Talabat is one of the biggest online food and grocery ordering platforms in Egypt and the Middle East.
The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has met with Talabat Middle East CEO Tomaso Rodriguez; they discussed Talabat’s projects and plans to expand its business in Egypt and increase the size of its tech team. They also discussed co-operation in building the digital capacity of Egyptian youth.
The meeting addressed the Company’s plans in e-commerce and quick commerce in Egypt, the largest market in the region for Talabat’s business, and the future investment opportunities in the Egyptian market. The meeting also discussed the Company’s expansion plan to boost its operational capacity through creating new virtual stores and expanding in different governorates to cover the whole country.
Moreover, Talaat highlighted that Egypt has a large talent pool with digital skills and referred to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) digital capacity-building strategy which aims to upskill young people in ICT and qualify them to compete in regional and global markets. He said that MCIT doubled the size of investments in technical training programmes 22 fold, rising from LE50 million to train 4,000 young people to LE1.3 one billion, targeting training 200,000 in different governorates. This was done as part of a plan to establish CREATIVA Innovation Hubs nationwide to provide specialised training and foster innovation and entrepreneurship.
For his part, Rodriguez stated that Talabat is a tech-enabled company operating in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for 17 years. He stressed the importance of the Egyptian market, especially in light of the ambitious digital transformation plan that the country is implementing.
Following is the transcript of an interview The CEO of Talabat Middle East, Tomaso Rodriguez, gave to the Egyptian Gazette:
- Do you see the Egyptian market achieving the targeted growth for talabat? And what’s the focus?
We see great potential for Egypt’s fast growing and fast-moving online food delivery industry. As a sign of increasing confidence in the Egyptian economy and potential market growth, we recently launched an additional service talabat Mart that aims to enhance grocery delivery services in the country.
How is talabat supporting the Egyptian Government in digital transformation? Shift the Egyptian mindset to using online rather than any other tools. We enhance the dependence on digital services and solutions Thus further advancing the GoE’s objectives of deepening the digital economy and achieving a cashless society.
- How has the existence of Otlob supported talabat’s rebranding? Do you think the rebranding came in a timely manner in spite of the pandemic’s repercussions on the Egyptian and global economy?
Otlob is the origin of online delivery in the whole region. We built on the legacy. We started off with only 1000 vendors operating in Cairo and Alex only. Using our technology to optimise operations and enhance customer experience we reached where we are today. This helped support the ecosystem during a challenging time like Covid where the dependence on delivery was very high.
- How is talabat accommodating for digital payments? How much do they account for in Egypt and the region?
Around 22% of our payments are done electronically – which is above the current credit card penetration in Egypt which is 20%. We also partnered with the National Bank of Egypt, Mastercard and others to provide advanced digital payment solutions.
- What are the measures taken to protect data and transactions on talabat?
We use “call masking” to protect personal numbers- which is a telephone feature to display a designated phone number on outbound calls. Callers can only see the caller ID that you set and not your actual phone number or extension. Anti-fraud measures are put in place for users to feel safer
- What measures are taken to increase the number of vendors on talabat?
We are expanding geographically to support under-serviced populations. We support our vendors with analytics, building menus, and marketing. Giving our vendors a seamless experience as well with optimised operations. Delivery option helps them concentrate on what they do best: building the best menu that caters to their customers
- What measures are taken to safeguard the quality and delivery process of orders?
We’re the first company to provide insurance to riders. Packaging maintains the quality of orders
Riders compliance is a priority in our operations – our fleet must abide by the safety gear, road safety regulations and policies to ensure their safety as well as the customers’.
We believe in leading by example, and we constantly keep our riders and the ecosystem they operate in at the heart of our business. That is why we launched “T-patrols” in Egypt – Patrollers will ensure that talabat riders across the country continue to adhere to the safety rules and regulations.
- What are your expansion plans for Egypt – are you expanding to new governorates?
We are currently considering expansion plans that would entail introducing new technology and services to the market that have the potential of taking Egypt’s e-commerce sector to the next level.
We’re focusing on advancing Egypt’s q-commerce potentials and in further investing in AI and data analytics to operate predictive models.
We currently deliver in Cairo and Alex groceries in 20 mins and we are planning to mirror the same experience for other under-serviced cities. We are currently focusing on growing in Delta.
- How would you describe the Egyptian economy and digital economy in brief terms?
Booming, full of potential, and lots of untapped opportunities.
