January the 18th, 2023 - Croatian Glovo tipping culture has well and truly topped the list when it comes to the 25 countries in which the wildly popular delivery service operates.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Glovo delivery service, recognisable for its bright yellow bags, is one of the world's leading applications for the delivery of several product categories. It recently presented its ordering trends for the year 2022 based on the activities of Croatian Glovo users spanning 29 cities.

When it comes to ordering food, users of the Glovo application here in Croatia prefer American, Italian and Middle Eastern food, and their favourite dishes are hamburgers, pizzas and of course - kebabs. However, Glovo data shows an encouraging and growing preference of Croatian residents for traditional food (+118% in orders when compared to 2021) and healthy food (+60%).

One of the most popular categories in the Q-commerce vertical of the Glovo application for year 2022 was the products "Flowers and gifts" with 65% more orders having been processed by the company.

That romance is still alive and kicking was shown by the data for Valentine's Day last year, when Croatian Glovo users ordered flowers most of all in 2022. Moreover, one Croatian Glovo user made as many as 65 flower orders throughout one single year!

Pet owners also made 162% more orders through this vey handy app last year. What is particularly interesting is that most orders intended for animals were made during the morning hours - between 10:00 and 11:00. When we hear Glovo delivers anything, we first think of food, but Glovo is much more than that and that will have become obvious to anyone who has ever used the service. One of the requests with the most comments registered in the "Anything" section of the app was for: moving boxes, curtains and bicycle tyres.

Croatian Glovo users utilise this application the most on Fridays, and the time of day with the highest consumption in 2022 was between 19:00 and 20:00, most likely for ordering dinner. During 2022, the day with the most orders on Glovo of all in Croatia was February the 4th.

The Croatian record holder for the number of orders in 2022 is a user with a total of 648 orders, while the highest order value in 2022 was achieved by a user from Split: 8,500 kuna for a smartphone.

How much Glovo means to those of us living in Croatia has also been showcased by the large number of tips given to Glovo delivery people, and Croatian residents have ranked first place out of the 25 markets on which Glovo operates. Last year, the cities where Croatian Glovo users tipped the most were Sibenik (with more than 23% customers tipping), Cakovec (22%) and Rijeka (21.5%). Zagreb is only 11th place in the list of tipping cities in Croatia (with 19.21% of users in Zagreb tipping Glovo delivery people).

In 2022, an increase in scheduled orders of as much as 174% was recorded by Croatian Glovo users. Although the people of Zagreb used the "Scheduled orders" option the most, Bjelovar and Cakovec are the cities where this trend recorded the highest growth of all, with it increasing +572% and +426% respectively when compared to 2021.

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November 17, 2021 - The first Glovo Express store in Croatia intended for Glovo suppliers will work 0-24h every day of the year, acting as a micro-logistics facility that speeds up delivery.

Glovo, the largest player in the delivery application market in Croatia, has opened its own store, reports Jutarnji List.

Namely, Glovo Express is a store that is not intended for end customers but Glovo suppliers and works 0-24h every day of the year. The concept of the new Glovo store is called the Micro Fulfilment Center, which means that it is a micro-logistics facility that speeds up delivery. If compared to hitherto known businesses, Glovo Express would be a cross between a post office, a local store, and a micro warehouse.

Victor Răcariu, Glovo's CEO for Southeast Europe, says he will open another store in Croatia by the end of the year.

"The launch of Glovo Express on the Croatian market and the transition to a new, higher level of delivery on demand is a key moment for us, but also a positive impact in the interest of our customers," says Răcariu.

He explains that they can strengthen the business with the delivery of goods sold by retail chains. Of course, this primarily applies to perishable consumer goods such as vegetables, fruits, frozen and dairy products. But it also opens up space for faster delivery of all other products that citizens buy in retail chains, such as beverages, sweets, and products for children and animals.

Bojan Barišić, head of Glovo Express stores for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia, says that he will expand the delivery offer in Zagreb by 1,500 products.

"Further expansion of the Glovo Express store network is planned for next year," says Barišić.

Although the pandemic led to an explosion of delivery on demand (Quick commerce), this trend continued this year. Therefore, in 2021, companies from online commerce, postal delivery, and mobile delivery applications (Q-commerce) in Croatia have started to strengthen their logistics infrastructure to make their businesses more sustainable and prepare them for further online sales, which is supposed to have the potential to double in a short period.

Croatian Post, DPD, and the largest online retailer eKupi already have their parcel machines and expand their network.

"This year, Glovo signed a strategic agreement with the Swiss real estate company Stoneweg, in which it undertook to invest 100 million euros in the construction and renovation of real estate in the capitals of key markets in which it operates," says Barišić.

He explains that Glovo can connect a more significant number of sales partners to the application by strengthening its delivery infrastructure.

"Glovo Express is a response to changes in consumer behavior and demands for ultra-fast delivery. Micro Fulfilment Centers are the future of commerce, and we expect them to impact lasting changes in consumer habits. It is a step towards immediate or delivery on the same day," says Barišić.

A year ago, Glovo positioned itself as the largest player in the industry of mobile delivery applications. Last year, according to Fina, the company had a revenue of HRK 48.9 million. But it's also the fastest way to fry cash. As a result, it ended in 2020 with a loss of HRK 21.8 million. The other two competitors, Wolt and Bolt, lag significantly behind in revenue but are profitable, albeit with very low amounts.

By the end of the year, it plans to open more than a hundred Glovo Express stores in 50 cities in 16 states. In addition to Croatia, it is opening its Micro Fulfillment Centers in Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Kenya, and Morocco.

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July the 4th, 2021 - The much loved Croatian Pauza delivery platform is no more following Glovo's takeover. The business move was initially announced back in May this year, and the first Croatian platform of this kind has now been extinguished.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sergej Novosel Vuckovic writes, just as was announced back at the end of May, the once first Croatian web and mobile service for ordering and delivering food from restaurants - Pauza.hr, has now ceased to exist under that name and officially operates within the Glovo platform, one of the largest global platforms for delivery.

Glovo announced that it would take over the Croatian Pauza delivery platform as part of the acquisitions of the Delivery Hero group in seven countries in Croatia's immediate region, of which Pauza was a part. Now all the conditions have been met and the green light of the regulator has been obtained, and the transaction was formally realised.

The Croatian Pauza, therefore, will no longer deliver orders and no longer operates, which can be seen on its page as people are automatically redirected to the Glovo page. The same applies to the Pauza application, as explained by Glovo, otherwise the Croatian market leader in on-demand delivery:

“The entire content of their application and website has already been transferred over to Glovo. Users who enter the Pauza app will be redirected to Glovo through personalised links and will be able to easily register for Glovo in just a few steps. Users of Pauza's website will be redirected to the Glovo website,'' they pointed out.

Catering facilities already present on the Pauza platform don't have to worry, nor do the platform's users, because a total of 800 restaurants have been successfully moved over to the Glovo platform. Glovo also cooperates with the retail chains Lonia, Tommy, dm and even INA petrol stations, and users know very well that they can order almost everything at home or to their office - from sandwiches and fresh meat to flowers, drinks and cosmetics.

“On-demand delivery platforms have been well received on the Croatian market and we're glad to be part of that success. In a very short period of time, from the announcement of the acquisition of the Croatian Pauza platform to the realisation itself, we worked diligently to provide users with the same choice of food they had with Pauza, but more than that. We're convinced that by combining the content and operational expertise of both applications we'll be able to offer our users a much better experience and ultimately the overall user experience,'' said Teo Sirola, CEO of Glovo Croatia.

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May the 27th, 2021 - Glovo is set to purchase the wildly popular Croatian food delivery service Pauza.hr, adding that they also plan for more acquisitions and further expansion across Croatia's immediate region.

As Novac writes, Glovo, a leading delivery platform for various product categories, recently announced a series of separate acquisition agreements with Delivery Hero Group, one of the world's leading delivery platforms, which will acquire some of their companies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), including one Croatian food delivery service - Pauza.hr.

The transaction is expected to be concluded in full over the next few weeks, depending on the fulfillment of previously agreed conditions, as well as the relevant regulatory approvals, a statement from Glovo read. The acquisition includes seven countries in Croatia's immediate region where Delivery Hero operates, namely: Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and here in Croatia.

Glovo will acquire the Foodpanda brand in Romania and Bulgaria, the Donesi brand in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Pauza.hr brand in Croatia.

In a separate agreement, Glovo recently announced that an agreement had been reached on the acquisition of Ehrana, a local delivery platform from neighbouring Slovenia, without highlighting the value of the transaction. That transaction is expected to close over the next few months, and Glovo is currently working closely with Ehrana to define a transition strategy for both customers and partners and suppliers.

“Focusing on markets where we see clear opportunities for leadership and building sustainable business has always been at the core of our long-term strategy. Central and Eastern Europe are an important part of that plan. This region has wholeheartedly embraced delivery platforms and we're very excited to strengthen our position and increase our presence in countries that are constantly showing huge growth potential,'' stated Oscar Pierre, the co-founder and CEO of Glovo.

"Over the last few years, Delivery Hero has successfully built a leading position here in the Balkans. However, given the many other priorities ahead of us, I believe that Glovo is in a better position to continue to develop an excellent user experience for our customers in this region,'' concluded Niklas Ostberg, the CEO and co-founder of Delivery Hero.

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ZAGREB,  2 May 2021 - Glovo, an on-demand courier service that purchases, picks up, and delivers products ordered through its mobile app, has delivered more than 9 million products in the first two years of its operation in Croatia, the Glovo Croatia company reported recently.

In 2019, the first Croatian city where it started doing business was Zagreb, and currently Glovo operates in 11 more cities in the country: Split, Osijek, Zadar, Rijeka, Slavonski Brod, Sisak, Pula, Karlovac, Varaždin and Velika Gorica.

One in five Croatians has downloaded Glovo app

According to the company's data, one in five Croatians have downloaded the Glovo application, and more than a thousand local "glovers" have delivered nearly nine million products and covered 12 million kilometres providing those services in the last two years.

Glovo is the app that connects users, businesses and couriers to make that possible. The project was launched with the aim of transforming the way users acquire what they need, making cities more accessible.

The company underscores that since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, its deliveries in Croatia increased by 500% compared to the pre-pandemic period.

It notes that, for example, food is the most frequently transported product by glovers, and the most frequently ordered fruits via Glovo app are bananas (20 tonnes). Glovers have to date delivered more than 70,000 litres of milk. When it comes to fast food, the most frequently delivered products are burgers and pizza.

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December the 31st, 2020 - If you want to help the Petrinja earthquake victims in Petrinja, Glina, Sisak or any of the other surrounding areas which have been affected, Glovo will deliver your package free of charge.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Glovo, a delivery service which has been present and very popular in Croatia for some time now, has joined the action of collecting donations for the earthquake-affected areas and enabled everyone who wants to help Petrinja earthquake victims to do so more easily by picking up donations for free and delivering them to the desired addresses in the affected areas.

If you want to help, all you need to do is prepare the supplies you want to donate, open the Glovo application, select the Express Delivery category and enter the address where the donation should be collected, as well as the address to which you want to send the donation. Donations are then delivered free of charge to the address you entered - whether it is the address of the Red Cross/Crveni kriz collection point or other organisations that organised the fundraiser.

''Sisak, Petrinja, Glina and the surrounding areas affected by the Petrinja earthquake need our help and we believe that we can help if we all join forces. We'd like to invite everyone who is able to do so to donate and help as much as they can, and we will take care of all of the logistics and donations to reach those in need,'' said Teo Sirola, the director of Glovo for Croatia, adding that the goal of this action is to facilitate the donation process and hopefully increase the overall number of donations to the victims of the recent devastating Petrinja earthquake, which sadly took multiple lives.

Donations made via Glovo can be completed in a mere few clicks and are easy and totally free. It is possible to donate groceries, clothes, hygiene and other necessities through the aforementioned app. Activation is available in all eleven Croatian cities where Glovo operates - Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Osijek, Zadar, Sisak, Pula, Karlovac, Velika Gorica, Varazdin and Slavonski Brod and the action will last for as long as necessary.

If you want to donate funds or food, material, sanitary, humanitarian or anti-epidemic items, you can find out how here, with lists of what is most needed provided. If you want to donate via a special donations account set up for Petrinja by HPB, click here. Donations made into the special HPB account are free of any additional charges, even if you don't live in Croatia and are paying from a foreign bank account.

You might have noticed people in bright coloured shirts riding around on bikes in Croatia over the last year or so. These independent delivery services are becoming more and more popular with the Croatian population, and they quickly deliver everything from food to medicine.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 27th of August, 2019, after annoying some of Zagreb's hospitality facility owners by listing them in their application (app) without their explicit permission, Glovo has gone from strength to strength and employed more than 400 people to do deliveries around the city after being in business for just five months in Zagreb.

In addition, they now cooperate with more than 100 hospitality facility owners, some of whom are offering their services online for the very first time, and finally entering the 21st century, according to a report from Vecernji list.

''We're already number one, and we want to continue in that direction," says Teo Širola, CEO of Glovo Services for Croatia, an international company that has grown from a startup for on-demand delivery from Barcelona in 2015, to having a value estimated at 300 million euros (2018), in just a few years.

That being said, the company isn't going public with the number of daily deliveries, explains Širola. But in their first year of business in Croatia, they aim for 1,000 employees doing the deliveries and about 100,000 deliveries per month.

"You order, we'll deliver," is the slogan of their application, and it is in "translation", it states that they will deliver, directly to the customer's address, anything that fits into their rather large delivery bag. And that - unlike the competition that is mainly food-oriented, they'll deliver gifts, medicines, groceries, books, coffee and cakes, and as of fairly recently, even McDonald's food. 

Glovo also collaborates with McDonald's in some other countries, too, and began delivering from three popular McDonald's restaurants in Zagreb quite recently.

"Delivery is the fastest growing food sales channel in the restaurant business today, and this trend will continue in the coming years. It was logical to expand our delivery service because it allows us to have an additional sales channel and to grow our business,'' stated McDonald's, adding that they're going to continue with this type of delivery expansion.

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A successful Spanish startup which has spread to 105 cities in twenty countries in Europe, Africa, and Central and South America since 2015 has begin operations in no less than Zagreb.

As Marta Duic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of April, 2019, Glovo, a fast delivery application (app) which allows customers to purchase, receive and send any products within the city within less than 45 minutes, has started its operations in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb.

"For now, Glovo has employed seven people in the ''core'' team in Zagreb, eighteen in customer support and fifty delivery people. Therefore, a total of 65 people are in employed in this operation, we're only just beginning, and we're also still actively employing people. The expectations are high because we think that there's a lot of room for first-class fast delivery on the Croatian market and the inclusion of a large number of partners in the on-demand economy trend. People are now accustomed to having everything at their fingertips, quickly and easily accessible, and that's what we provide - products from the entire city delivered within 30 to 60 minutes to the end user,'' stated general manager for Glovo Croatia, Teo Širola.

This Spanish startup started back in 2015 in Barcelona, Spain, and has since expanded to 105 cities, ranging from Paris and Milan and Istanbul and Nairobi, in twenty countries across Europe, Africa, Central and South America. More than fifteen million orders from partners such as McDonald's, KFC, Starbucks, and the like have been delivered around the globe via Spain's Glovo app. They have more than three million users, 10,000 partners and work with a network that involves more than 30,000 couriers.

"The first reactions we've had have been positive. We still need to educate the market in terms of the service we provide and explain that what we do is exclusively delivery. Specifically, we deliver straight from the restaurant (or store) to the customer, effectively delivering the service as if the buyer picked up the food (or the item) themselves. This is different from the services that have been provided on our market so far, where more orders are delivered at the same time, so, let's say, the tastes and smells have been mixed, and the food that eventually comes to the customer's door is cold,'' noted Širola. Aside from doing deliveries by car, Glovo uses bicycles and scooters to squeeze through heavy city traffic faster, and offer a more ecologically aware delivery option.

"Zagreb is accelerating the transformation in the domain of fast delivery in Croatia, and our vision is to bring the practicality of technology closer to everyone," says Širola.

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Click here for the original article by Marta Duic for Poslovni Dnevnik