*This case study was prepared and published before Gorillas got acquired by Getir in December 2022.
When Jörg Kattner and Kağan Sümer, the founders of Gorillas, planned their on-demand grocery delivery business in 2020, they knew they wanted something unique. The idea behind Gorillas is speed and quality. They wanted to be able to provide a door-to-door delivery service for online grocery shopping that would take only minutes to arrive after purchase. But speedy delivery requires precise, reliable, and fast tech systems at every stage of the process; from the moment the consumer browses the application to select their items to the local fulfillment network and the fleet management.
The idea behind Gorillas’ strapline “Faster than you” relies on a bespoke marketplace solution built specifically around hyperlocal fulfillment centers. So how can Gorillas manage to deliver grocery goods within, on average, 15 minutes of the order? That’s precisely with this request that Kattner and Sümer reached out to eddress in February 2020, which had already developed a successful online marketplace with a precious partner.
Who is Gorillas?
Gorillas is a Berlin-based on-demand delivery marketplace specializing in grocery. Since its launch in May 2020, Gorillas has gained rapid worldwide recognition. Why does it work? There’s an element of timing: Gorillas’ launch coincided with the start of the pandemic, a time when consumers naturally turned toward online services for shopping.
Besides, the promise of a fast delivery service is a non-negligible success factor. Who wants to schedule grocery deliveries weeks in advance when you can have them delivered within minutes at your door? Yet, timing and promises are nothing without good technology to support the expansion of the business. When it comes to Gorillas’ expansion, we’re talking about a model that has rapidly become one of the fastest-growing European on-demand delivery services. Gorillas continues to cement its expansion beyond the German market. The secret recipe behind this rapidly growing business? A great idea, with the right timing, and successful technology.
How eddress enabled Gorillas’ marketplace
At eddress, we’re a white-labeled online marketplace enabler dedicated to supporting businesses with all the tools they need to build, manage, and scale their marketplace. When Gorillas reached out in February 2020, eddress provided them with SaaS support to create a seamless grocery shopping and delivery experience for the business and the consumers.
eddress enabled Gorillas’ marketplace with its technology, implementing and hosting a bespoke customer application for smartphones, a back-end portal, as well as order and fleet management to ensure Gorillas was up and running smoothly.
We are proud to say that eddress took part and witnessed Gorillas’ phenomenal growth, even reaching unicorn status only 9 months after its launch in May 2020, setting an unprecedented record for German start-ups.
The success story carries on
Confident in the ability of eddress’ technology to support their upscaling in international markets, Gorillas decided to acquire the eddress license and build on top of it. Since April 2021, Gorillas fully shifted the SaaS marketplace technology to their own hosting environment.
Two years after its launch in Germany, Gorillas focuses its operations in 4 additional countries: France, Netherlands, UK, and the US. We can’t wait to see where the on-demand grocery delivery service will move next.
Does Gorillas’ success story encourage you to grow your marketplace business too? If you seek a technology company to help you build, manage, and scale your operations online, look no further. With eddress, the software you need is at your fingertips.
