Bolt Food South Africa has revealed that it has plans in place to introduce Bolt Market on its platform, as the food delivery service looks to transform into an online marketplace.
As an online food market, Bolt Market will be offering a selection of products, including fresh produce, pantry staples, household essentials and alcohol.
Bolt Food was launched in SA during the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, and Bolt says it has experienced significant growth since inception, despite SA’s macro-economic challenges.
The country manager for Bolt Food South Africa, Tafadzwa Samushonga reportedly told ITWeb that the food delivery service is on-boarding businesses outside of the restaurant vertical, as the app prepares to morph into a marketplace.
In the Western Cape and Gauteng, Bolt Food has grown to list over 2 100 food businesses on the platform. “As a business, we launched Bolt Market in a number of European markets to expand into the groceries category. We have begun to on-board convenience and alcohol stores to complement our restaurant selection.”
Samushonga explained that the company’s growth strategy is to consolidate its position in these markets, leveraging the footprint of its ride-hailing vertical and strong, mutually-beneficial partnerships with restaurants and couriers.
The company is following in the footsteps of competitors Uber Eats and Mr D Food, which have transformed into online marketplaces and it is looking at even growth in SA, as it is reinforcing its “back to basics strategy”, which it believes will contribute to its growth and sustainability in the local market.
Samushonga cannot share customer numbers yet, but she mentioned that dark kitchens, also known as virtual kitchens, are increasingly gaining popularity among local Bolt Food customers. Virtual kitchens listed on the platform include Just Wingz, Bento, Ribshack and Real Sushi.
“These are restaurants that do not have a ‘front of house’ or dining room and deal exclusively with food preparation and delivery. This model significantly reduces business costs, as it does not require investment in interior decoration, employment of waiters, accompanying inventory and the like.” – she added.
The focus for Bolt Food for the future is to strengthen its position in cities where the Bolt Food service is already available, and apply best practices from other markets, with plans to expand nationally in SA further over time.
“We want to continue finding ways to provide our users and restaurants with the best offer and we are working with our delivery partners to achieve a median delivery time that is less than 35 minutes,” she concludes.
