E-grocers shift to 24/7 service

The battle for market share in small retail is shifting to the field of extended business hours, where the entry of the two largest digital platforms for ordering deliveries at home has drastically changed the landscape.

Remaining open 24 hours a day, seven days a week is now the new challenge, especially after the changes the pandemic introduced to consumer habits, but also after the great reduction in kiosks, which largely served this need previously. It is worth noting that from 9,904, the number of kiosks throughout Greece in 2010 dropped to half (4,985) in 2020, according to data from NielsenIQ.

The provision of services 24 hours a day, seven days a week was launched in May by Wolt, not in terms of its own small retail service, Wolt Market, but the delivery of products from minimarket partners, as well as restaurants etc. Some of these affiliated stores operated on a 24-hour basis anyway. However, through their collaboration with Wolt, they are now able to deliver the products to customers 24 hours a day. Wolt Market has extended hours every day (including Sundays) from 8 a.m. to midnight.

Efood has also recently extended the opening hours of its stores in some areas in terms of the provision of the efood market service – i.e. its own small retailer. Therefore, instead of closing at 10.30 p.m., in some areas they now close at 12.45 a.m.

Given, however, that with the completion of the acquisition of the companies of the Mouhalis group by Delivery Hero (the group to which efood belongs), hundreds of convenience stores and cooperating small retailers, including kiosks, will be added to the efood network; that means in the coming months the platform will also make a notable entry in the business hours competition.

The acquisition of the Kiosky’s (convenience stores as well as the network of cooperating minimarkets and kiosks) adds to the efood market at least an additional 400 points of sale, efood stated on Wednesday.

Rival Pop Market also operates from 8 a.m. to midnight, but it operates exclusively in small retail.