How Does Getir Make Money? The Getir Business Model In A Nutshell

Getir is a Turkish grocery and restaurant food delivery platform founded by Serkan Borancili, Tuncay Tutek, Dogancan Dalyan, and Nazim Salur. Salur got the idea for the company after wondering if food could be delivered nearly as quickly as taxis could be hailed.
As a dark supermarket operator, Getir makes money by selling items at a 10% premium to traditional supermarkets and retailers. Margins are higher because the company only leases the warehouses where the dark stores are located.
Getir also charges a flat delivery fee on orders above a certain threshold, with fees varying according to the country served.

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Getir Origin Story

Getir is a Turkish grocery and restaurant food delivery platform founded by Serkan Borancili, Tuncay Tutek, Dogancan Dalyan, and Nazim Salur.

The on-demand service claims to deliver food and other items in as little as ten minutes.

Salur and Borancili knew each other from the Turkish ride-hailing app BiTaksi, where users could hail a cab anywhere in the city in no more than three minutes.

The co-founders wanted to see if similar expediency was feasible in the food delivery space.

Getir was launched in 2014 at a time when Turkish customers had not yet become accustomed to ordering groceries online.

With online grocery deliveries taking up to a week, the co-founders decided to deliver within ten minutes.

Tutek later noted the significance of this decision:

“Delivering within 10 minutes is significant for customers, because 10 minutes means right now. If we can achieve delivery within 10 minutes, we can retain our competitive advantage even when other players come into play.“

The team commenced operations in a rented office and used a former florist building as warehouse space.

For the first few years, business operations were difficult.

In addition to a preference to purchase groceries from bricks-and-mortar stores, Turkish consumers also avoided paying with credit cards.

To overcome this resistance, Getir invested heavily in marketing campaigns and recruited a team of early adopters to experience ultrafast delivery for themselves.

There were also problems with securing investment funding, as Turkey was not known to be a breeding ground for successful start-ups.

Getir finally secured a $38 million round of Series A funding in January 2020 as the COVID-19 virus began spreading around the world.

As millions were forced into lockdown, revenue increased over 500% during the remainder of 2020.

Following another successful round of funding in June 2021, Getir was valued at around $7.5 billion.

Getir revenue generation

Getir has a revenue generation strategy common to many food delivery companies. Let’s take a look at this strategy in more detail below.

Grocery sales

Getir operates a network of dark supermarkets where consumer orders are fulfilled by a team of specialized pickers.

Most items for sale are marked up by approximately 10% over similar products seen in traditional supermarkets.

This margin is where the company makes the majority of its money.

Margins are also increased since Getir does not own the warehouses where the supermarkets are housed. This allows the company to avoid typical owner/operator costs.

Delivery fees

Delivery fees are charged to the consumer for every order they place on the Getir platform and vary from country to country.

The delivery in the United Kingdom, for example, is £1.99 – though at the time of writing the delivery fee has been waived for British customers.

Note also that the order total must come to £10 or more to qualify for delivery.

Key Points about Getir:

Founding and Concept Origin:
- Getir is a Turkish grocery and restaurant food delivery platform founded by Serkan Borancili, Tuncay Tutek, Dogancan Dalyan, and Nazim Salur.
- The idea for Getir was sparked by Nazim Salur’s curiosity about whether food delivery could be as fast as hailing taxis.
Business Model and Revenue Generation:
- Getir operates as a dark supermarket operator, selling items at a 10% premium to traditional supermarkets.
- The company leases warehouses for its dark stores, increasing profit margins.
- It charges a flat delivery fee on orders above a specific threshold, varying by country served.
Origin Story and Launch:
- Getir was launched in 2014, aiming to deliver groceries and other items within as little as ten minutes.
- Co-founders Salur and Borancili had experience from the ride-hailing app BiTaksi, where quick cab hailing was a feature.
- The decision to deliver within 10 minutes was aimed at retaining a competitive advantage.
Early Challenges and Growth:
- Getir faced initial challenges with the preference for physical grocery shopping and resistance to online payments.
- The company invested in marketing and recruited early adopters to experience ultrafast delivery.
- Investment funding was challenging to secure initially, but Getir secured significant funding in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Revenue Generation Strategy:
- Getir’s revenue strategy involves grocery sales and delivery fees.
- It operates dark supermarkets with marked-up prices, generating profit from the margin.
- The company doesn’t own warehouses, reducing operational costs.
- Delivery fees are charged to consumers for orders, varying by country and order amount.
Rapid Growth and Valuation:
- The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant revenue growth for Getir in 2020, with over 500% increase.
- Successful funding rounds in 2021 contributed to Getir’s valuation of around $7.5 billion.