Spanish multichannel delivery platform Glovo has unveiled a major update to its application, adding new social elements and a video feed for the users of Madrid and Barcelona. The change that commenced today is a significant one for the company, part of a general new focus on the delivery market in an attempt to increase usage rates and further establish itself.
The new social features enable people to sign up for the profiles, add friends, and simultaneously share restaurants and delivery experiences within the application. By doing so, Glovo shifts from a delivery app to a social network focused on food and their way of life. Many features became available to ordinary users: They can introduce themselves as to what their friends are ordering, rate dishes, and even take part in group orders.
The most noteworthy of the new features is the video discover wall – a basic concept similar to many modern social media platforms, including TikTok and Instagram Reels. This feature provides a never-ending feed of short, shareable videos of restaurants in the areas, recipes, and snapshots of cooking processes. Specific content is auto-generated according to the preferences and activity of the users, making it unique and interactive in terms of web browsing.
According to Glovo’s CEO Oscar Pierre on the update, opining it, “We are no longer a food delivery company only, we are delivering experiences.” This update symbolizes what Collective Evolution stands for: a community of individuals who are connected and passionate about food.
As a result of established partnerships with content producers in Madrid and Barcelona, the feed of the video discovery wall contains high-quality content. Besides, it also increases the user’s activities, and restaurants and small businesses can promote their menus or products to a new market platform.
Early customer reactions in both Madrid and Barcelona are generally positive. Maria Sanchez, a frequent Glovo user in Madrid, shared her enthusiasm: What about changes such as new social features? This is especially entertaining when I get to see what my friends are ordering and the spot. I have found so many different new places to eat through the video wall.
However, some concerns have been raised by the users regarding more privacy than before, which has been offered by the update. As in all social networks, Glovo has ensured that its clients have control over the information they upload and who can access it. The company has also focused on its data privacy and the company’s compliance with the GDPR privacy requirements.
These social features are new features that have radically shifted the Glovo business model. Through engagement and spending more time in the app, the company wants customer order frequency and customer loyalty to improve. This move also helps Glovo prepare to pose a stiff challenge to social media, which has started expanding into e-commerce and Food delivery services.
Industry experts consider this update as a sound strategy considering all the competition from similar applications. Adding these social features is allowing Glovo to stand out from other delivery apps, and creating a stickier platform really. This could be a game – changer in both user retention as well as user acquisition .
At the time of creating this piece, the update is live only in Madrid and Barcelona but Glovo has unveiled plans to expand the update to other cities in Spain within the next months. The company is also mulling over the possibility to take some of these features and roll them out in the rest of the Europe, where it has operations.
Thus, it will be rather interesting to observe how Glovo’s competitors will adapt to the app’s new direction from a delivery service to a social network that embodies food and some extra aspects of life. This may have a bandwagon effect in the delivery app market, as other market competitors will quickly switch to adding the social aspect to the app.
The success of this update in Madrid and Barcelona will indeed be eyed by all and sundry and may seemingly pave the way for the future of generation food delivery applications. Given that social commerce, m-commerce, and delivery services are transitioning from being distinct sectors, Glovo’s next move could easily be emblematic of future digital services.
