Food delivery companies say that due to the coronavirus, the COVID-19 pandemic has been declared quarantine irreversibly changed the food delivery market. According to them, although the flow of orders started to decrease even before the quarantine was lifted, and then dropped even more, it still remains higher than it was before the quarantine was announced in mid-March.
Changes in the market have encouraged one company to improve the quality of services in Lithuania, while others are planning investments and development in other countries.
Barbora: order flow remains higher than before the quarantine
Andrius Mikalauskas, the manager of the electronic food store "Barbora" operating in the Baltic states, says that the situation in the market stabilized at the end of the quarantine, because at the beginning of the quarantine there were ten times more orders than usual.
"The flow of orders both in the market and in Barbora has decreased, but remains significantly higher than before the quarantine. We can see that we will not return to the period before the quarantine. New customers had time to get used to the convenient way of shopping online. I think that the flow of customers will continue to grow rapidly in the future", A. Mikalauskas told BNS.
According to him, Barbora's sales also increased during the quarantine period in Latvia and in Estonia.
"Barbora is currently continuing to strengthen its position in existing markets. The door outside the Baltic countries remains open as well", asserted A. Mikalauskas.
"Greituolis" plans to expand in foreign markets
Tadas Norušaitis, manager of Greituolis, the company that manages the Lastmile mobile app for ordering food and other goods from Iki stores, says that the company is expanding in Lithuania and looking for opportunities to start operations in foreign markets.
In Lithuania, the website of the electronic store, which will make shopping easier for the elderly, will start operating in August, while operations abroad are planned to start in 2021.
"There are several countries, but we haven't chosen a specific one yet. We are also considering near abroad - Latvija and Estonia, and about major European countries, such as France and Germany. We are planning services in other countries next year, maybe even at the beginning of the year," R. Norušaitis told BNS.
According to him, France is a bit more attractive because online trade has been developed there for a long time, while in Germany the turning point occurred during the coronavirus epidemic, until which e-commerce was viewed very conservatively.
According to the head of Greituolis, the company is also interested in Denmark, where such services are "gaining momentum, but the market is smaller", as well as some Scandinavian countries.
Rimi: Some of the hired employees returned to their previous jobs
Retail companies "Rimi According to Vaidas Lukoševičius, e-commerce director of Lietuva, the company is currently focusing on ensuring the quality of services and developing them in Lithuania.
Due to the increased demand for food delivery services due to the coronavirus epidemic, "Rimi Lietuva" opened the electronic store a little earlier than planned, and due to the extremely high demand for services, expansion took place during the quarantine.
"As the end of the quarantine approached, development did not stop, although the number of orders decreased slightly (…) We redistributed the work of couriers and goods collectors, after expanding the home delivery areas in Vilnius, Beautiful, Klaipėda. Starting this week, we are also providing this service in the city of Palanga," V. Lukoševičius told BNS.
According to him, due to the increase in orders during the peak of the spread of the coronavirus, Rimi took on some employees temporarily - they came from sectors whose operations had stopped. After the end of fixed-term contracts, the number of employees naturally decreased - some of them returned to their previous jobs.
"Rimi" group companies already provide e-commerce services in Latvia and Estonia.
Quarantine has changed consumer habits
All three interviewees claim that the coronavirus crisis and the quarantine have changed the habits of consumers, some of whom had never bought food products online before.
"More and more people understand that it is possible to buy food online, because not everyone knew how to do that," asserted T. Norušaitis. According to him, customers are also beginning to understand that home delivery of food products has to be paid for, the price of this service "cannot be zero".
According to V. Lukoševičius, during the most intense spread of the coronavirus in the country, buyers chose not only delivery of goods to their homes, but also collection at specially designated points.
According to the manager of "Barbora", the "Barbora Express" shopping pick-up stations were used not only by residents of smaller towns, but also by residents of big cities going to relax by the lakes or to resorts.
"When they leave home, they order goods with pickup, for example, at the Barbora Express stops in Utena, Zarasai or Palanga and pick them up on the way," said A. Mikalauskas.
The author is Sniegė Balčiūnaitė
