Getir, a Turkish company specializing in ultra-fast delivery of everyday groceries, is launching its franchise model on the French market, after Turkey and the UK. Alec Dent, the new general manager of Getir France, tells us more about this new stage of its expansion in France.
Why are you introducing your franchise model in France?
Getir, a Turkish company founded in 2015, has grown to become a global player on "retail on demand", quick commerce, present in nine European countries and the United States. These eight new markets were opened in 14 months. This franchise model has existed in Turkey since 2016 with more than 600 franchised stores in the country, which are now the largest in comparison to the integrated [stores]. We have been testing it for seven years. The goal is both to provide a better customer experience and to better manage our operations. Today, we have more than 1,000 stores worldwide and launched the franchise in the UK in September 2021. At the Franchise Expo show (March 20-23), we are launching this model in France. We are the only quick commerce company in the world to offer it.
How does this franchise system work?
We hand over a turnkey store to the franchisee. We are looking for entrepreneurs who like to manage teams, so they are present in their store to manage on a daily basis. Today, we offer future franchisees the opportunity to take over one of our 50 active stores. From the first day, they have the premises, the lease, a trained team and the stock. This guarantees the franchisee to be paid from the first day thanks to the existing clientele. The stock and operating costs are taken care of by Getir. We also put our technology at the service of the franchisee. The commercial development is supported by our communication and marketing campaigns launched regularly in Paris and in the cities where the company is present. We have greatly invested in our logistics chain by having two large warehouses (in the north of Paris and in Marseille) to deliver our stores and reduce pollution. We have full control over the logistics and delivery of stock to the stores and they will have access to this chain.
Do you offer takeovers of existing stores rather than openings?
For the moment, we are indeed prioritizing takeovers. However, we are in the process of expanding to other cities, so the number of our stores will continue to grow. We hope to reach 10 franchised stores by the end of the year.
Is there an entrance fee?
Yes, but we do not communicate on the amount. We are in an approach of accompanying the franchisee.
Have you signed franchisees?
Since the beginning of the franchise fair, we have received several hundred applications. We are currently studying them.
What is the status of your delivery staff?
Our delivery staff and order pickers have permanent contracts. We rely heavily on the customer experience, so we need to train them and explain our processes to them.
How would you assess your presence in France?
We launched in June 2021, where we now have 50 "G-stores", "Getir stores" (dark stores): Paris, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Cannes and Antibes. We offer between 1,500 and 2,000 references, depending on the store. The market is growing rapidly and we have noticed that customers are very interested in this service.
This "retail on demand" model only works if the number of references is not too high during the preparation of the orders, otherwise you change the model.
Several French municipalities, notably in Paris and the Netherlands, are beginning to raise their voices in the face of dark stores and their possible excesses. The Paris City Hall has asked the different actors of the quick commerce to close 45 "illegally created" dark stores in the capital. What is your reaction?
We were at this meeting with the Paris City Council as well as the other stakeholders (48 people in total). Emmanuel Grégoire, the first deputy mayor, explained to us in his introduction that he did not wish to follow the Dutch or Barcelona model by freezing the establishments, on the contrary. He wishes to regulate the activity and invites us to contact his services to see how we can move forward together, with possible proposals. We will therefore meet with the urban planning department. As in other new sectors, legislation is sometimes late, and this is somewhat the case in our market. There is a grey area that allows the City of Paris to say that we are not completely within the law, even if we think we are. We have to manage this grey area together. In other cities, such as Marseille, we operate without any problem.
What about fines?
We have had controls but no follow-up for the moment and no fines (Editor's note: in concrete terms, after an infringement of the town planning code has been noted, the matter is referred to the judicial court, which can, in addition to the decision on the merits, pronounce a financial penalty " up to a maximum of 25,000 euros per warehouse ", explained Emmanuel Grégoire).
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