Glovo becomes the first industry app to merge social media features with food discovery

It takes a lot of bravery to fly in a motley crew of journalists to Barcelona to showcase the release of an app feature pilot. We're busy, easily distracted by the newscycle and a touch snarky. 

It's even more challenging when you have no user input or data, just a significant investment of time, and a lot of positive thinking.

But Glovo is not just any company, and according to Daniel Alonso, Chief Product Officer at Glovo:

"Despite being from Spain, we want to prove to the world that we can be a super pioneering technology company." 

Today, Glovo presented its most significant product update since 2016 in the first round of its new annual product event, "Glovo Next." 

I went along for the ride. 

Glovo has become the first app in the industry to merge social media features with food discovery, introducing a suite of product updates that allow users to connect with friends, share recommendations, and discover new restaurants.

Think in-app social networking features for Glovo customers, including ability to create lists of  your favourite restaurants with 'Picks,' and a new video discovery wall of videos taken by the people that cook your favourite food — the restaurateurs.

The app can access your address book within the Glovo app, and you can invite friends and colleagues to connect. (Don't worry. Befriending is strictly opt-in, and grocery shops are excluded, so your wine and biscuit binge will be your little secret.) 

As part of the new features, Glovo is introducing 'Picks,' a new way for users to save and organise their top restaurants and dishes. 'Picks' allows users to group their favourite places into lists for the best office lunches, fast delivery, dinner with friends, or any other occasion or location.

Tell me what to order

According to Glovo CEO Oscar Pierre Miquel:

"35 per cent of users don't know what to order."

Now they can be inspired by following their foodie friends for recommendations. 

He described the new app features as "part of a movement that is rooted in existing user behaviour. People already post food pics to their friends and many restaurants are already making videos to showcase their food."

Sadly, Glovo is not available where I live in Germany, but it would be a great alternative to the Google Maps my fellow migrant friends share locally to list the best Hotpot, Sushi, or Sichuan restaurants. 

You won't be able to integrate your social media within the app — images are restricited to those supplied by the restraurants — but it may be a future feature. 

Hackathons are fueling company innovation

According to Shiro Theuri, Glovo's CTO, today's effort represents "just a 10th of the 500-person tech team" and is part of a broader effort to "make hackathons a true source of innovation." 

Multiple pilots at Glovo have been born from hackathons, and it's undoubtedly pretty motivating to teams that they can be active participants in turning their ideas into a company's commercial reality.  

"We design things today to unlock future innovation projects."

This is the most interesting aspect of the app launch. It's not just the features per se, but also the fact that the pilot itself represents a mindset around innovation and the benefits of team initiative and acts as a pretty good recruitment ad. 

According to Theuri, the tech team lives by a series of goals: 

1. Build it well.
2. Build it fast. "Time constraints inspire creativity," according to Theuri.
3. Figure it out. "Our teams had to learn about videos and streaming."

From lean beginnings to international expansion

From its beginnings in restaurant delivery and a rather cursory act, Glovo is now a multi-category app connecting users with businesses and couriers, offering on-demand services from local restaurants, grocers and supermarkets, and high-street retail stores. 

Glovo became Spain's second unicorn in 2019 after a €150 million funding round and a record €450 million in 2021.

Beyond Europe

Glovo first entered the African market in late 2018 by launching operations in Morocco.

The company now operates in 6 African countries: Morocco, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and Nigeria.

According to Alonso, the African market represented some unique challenges such as locations where "maps don't fully resonate with the reality of the physical space. Then door buzzers don't work in some places, or nobody uses them. So there have been initial logistical challenges."

Glovo's services are now available in over 40 cities across Africa, with the market making up about 26 per cent of its overall footprint.  Glovo has invested over €60 million in the region over the last couple of years.

The company also operates across 23 countries in Europe, and Central Asia. 

Support for entrepreneurs and NGOs

Miquel actively supports entrepreneurs, co-founding Yellow, a €30 million Pre-Seed fund for early-stage startups in Southern Europe. 

In March last year Glovo announced the launch of its own Impact Fund, a the first-of-its-kind in the delivery industry. The company has donated  €20 million to NGOs with a mammoth 7.5 million meals delivered on behalf of NGOs to deliver food that would otherwise be wasted.

And as for the app, the new features are already available in selected cities and will be fully rolled out in the coming months for all customers in the 23 markets and more than 1,500 cities where Glovo operates.