The economy of the applications will play in 2019 a decisive instance in Argentina in the transport sector. Uber was just a sample of the possibilities of "mobility as a service" posed by the digital age.
The "micro mobility" is a trend that breaks out globally. That is, short routes, which can be covered "by third parties" and at a cost that can be half that of a traditional transport.
The automotive industry has already interpreted what is coming: Ford, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, Toyota and Volkswagen already have their shared scooters platforms in several cities around the world. They even analyze when to bring them to Argentina.
Beyond presenting both cases, the sector is becoming a mobility service provider. As an example, Toyota took the lead in Argentina with its own car rental system.
The irruption of the digital economy leads companies in the sector to diversify and offer up electric scooters and platforms to share them.
One such example is General Motors, which will launch its own electric bicycles under the ARĪV brand in the first semester, which it will offer for rent through an app.
It is not the only company, Ford bought a few months ago Spin, an application to share electrical skateboards in the US, for a sum close to US $ 40 million.
The truth is that nobody wants to stay out of a business that, according to CB Insights consultancy, has a potential market of US $ 6,000 million.
At the local level, Rappi and Glovo, the two apps that showed the most growth last year in the country, hurry their plans to stay with the "control" of the streets of the country.
While moving their cards in Buenos Aires neighborhoods and major cities to expand the coverage of their deals, the two companies are deploying a service that has already landed in the main capitals of the world and in some of the region.
The next step will be to launch its applications for renting electric skateboards, an option that -for example- in the city of Buenos Aires would achieve a strong acceptance for several reasons:
- Traffic congestions, an endemic disease of large cities.
- The system of bicycle rental and bicycle lanes deployed by the Buenos Aires government.
- The awareness (brand recognition) that Rappi and Glovo achieved in 2018.
Rappi: full throttle
As iProUP advanced, it was learned that Rappi will offer in the country the services of its ally Grin, a Mexican startup that provides rental of electric skateboards.
"It will be launched around mid-year in Argentina," they say to iProUP from Rappi. The plan includes the use of shopping malls and shopping areas as points of withdrawal and return of scooters.
The system is simple: the user must find the nearest "Grin station" through the app (available for Android and iOS). Then, by scanning with the cell phone a QR code, the vehicle will unlock and can be used.
The service will be paid with the card associated with the application and the final price will have a scheme similar to that of taxis: a base rate (equivalent to the "flag drop") plus an amount per kilometer traveled.
Rappi will be able to take advantage of its commercial portfolio (restaurants), so that they become "Grin points": businesses will receive part of the profits in return for offering space and recharge to the skateboards.
The move of the Colombian startup is part of its strategy to diversify its business beyond delivery. In fact, in Argentina, he has already ventured into fintech services.
"We will add the vertical 'Rappi Cash', so that the user asks for money at home", had ahead of iProup Matías Casoy, general manager of the firm in the country. The service is already available from this week in the application.
Also, the company launched its payments with QR at the beginning of the year, a service that already has "400 stores in Buenos Aires where you can pay with RappiPay and receive a gift in return," Casoy said.
Rappi is one of the fastest growing companies in the region. In the country, it registered monthly increases of 25% in deals and exceeded half a million orders in December alone.
In addition, it has to finance its expansion in the region: it has raised almost US $ 400 million, with contributions from risk funds recognized globally, such as Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.
Even in its last round, it achieved US $ 220 million to leverage its business in the main places in Latin America, including Argentina.
Cabify: wait and see
Although Rappi was ahead in the play, its main competitor in the delivery market already has its own arsenal.
This is Maxi Mobility, the Spanish startup that brings together Glovo, Cabify and Movo apps under its umbrella. The latter already offers its bikes in Spain, where it charges € 1.70 for the first 15 minutes.
Slowly, the service expanded to Latin America: at the end of last year, the company unified the three applications into one and began to offer electric skateboard rentals in Santiago, Chile.
Regarding a similar move in the Argentine market, from the company avoid giving details for a competitive strategy issue.
"It could be," said Julieta López, head of Marketing at the local affiliate of Cabify, in a recent interview with iProUP, and slipped a clue about the integration of the apps: "Glovo already has a presence in Cabify, with a button that allows you to download the application. "
The last move of the company was the merger with the Brazilian Easy Taxi app, both in Argentina and in Rio de Janeiro. The truth is that the plan of the company in the country is to pave the way with the tactic of "step by step".
Unlike Uber, Cabify is legal in the city of Buenos Aires, since its drivers must comply with a series of requirements, such as having a professional license and the possibility of issuing invoices. That is, they must be attached to the monotributo.
This "prolixity" requires time. Although the company's local staff is focused on technological issues, it knows that legal derivations are decisive.
As proof of this, the integration between EasyTaxi and Cabify was only enabled so far in a single Argentine city: Rosario.
Even so, that same tactic allowed her not to be overtaken by the bad mood of Buenos Aires taxi drivers and, in silence, to grow in billing 13 times since her arrival in the country in 2016.
The expansion of Maxi Mobility in Argentina and other important markets in the region has economic sustenance: it received an investment of U $ S1,600 million from Rakuten, the "Japanese Amazon", which has been injecting capital since 2015.
They also contributed funds Endeavor Catalyst and Spanish and Latin American investors. To this must be added a loan of US $ 70 million from the Inter-American Development Bank to boost the expansion of its business in Latin America.
The next step will be to go to the Stock Exchange. Although he has not yet reported on what stock market he will do, it is discounted that he will quote on Wall Street.
Currently, Maxi Mobility is valued at US $ 1,400 million, far from U $ S 100,000 million, which also plans its public offering of shares for this year.
No trouble
A priori, the business of electric scooters seems less conflictive than others of those that operate both companies.
To begin with, it could not be classified as "illegal", as it is considered in the city of Buenos Aires the Uber service and whose expansive wave, for the moment, did not reach Cabify.
Neither would receive criticism about job precarization, an accusation that weighs on delivery applications and that led to the creation of the Platform Personnel Association (APP), a guild that represents the delivery drivers.
Juan Manuel Ottaviano, labor lawyer and legal advisor of APP, explained to iProUP that the union emerged as a tool, because cyclists "are hired as self-employed and, therefore, have no fixed salary, work well above legal limits to achieve a decent income and do not have accident or disease insurance (ART), or breaks, or vacations. "
From the companies, they defend themselves arguing that the distributors are independent workers and that they are "free" to connect when they want and accept the orders they want.
"Rappi is an open platform that connects a user who wants to buy, a trade that seeks to sell and a delivery person who wants to distribute," said Casoy.
In addition, he stressed that the only profitability of Rappi is the commission to the more than 2,000 associated businesses.
On the other hand, Matías Gath, Globo Country Manager, told iProUP that the company is "in favor of the union because the law does not contemplate the technology sector until now, that it is beginning to position itself and its own players are looking for how to structure themselves".
"We are a platform that contacts consumers with businesses, to whom we charge a commission for that sale that we generate them with the 'glovers' we have a user-platform relationship They are independent, they choose whether they connect or not, if they accept an order or not, if they want to work a rainy day or not, "he summarized.
For now, the Rappi and Maxi Mobility scooter business seems to have no fissures and both companies launched their plan to become the leading mobility platforms not only in Argentina, but also in the region. Apparently, his future march on (two) wheels.
