Home delivery company Glovo is completing the closure of part of its ‘ghost’ supermarket network in Spain. A restructuring that will result in layoffs 100 employeesAs informed sources explained to El Periódico de Cataluña of the Prensa Ibérica group. warehouses barcelona And Madrid They will not be affected. Glovo has a network of logistics centers located in strategic areas of Spain’s major cities, where it stores purchased products and delivers them to home shoppers in a short time via its app. Buyers cannot physically access these supermarkets, they are only allowed to shop online.
Now, given the profitability issues created by this division of business, the yellow backpack company has decided to close down some of its operations. It is specifically planned to be closed ‘ghost’ supermarkets In Bilbao, Pamplona, Tenerife, Las Palmas, Alicante and Granada. On the contrary, those in Barcelona, Madrid, Zaragoza, Valencia, Seville, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca will continue their operations, as company sources confirmed when asked by this media outlet.
Officials from Glovo said: “Due to the difficult access to capital and investment and the insufficient development of the business volume recorded in recent months, we had to stop operating Super Glovo in some cities.” The current context of rising shopping cart prices further reduces the attractiveness of the ghost supermarket business.
A business with little or no profit
Company founded by Oscar Pierre and is currently owned by the German giant Delivery Hero cuts out a large portion of the business devoted to ultra-fast material delivery; a niche in which it is practically left alone due to the withdrawal of major competitors who cannot see profitability in the business in question; for example Gorillas or Bring. The latter, which had previously acquired Gorillas’ operation in Spain, closed its stores last summer, laid off 1,560 delivery workers and left Spain.
Sources involved in the negotiations told El Periódico de Cataluña that the company met with workers this week and informed them that part of its operations were closed and one hundred employees were laid off. And unlike the vast majority of delivery drivers who deliver food from restaurants to homes, self-employmentSupermarket staff are salaried. An out-of-the-box business model that provides the department’s delivery drivers with paid leave, occupational risk prevention courses, special protocols in case of heavy rain or snow, coverage in case of sick leave due to temporary disability, and similar benefits.
Delivery giants are having serious problems making the business of ultra-fast home deliveries of supplies profitable. Although they saw signs of boom a few years ago thanks to the pandemic, the decline in telematics purchases did not work in their favor. Nor is it the general rise in interest rates that is prompting much of the tech sector to accelerate their plans for profitability and green numbers. By this logic, Glovo had applied for an employment regulation file (ERE) last year to move around 150 employees out of its offices in Barcelona and Madrid in order to cut expenses and get closer to its first profit.