“The order of businesses was doubled to get on the application of Orders Now”

Driven by skillful business strategies and the sustained incorporation of consumer usage habits, applications (app) from delivery They had been growing steadily before the Covid-19 crisis. And the quarantine, just like he did with the e-commerce and other digitally based businesses, it’s giving them an extra push.

There he moves his Orders tokens. app of delivery born in Uruguay in 2009 and today part of holding company German Delivery Hero. Its general manager in the country, Sebastián Genesio, assures that the company that “leads” the national market with a strong federal penetration: operates with its own distributors in 80 cities and in another 100 only as marketplace of deliveries for shops.

Since the implementation of social isolation, its operation grows in all aspects and especially in one: the request for new businesses seeking to get on the platform.

“For us this is a great opportunity to show the role that our industry can have in society, its ability to connect. Where we see the greatest impact is in shops the most: we are surprised by the large amount that tries to join our service ”.

–How many businesses did you have a month ago and how many today?

–For a business to finally be on line There is a long process that in many cases was not completed. But inbound (spontaneous orders) from businesses calling us doubled in the last three weeks. The genuine interest is gigantic, ranging from the most expensive restaurant to personal entrepreneurship. There are many opportunities there.

–How many businesses do you work with?

–There are more than 20 thousand in the country, 90 percent small or family-run premises. In Córdoba we have about 2,000, many of them in Capital but also in cities like Río Cuarto, Villa Carlos Paz and others. We are very federal, we are interested in being in intermediate cities, reaching local chains and businesses and also small ones. Now we are with a campaign that proposes to people who cook at home to develop sales through the app.

–Gourmet shops complain about the level of commissions charged by the app. They say they reach 30 percent. Is that so?

–The range is much more variable, it is between zero and 25 percent. Of course, they are associated with the cost of providing the services we provide. Ours are variable and depend on many factors. They can be greatly reduced, for example, to add a category of food that we do not have or to advance in a place where we are not, among others.

– They are an open discussion …

–They are part of a commercial discussion that we have. At this time, we make significant reductions in commission for new businesses seeking to enter the first period and gradually raise them to normal levels. We generate other benefits to support them, such as shortening the credit card payment accreditation period from 15 to three days so that they have the quick money. We take the pothole to get them out of the drowning.

–Did the context also boost the supply of delivery drivers?

–We do not share the number of delivery people we have because it fluctuates a lot. It was already growing and we had a little more demand to work, although there was no explosion. We have a network of several thousand, this situation found us with the developed network.

–How do you protect delivery drivers in this context?

–The most important measure we implemented was a contactless delivery service, in which the customer says where to leave the order and takes it from there. That implies security for him and for the delivery man. We deliver alcohol gel to the delivery people and train them in safety and hygiene protocols

–Do they give you chinstraps or special clothes?

–No, because the chinstrap was not recommended at first, but it was changing. In some jurisdictions it is requested and in others it is not. Another measure we took was to encourage card payments, because they eliminate interaction when delivering. We work with all banks that launched promotions. That made card use grow 50 percent in three weeks: it went from being used in four out of 10 payments to six out of 10.

–Before the pandemic, the project of the Nation to regulate the work of the delivery workers transcended, what do you think?

–We are aware of and participate in conversations. I find it super positive that a project is being discussed that seeks to find a new framework and not refrite existing ones. This implies recognizing a completely new activity, which generates new relationships and based on that, looks for the best way to regulate them. In such a way that sustainability is not attacked and serves all parties. I think the intention is that regulation does not kill activity. Hopefully we can move forward with that process.