Zabka invests in its own dark stores

Wpis dostępny jest także w języku: polski

Zabka has decided to enter the q-commerce market by planning to open its own dark stores. For now, the project is in the testing phase, but if the results are positive, Zabka will be able to deliver orders in 10-15 minutes, and by the end of the year, there may be even 25 small stores belonging to the chain.

The q-commerce market has developed during the pandemic as the demand for shopping delivered in a short time to customers’ homes has increased. New platforms such as Lisek, Jokr, GetnowX, Swyft and Gorillas have emerged in the market to facilitate express delivery. More recently, Biedronka has also decided to assert its presence more strongly in the e-commerce industry, by strengthening its cooperation with Glovo and investing in dark stores. Despite strong competition on the market, Zabka decided to join the group of companies offering express deliveries of food products.

Currently, two dark stores are being tested in Warsaw, although there are already plans to open a third outlet. The project is being carried out in the friends&family format, which means that the solution is not yet available to Zabka’s customers. However, they can still use the possibility to do their shopping online. During the pandemic, Zabka appeared on the e-commerce market and customers can still make purchases in the click&collect model or use deliveries carried out by Uber Eats couriers.

Zabka is not revealing any details about the new concept at the moment. It is not known what products will appear in the final offer and the name of the new service remains a secret. Ultimately, e-commerce using dark stores is to be carried out in 10-15 minutes, which is similar to the time taken by competitors. Zabka is also testing an application for the new service and while it is currently only available for iOS devices, it is planning to prepare an application for Android.

The launch date of the new service depends on the results of the ongoing tests. However, it can be assumed that Zabka will use the upcoming fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic to introduce the service and test it on its Warsaw customers who, while working remotely, will be eager to use the opportunity to do their grocery shopping in the q-commerce model.

For more information see the latest PMR report: “Online retail market in Poland 2021“.