New York City grocery-delivery competition now has Gorillas in the midst.
Beginning this weekend, the European startup Gorillas is bringing a 10-minute service to the Big Apple.
The company uses a quickly identifiable collection of bike couriers dressed in black.
The initial foray includes select neighborhoods of Brooklyn, where services such as Fridge No More and JOKR already exist – but they pledge deliveries five minutes slower than what Gorillas promises.
In an interview with Business Insider, CEO Kaga Sumer – a big proponent of bicycling, too – believes in a non-Costco way of doing things.
Rather than stockpiling, consumers will learn to rely on delivery of “emergency” and “replenishment” groceries, he said, adding, “70 percent of people who use Gorillas once, they use again.”
Sumer launched Gorillas in Germany last year.
The Insider story reports that Gorillas raised $290 million in a Series B round led by hedge fund Coatue, which allowed the ongoing expansion.
As to the company’s growth, Gorillas has its reach in 25 cities with more than 80 warehouses in Germany, the Netherlands, UK, and France – and expansion into more U.S. and European cities this spring and summer.
It plans to expand to Italy in May, and also expand its delivery service to more U.S. cities and European countries this summer.
Comments from skeptics include the idea that U.S. shoppers are unlikely to move away from longer-term, planned shopping, and that Gorillas shoppers in New York will have a selection of only up to 2,500 items; a traditional grocery store offers about 40,000 items.
Similar operators such as Instacart and Uber use gig workers, but Gorillas employs a fleet of full-time and part-time couriers who deliver from warehouses.
Gorillas charges a flat, no-minimums $1.80 delivery fee on all orders and will operate between 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.
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