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Comment by aunty_helen | Hacker News Reader

Rappi. Massive app in Latin America.

The level of usefulness and convenience is astounding. I ordered some items I forgot to get at the supermarket the other day, arrived in 4 minutes. In my home first world country, next day delivery is touted as a massive success by execs on linkedin.

For how powerful Rappi has become, not only did they beat Uber Eats completely out of Colombia (their service just isn't at the same standard anywhere), but they also beat McDonalds who tried to go exclusive with their own app for a year before coming back to the platform.

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Uber Eats has to build a model that works worldwide, including in the US, Canada, UK, EU, etc. where unemployment rates are relatively low. I don’t think same hour delivery will ever be long-term sustainable in a country with low unemployment.

Emerging economies are a different story. Unemployment is usually high so there’s an abundance of workers to power the logistics behind these super apps.

> I don’t think same hour delivery will ever be long-term sustainable in a country with low unemployment.

In Europe we have something called ‘flash orders’, where your groceries are usually delivered within 10 minutes. Way crazier than same-day. Like you said, it does make one wonder if those companies (Gorillas, Flink, Getir) will ever be sustainable long term.

Yeah, these have been around in Asia for years now. The European ones are heavily restricted in items and jack up prices, to make it even remotely profitable.

In India, you can order literally anything - it’s pretty cool. Checkout Dunzo or Grofers. The former even acts as a local courier or task runner.

Oh I am aware, from Indonesia where they have Gojek.

Here in the West I just see it have the same trajectory as Uber. Investors pump in massive amounts of money which allows the service to be sold at a loss, then investors realize they’re not gonna have unicorn returns, at which point the companies jack their rates. And whereas Uber is still a better alternative to what it replaced (the fucked up taxi industry), flash order companies don’t really have that same “I’d rather still use them” boon.

I second this. I use rappi about 1-2 a day. They attracted a bunch of users using their delivery platform and now they have expanded into dug delivery, car insurance, plane tickets and a bunch more. They are currently trying to break into financial services (now really sure how well this last one will play out though).

Rappi is great. I use it almost every day. I love how you can order cash from the ATM right to your door. Does that exist in US delivery apps?

You can order CASH delivery? Nevermind the why, I'm curious about the how! Seemingly so many ways to abuse this...

Yes you can order up to 300 soles at once which is about $80. They charge you 7% but it's delivered to your door in minutes.

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