Dive Brief:
- Gorillas, a Germany-based startup that provides grocery delivery in 10 minutes or less, is launching in New York City on May 30, according to a press announcement.
- The company will begin service in parts of Brooklyn, including the Bushwick, Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens neighborhoods, and expand to Manhattan in June. It plans to launch delivery in other major U.S. cities by the end of the summer.
- Ultrafast delivery has expanded rapidly across European cities in recent months, and the same model appears poised to spread across the U.S. as well.
Dive Insight:
Riding record-high demand for online grocery and billions in investor funding, startups like Gorillas have quickly built out instant delivery services in Europe, touting delivery of groceries and convenience goods in 15 minutes or less.
A few companies like Fridge No More and 1520 have begun offering speedy delivery in New York City, which, with its high density of affluent consumers, serves as a logical landing zone for the concept in the U.S. Now, Gorillas aims to test the market with its 10-minute offering.
Founded just last May, Gorillas operates “micro warehouses” that serve a tight delivery radius and rely on a fleet of couriers riding electric bikes. The company reportedly plays hardcore techno music inside its warehouses to keep energy levels high among its riders. The company will charge a delivery fee of $1.80 per order when it launches in Brooklyn later this month, with no order minimum, according to a Business Insider report. Its warehouses will carry between 2,000 and 2,500 products covering convenience and standard grocery items, including local brands like Black Seed Bagels and OddFellows Ice Cream.
Gorillas plans to expand to “East, Central and West Coast cities by the end of the summer," a spokesperson told Business Insider.
Instant delivery trades on the idea that consumers want their grocery orders as quickly as possible, and builds on consumers’ growing fluency with digital platforms. Some experts question this need for speed, as well as a business model that relies on low fees but has high labor costs. Others see the potential for a new e-grocery channel that serves the impulse purchases and small orders that grocery delivery companies have traditionally struggled to fulfill.
Gopuff, which delivers orders in as little as 20 minutes, has become the face of convenience delivery in the U.S., with service across 650 cities. The company recently linked up with Uber Eats on a new "everyday essentials" delivery service and announced earlier this month it acquired Fancy, a U.K.-based delivery firm.
Like Gopuff, Gorillas has a war chest of funding to fuel its growth. The firm raised $290 million in March, putting it above a $1 billion valuation, and is reportedly seeking $500 million in additional funding, according to a Bloomberg report. Gorillas operates in more than 25 cities across the U.K., The Netherlands, France and Germany, and runs more than 75 dark stores.
