The Battle for Bolt’s Couriers and Restaurants: Glovo and Wolt on the Offensive

In just under a month, Croatians will be able to order food through the Bolt Food app, as the company announced last week that it is withdrawing its food delivery service from Croatia ‘for business reasons’. However, Bolt, previously known as Taxify, remains in its core business in the Croatian market, namely in taxi services.

With Bolt’s departure from Croatia, new delivery companies are opening up, as well as increasing the market share of those already dominating this segment. Primarily, these are Glovo and Wolt, who view Bolt’s exit as an opportunity for growth.

– Given Bolt Food’s departure from Croatia, Glovo is ready to welcome their users, partners, and couriers. On our platform, they will find the widest selection of restaurants, shops, and groceries, opportunities for local business growth, and the most reliable delivery experience in the country. As we continue to grow, we are always open to attracting talent from the industry to our local team – Glovo representatives told us.

They claim that Croatia is one of the most important markets in which Glovo operates in the region and add that they are proud of the role they play in promoting the growth and digitalization of small and medium-sized enterprises, providing flexible earning opportunities for couriers, and creating jobs. A similar comment was made by Wolt representatives for Lider.

– The Croatian delivery market continues to show strong growth and development potential. The market has its dynamics, and we carefully monitor and adapt to provide users and partners with the best possible experience, aiming to become their first choice – Wolt representatives told us, adding that they have built the most widespread delivery platform in Croatia in just over five years, present in more than 35 cities.

In addition to food, Wolt, like Glovo, is increasingly used for grocery shopping, drugstore products, pharmaceuticals, and retail.

– Thanks to numerous innovations, we have become a digital shopping center ‘at your fingertips’. Our continuous growth and results confirm a strong focus on further development and providing top-notch service to users and partners in Croatia – Wolt representatives state.

Orders through the Wolt platform continue to record significant growth, especially in the grocery and retail product segments, the company tells us, adding that consumers are increasingly using Wolt for everyday shopping, indicating that the market is not stagnating. Concurrently, the offerings on the platform are also growing significantly: today, more than a thousand restaurants and shops offer their products and services through Wolt in over 35 cities across the country.

Glovo operates in 23 Croatian cities, connecting more than 1,500 partners, of which 80 percent are small entrepreneurs, with a growing user base. As they confirm, more than 900 independent couriers deliver through external logistics partners, while a local team of over 30 employees also works for them.

The food delivery market gained momentum during the pandemic, but these companies have continuously recorded growth in demand over the past few years, and consequently, the number of partners and couriers is also increasing.

From these companies, they claim to record continuous demand growth, to which they adjust the number of partners and couriers.

– The Wolt app in Croatia has been downloaded more than 1.7 million times so far, which is almost half of the population. The user base in Croatia has practically doubled in the last three years, and the growth trend continues – Wolt representatives tell us.

– Croatians have accepted delivery as part of everyday life. The frequency of orders and penetration among users in Croatia is higher than in many Western European countries, and this growth surpasses delivery in the food category – Glovo concludes.

The pandemic, therefore, accelerated the acceptance of delivery, but these habits have not been lost afterward – on the contrary, they have further solidified, even though only two key players operate in this segment.