“They are avid consumers of technology,” says Rappi’s manager for the Southern Cone, Astrid Mirkin, when she defines Uruguayans. In her view, Rappi’s offering fit in very well with the lives of the people of Montevideo, something that was enhanced by the pandemic, a phenomenon that encouraged many regulars in supermarkets and restaurants to take the first step from the screen of their cell phone.
In this context, the growth of supermarket orders _and especially of fresh products_ does not stop. “It is one of the verticals that has grown the most,” says Mirkin, adding that according to a survey of recent orders, three out of five orders made by Uruguayans to the supermarket include fruits and vegetables. “These are products that are typically chosen,” she says, emphasizing the trust that customers place in Rappi.
“We have a lot of potential to develop in Uruguay, we have just started,” says the manager of the application that more than 400,000 Uruguayans have downloaded since their arrival in the country.
For the executive, the technology company’s mission is to be a “super app” that gives people back their time so that they can invest it in their favorite activities.
Particularly in the supermarket line, the focus is on strengthening the value proposition, for this new associations will be formed. “We are going to announce an alliance with Grupo Disco so that they can find the full variety of products with the same prices as in the supermarket through Rappi with scheduled deliveries in one-hour ranges,” details the manager and highlights that it is an association that ratifies “the coexistence between on and off”, understood as the life of online users and life outside the screens. “70% of users tell us that they found a new place through a technology app and 30% later went offline to something they ordered online,” she highlights.
Although the manager could not give more details of the alliance, she did assure that it is “something big” and that more will be known in the coming weeks.
SMEs, your allies
Over the course of the last year, the number of orders that Uruguayans placed through Rappi doubled. The restaurant line of business is the largest of its business, but it is not the only one to grow. In total, they have 700 affiliated stores and they intend that more SMEs can sell in this way. “An SME that joins Rappi can increase its profits by 20%,” Mirkin points out.
Rappi focuses on a hyper local business measuring the realities of the areas. “A user of Carrasco is not the same as one of Cordón, his ways of consuming and what matters to him are different”, remarks the manager. Along the same lines, she asserts that there is more and more fragmentation and more personalization among users. “The hyperlocal business pushes us to know what he wants, not only the Uruguayan, but what that user who lives in Pocitos wants, to be able to bring him especially what he wants,” she highlights. For this they work with what they call “local heroes”, that is, those stores that people value the most in their neighborhood.
To be part of the application there is no single fee, but interested SMEs meet with commercial executives who make a proposal taking into account the needs of the firm in order to optimize their sales. “Any SME can get on the web and they can start the process there,” says the manager, stating that once the company is active in the application, it is offered to maximize its capabilities by taking advantage of the app’s resources, for example, by improving its location and with exclusive offers for Prime users—your membership that has unlimited free shipping, exclusive promotions and an HBO Max subscription—.
In this sense, it is in the plans that Prime continues to strengthen itself beyond the benefits of the application itself, for which different alliances that are related to the business model and “meaning” for users are being explored.
turbo experience
In the region, one of Rappi’s big bets is Turbo, a modality that allows users to order certain products—among some 1,000 available items—that will arrive at their home in a period of 10 minutes. “We do not rule it out in Uruguay,” says Mirkin.
Regulation
“We are not against regulation, we do believe that it has to be through dialogue,” Mirkin points out and believes that technology always advances faster than laws, in Uruguay and in the world.
In this sense, at the local level, the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Pablo Mieres, recently announced that the Executive Branch plans to send a bill to Parliament to regulate and give “greater guarantees” to the employment generated by technological applications in different areas of activity, among which are food deliveries.
“We make ourselves available to the authorities to talk about regulation, because we understand that our business model has its particularities that have to be included in any type of regulation,” says the manager and calls for “modern regulations” that adapt to the real world. “Distributors, business premises, end users must be listened to,” she requests.
Asked if the company is currently in dialogue with the Municipality of Montevideo regarding the regulation of its operations, Mirkin indicated: “We always have an open dialogue with the authorities.”
from any area
As of today, Rappi has 12 people who work from Montevideo. These people not only perform tasks for this country but, in some cases, are global or regional leaders who work in the company under the “work from anywhere” modality that Rappi offers its employees. “We open searches to any country because we are where the talent is”, points out the manager for Cono Sur.
