Quick commerce startup Getir plans to exit France amid regulatory issues
In a press release sent to AFP, Getir has announced that it plans to exit France. As a reminder, Getir pioneered the concept of quick commerce. Those services allow you to order groceries without picking a delivery slot. Instead, companies like Getir start working on your order right away and can usually deliver your groceries in less than 30 minutes.
Originally from Turkey, Getir is one of the biggest players in this relatively new space. At the height of the instant grocery bubble, Getir reached a valuation of $11.8 billion and expanded to several European countries. Quick commerce requires some steep upfront costs as companies need to build a network of dark stores in big cities so that customers live just a few minutes away from the nearest dark store.
But funding dried up and many quick commerce startups couldn’t reach profitability in time. That’s why Getir acquired Gorillas in late 2022. Gorillas itself had already acquired Frichti, a French startup that delivered both ready-to-eat meals and groceries.
“The complex legal environment and regulations imposed by local authorities made the company’s success very difficult,” a Getir spokesperson told AFP in a statement. In particular, in March, the French government decided that dark stores should be considered as warehouses — not stores. This way, local governments can decide whether they allow warehouses in city centers or not.
It’s unclear what’s going to happen next. While Getir says that it plans to exit the French market altogether, the company has also filed for bankruptcy. Court-appointed administrators are still looking for another company that would be willing to take over some of Getir’s activities in France. In the meantime, Getir’s 1,800 employees in France don’t know if they’ll have a job in a few weeks as it depends on the result of this bankruptcy process.
Flink, one of Getir’s competitor, has also filed for bankruptcy in France. Flink had previously snapped up its French competitor Cajoo.
As for Gopuff, the company has already left the country in January. In other words, it sounds like the entire instant grocery delivery industry is disappearing in France… Quick commerce indeed.
Quick commerce startup Getir plans to exit France amid regulatory issues by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch
