Rappi launches Rappi Mall for deliveries within an hour in Brazil

Available first in São Paulo, the app wants to expand the service for the other 60 Brazilian cities where it operates

Rappi raises over $500 million in a round led by T.Rowe Price, lifts valuation to $5.2 billion — Colombian app Rappi. Photo: Shutterstock

13.Mar.2020 16:00 BRT

Colombian super app Rappi launched a service for delivery within an hour of products from shopping malls;
Available at first in São Paulo, Rappi will expand the feature for other Brazilian cities in the near future;
This week, Rappi has also enabled debit card payments in its platform.

On-demand delivery startup Rappi moves forward in its efforts to become Latin America’s main super app. After announcing this week that would enable debit card payments from now on; this Friday (13), the Colombian platform has also announced a new feature for the Brazilian market, called Rappi Mall. The information is from Brazilian newspaper Estadão.

In partnership with major stores, such as Fast Shop and L’Occitane, the new service begins with the promise of delivering a wide range of products from Brazilians malls up to an hour. “We are trying to change e-commerce. Many brands offer delivery within 24 hours, but we want to do everything within an hour,” Eduardo Sodero, Director at Rappi Brazil, told the newspaper.

Working, at first, in São Paulo, the idea is to expand the service for the other 60 cities where Rappi operates in Brazil in the near future, as well as to grow the base of partner stores. For now, Rappi has already 50 partners for running the service – french sporting goods retailer Decathlon and bookstore Saraiva are also on the list.

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“As soon as the user sends the order in the app, we send a message to the store to prepare the package and the delivery partner will be already on their way to the store”, Eduardo explained. Just like the business model that Rappi operates with partner restaurants, the app will charge a fee on the sale of products.

Unlike what happens with the food delivery operation, where the focus is on restaurants and then on dishes, with Rappi Mall, the idea is to put the product at first in the shopping journey. “First, the user looks for a smartphone or clothing, to only then check the stores”, explained the executive.

Expecting to have 1,000 partners by the end of the year, Rappi is also training partner stores to get products shipped quickly. Some establishments are already putting tablets with Rappi’s app open, in order to the salesperson speed up the shopping experience. “They [salesperson] stand in a line, to serve both those who enter the store and the orders on the tablet, and can even make suggestions through the app.”