Manager told City A.M. was “here to stay”.
“The UK was our first international launch outside Turkey, and it has become one of our fastest growing markets. There is great demand for the 10 minute, rapid delivery service in the UK, but it is also still a very young market with lots of room to grow.”
“Weezy has quickly established itself as one of the best and sought after delivery companies in the UK and this acquisition will allow us to accelerate our growth. In terms of trends, the convenience business model is here to stay, you can see from the rate at which we are expanding globally that there is a huge demand out there.”
Kristof Van Beveren, chief executive of Weezy, said: “We are incredibly excited to continue our journey in disrupting the skyrocketing ultrafast grocery market”.