Cornershop enters Peru and Canada following blocked Walmart acquisition

28-Aug-2019 - Last updated on 29-Aug-2019 at 13:32 GMT

Photo: Cornershop

On-demand grocery delivery app Cornershop has expanded its services to Lima, Peru and Toronto, Canada, after Mexican regulatory authority COFECE blocked its potential sale to Walmart in June this year.

Walmart said that it intended to acquire Cornershop for $225m in September 2018 and later sell the mobile app company to Walmart in Mexico and Central America (Walmex). However, COFECE halted the sale in June this year arguing that such a transaction would give Walmart “sufficient market power to hinder, diminish, damage or impede competition” in the field of e-commerce grocery shopping and distribution.

COFECE regulators added that the terms of the proposed acquisition presented several risks. Cornershop could refuse to provide its services to Walmart’s competitors, for instance, while Walmart could stop listing its products on competing Cornershop platforms.

Market similarities between Peru and Chile, says CEO

Founded by two Chilean and one Swedish entrepreneur in 2015, Cornershop is currently available to mobile users in Chile and Mexico (operational in 10 cities including Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara). In 2016, the Cornershop raised US$7m in investment to fuel its growth and in 2018, it reported a 200% sales growth. Today, Cornershop said it delivers thousands of individual orders each day.

According to Cornershop CEO and co-founder, Oskar Hjertonsson, the decision to launch in Peru was the logical next step due to Lima, Peru's close proximity to Chile and the two countries' similar economic structure inspired the move, the online publication contxto reported.

"Lima is a very large and important city, it is close to Chile and the market is similar to ours. Even in our team we have a lot of experience in terms of operating online services in Peru," said Hjertonsson in a statement.

Cornershop's main online grocery competition in Peru will be Colombia-based Rappi and Glovo.

Canada expansion

In Canada, Cornershop will first launch in Toronto where it will be able to delivery groceries in under an hour, the startup claimed. The Canadian English version of the mobile app is nearly ready and still needs a few minor adjustments, according to the company.

According to Cornershop's LinkedIn recruitment page, it has begun the process of employee recruitment in Peru and Canada where it has posted a number of job openings including an operations manager, account manager, and creative director positions.

All Venture Partners, Cornershop's primary investor, revealed earlier that this year that in addition to expansion into Peru, the mobile delivery app also has plans to enter Colombia and Brazil.