Rappi Strengthens Presence in Mexico Despite Challenges

The pandemic left losers and winners. Among the latter is Rappi, which during 2020 reported monthly growth of more than 20 percent. “We had an average monthly growth of 20 percent, which helped us consolidate our presence in the country in 33 cities. By January and February 2021 we have the plan to branch out to three more cities: Tampico, Ciudad Obregon and Ensenada,” said Alejandro Solis, Rappi's General Manager in Mexico, during a virtual press conference.

In Mexico, Rappi acknowledges it has one of its strongest businesses. In addition to delivering food, groceries and other products, the company already has the option of delivering rapid and PCR tests to diagnose COVID-19. “We have made alliances with laboratories with whom we make this service available so users do not go out and put themselves at risk. The service has been successful. We started offering rapid tests but now we also have PCR tests in the app,” added Solis. 

Among the launches highlighted by Solis is Rappi Farmacias, which he said is here to stay. “Part of this success is that unlike a restaurant, users are not looking to live the experience of going to a pharmacy itself, that is why we have sought to grow alliances with pharmacy chains such as Farmacias Guadalajara and other partners.” This division grew by just over 50 percent due to the pandemic. Among the actions that Rappi highlighted during the past few months were:

• A donation of more than 500,000 meals to health workers throughout the region

• Donations of 300 pantries to vulnerable families in Mexico

• An alliance with CANIRAC, through which the app made reimbursements of up to 20 percent to allied establishments. 

In late November, Rappi announced that starting in 2021, the Rappicard credit card, jointly developed by the app and Banorte, will be available in the Mexican market. "Banking must now focus on personalization and digital services. Our alliance with Rappi allows us to transform the experience of Mexicans in the digital financial ecosystem, combining the best of two worlds: the strength and expertise of Banorte and Rappi's digital DNA," said Carlos Hank Gonzalez, Chairman of the Board of Grupo Financiero Banorte, in a statement.

“For us, it is important to partner with the largest Mexican banks. They know the culture in Mexico and have a large customer base. I see major benefits in that as opposed to starting a fintech from zero. The joint venture will combine the best of two worlds: Banorte’s expertise and Rappi’s freshness and young audiences,” said Alejandro Solís in an interview with MBN back in October.

More news below:

• Mexico’s antitrust regulator approved without conditions Uber’s majority acquisition of Cornershop Mexico. “Uber and Cornershop are committed to driving delivery services that support trade and local communities, which is even more important during uncertain scenarios, such as those we face today. We are excited to finally bring our teams together to continue to innovate, offering ever better products and services to trade partners, delivery partners, shoppers and consumers across the country,” said in a statement General Director of Uber Eats for Latin America, Eduardo Donnelly.

• The attack surface for cybercriminals has expanded since employees started working from home. Forcepoint's focus is on people, the new business perimeter.  “Sometimes data is seen as static but it is not. Data moves around the company and so does the user. An employee who is good today, for example, may try to steal the entire customer list tomorrow because he is going to move to another job. It can also be the simple fact that the user took his equipment out of the company office, connected it to an unsecured network and compromised the system,” said Director General of Forcepoint Mexico Adriana García in an interview with MBN this week.

• According to leading analyst firms including Garner, Deloitte is a leading cybersecurity services firm globally. Today, the consulting firm has 110 people in Mexico and almost 400 professionals across Spanish-speaking Latin America, which has helped its cybersecurity division to come in direct contact with C-level executives. This week, Santiago Gutiérrez, Leading Partner of Cyber Risk Services at Deloitte México, talks with MBN about how the company ventured into cybersecurity in Mexico and how it is developing talent in this field.

• YouTube is closing the year with an analysis of its most popular content, with an explanation as to why certain videos became relevant this year. In 2020, 95 percent of new channels increased their audiences as age and being oneself ceased to be obstacles to content creation. Meanwhile, VTubers, which are YouTubers that are not real people, escalated their views by 1.5 billion and people over the age of 65 have become a rising trend on the platform. 

• November was a good month for the retail sector. It brought an increase in sales and new opportunities in terms of investment. According to the data released by ANTAD, companies with more than a year in the market saw an increase of 2.6 percent in sales against November 2019. Businesses with less than 12 months of operation saw growth of 5.2 percent against November 2019. Accumulated sales between January and November 2020 from ANTAD members amounted to MX$1.15 billion (US$57 million).

• From March onwards, Periscope will be bidding farewell to all application shops. Twitter, owner of the app for live streaming events, said that among the reasons behind the decision is that its maintenance is no longer sustainable. "In recent years, we have seen a decline in the use of Periscope and we know that the cost of supporting the application will continue to increase over time," the company said in a statement.

• The ability to introduce information from the digital to the physical world and vice versa is a paradigm breaker. “The ability to introduce information from the digital world to the physical world and vice versa allows us to generate territorial analyses at a much deeper level. It is the basis for being able to segment and select audiences from micro-markets,” writes this week Roberto Wong, CEO of DESCIFRA Global.

• Maria-Pia Lindley will be the new director of DiDi Food in Mexico. "At Didi Food, we have the firm belief that the only way to be a successful business is to first generate value for our restaurant partners, delivery partners and users. We seek to be their best ally, make their day-to-day life easier and help them grow. This is the principle that drives all our decisions," said Pia Lindley in a statement.