Glovo’s growth playbook: winning city by city, with George Kartaltzis

Glovo, a leader in the on-demand delivery space, thrives in one of the most competitive industries in the world. At the heart of this growth is George, an industry veteran who has played a critical role in shaping the company’s strategic trajectory.

Through experimentation, local focus, and a relentless drive for ROI, he has helped the company navigate the complex world of digital growth. We sat down for a conversation in their still sunny Barcelona office.

George’s path into growth and marketing was anything but conventional. Originally trained as a production engineer, he quickly found himself captivated by the potential of digital marketing, a space where technical expertise and creative problem-solving come together. Early roles in SEO and PPC set the stage for what would become a lifelong passion for growth, and his experience across diverse industries gave him a unique perspective.

“I’ve always been amazed by how people behave online and how digital tools can help advance their goals,” he recalls. This curiosity led him to a series of impactful roles at companies like Groupon, where he had the opportunity to learn from mentors who had scaled some of the most significant global operations.

“Working with leaders like Vinayak Hegde or Eric Herrmann from Groupon was a game-changer,” he adds. Their vast experience in computational marketing at companies like Amazon and Airbnb gave George a front-row seat to some of the most sophisticated growth strategies in the industry. These experiences laid the foundation for his transition to Glovo, where he took on the challenge of driving growth for a company in the midst of rapid expansion.

Founded nine years ago, Glovo quickly established itself as a major player in the on-demand space, now operating in thousands of cities across 23 countries. While connecting restaurants with users and riders remains central to its business model, the company’s broader vision— to build the largest marketplace in the cities it operates —sets it apart from competitors. This ambition, coupled with a robust growth strategy, has allowed Glovo to thrive even in the face of stiff competition.

“We’ve managed to grow significantly in our markets by focusing on the customer experience,” George says. Despite the challenges posed by changing macroeconomics and a competitive landscape, Glovo’s ability to adapt and respond to local market needs has been a key differentiator. “We’re committed to making Glovo an indispensable part of daily life in the cities where we operate.”

But what truly sets Glovo apart is its hyper-local focus. George stresses that people care most about what’s happening in their immediate vicinity. “People care about the supply and service right where they live.” This focus on neighbourhood-level execution, combined with a strong customer experience, has been essential to Glovo’s growth strategy.

A core element of Glovo’s success has been its focus on experimentation and maintaining a strict ROI-driven approach to growth. George explains that in the highly competitive on-demand delivery industry, avoiding major missteps is often more critical than constantly pursuing the latest innovation.

“At this scale, growth is about doing the basics exceptionally well,” he explains. “You don’t need to chase cutting-edge innovation every time—sometimes it’s about avoiding big blunders that can cost millions.”

This conservative yet methodical approach is coupled with a relentless focus on ROI. “We have a very strict ROI mindset,” he adds. “It’s about identifying the few things that can deliver maximum impact and ensuring we’re not wasting resources on projects that might look good in a presentation but don’t move the needle.”

His emphasis on experimentation and data-driven decision-making allows Glovo to continuously refine its approach. “We don’t just execute blindly; we experiment, learn, and adjust,” he says, noting that this mindset is ingrained in the company’s culture from top to bottom.

One of the often-overlooked elements of Glovo’s success is its organisational structure. The company has developed a model that allows for experimentation while keeping local execution front and centre. In each market, local teams are empowered to tailor global strategies to the specific needs of their region, which helps drive better results.

“Our organisational design allows for experimentation, but it’s also about having the processes in place to support that experimentation,” George explains. “We need a global organisation that is rallied around supporting innovation while allowing local teams to execute on the ground.”

This blend of central strategy and local autonomy has proven to be a winning formula for Glovo, especially in markets with vastly different economic and cultural landscapes. “It’s all about balancing global economies of scale with local expertise”.

When asked about the challenges of market expansion, George is candid. “It’s not just about picking the right markets; it’s about executing flawlessly once we’re there. And that requires both global synergies and local expertise.” The company’s playbook for opening new markets is highly adaptable, with teams adjusting their approach based on local media availability, consumer behaviour, and competitive dynamics.

Looking to the future, George sees automation and artificial intelligence (AI) as crucial to maintaining and accelerating growth. One of the biggest challenges in managing a platform as geographically dispersed as Glovo is content production. With each city requiring hyper-localised ads and creative assets, scaling this process manually would be impossible.

“With the rise of TikTok and vertical video, the need for hyper-local content has exploded,” he says. “We’re experimenting with AI to meet those content needs, but we’re not at a stage where we can fully automate it yet.”

While AI offers enormous potential, George is cautious about overhyping its immediate impact. “We overestimate what will happen in the short term but underestimate the long-term effects,” he says. “The tools are being developed, but it will take a few more years before AI is truly market-ready.”

Still, the promise of AI in personalisation and automation is something he believes will revolutionise how companies like Glovo operate. “Eventually, AI will allow us to produce content at scale that is both high-quality and hyper-local,” he explains, noting that this will be key to keeping media spend focused on what matters—maximising impact without blowing the budget.

One of the more complex aspects of George’s role is navigating the intricate world of measurement and attribution. With a business that spans multiple cities, countries, and regions, getting accurate data on the effectiveness of marketing efforts is both critical and challenging.

“We have superb product, data and engineering talent that have helped us build a cutting edge measurement stack; but it’s not just about data,” he says. “You need a culture that is fully aligned with experimentation (and can stomach its cost), to make sure the entire organisation is moving in the right direction. How frequently do we hear of marketing science teams not being allowed to experiment, held back by the fear of short-term cost of data?”.This organisational alignment is what enables Glovo to experiment, fail, and succeed at scale. Without it, marketing science would yield no business benefit.

One of the tools the company relies on is a robust system for incrementality testing. “You need to understand what’s actually driving growth and what’s just noise,” George explains. This has been essential in optimising Glovo’s media spend and ensuring that resources are allocated to the most impactful channels.

Still, there are challenges. “Attribution is never perfect,” he admits. “But we’ve built a system that allows us to get as close as possible to understanding where our marketing dollars are going and what they’re delivering.”

George emphasises the importance of organisational alignment when it comes to growth. “You can have all the tools and data in the world, but if the organisation isn’t aligned, it’s not going to work,” he says. One of the reasons Glovo has been successful is because it has fostered a culture of experimentation, backed by data and a clear understanding of what’s important.

Reflecting on the company’s origins, he recalls, “In our early days, we didn’t have the luxury of making mistakes. We were always under budgeted compared to our competitors, so we had to be hyper-focused on doing the basics right.”

This discipline has carried through to the present day, even as the company has scaled. “We’ve maintained that lean mindset even as we’ve grown,” he explains. “It’s about being focused on what matters and not getting distracted by shiny new things.”

As Glovo looks to the future, George is optimistic about the company’s ability to navigate the challenges ahead. “We’re in a great position, but the landscape is always shifting,” he says. “The focus will be on continuing to deliver a seamless customer experience while staying ahead of market trends and technological advancements.”

For George, the key to future success lies in adaptability. “Markets change, technology evolves, and what worked yesterday might not work tomorrow,” he says. “The key is to stay flexible and always be willing to experiment. And that requires great talent. I’m always fascinated meeting and engaging with experts in our industry, exchanging insights, sharing best practices and actively exploring opportunities to bring new, world-class, talent into my team”

In an industry as fast-paced as food delivery, staying ahead requires constant innovation, a deep understanding of local markets, and an unwavering commitment to the customer. With George, and the full growth team, leading the charge, Glovo is well-positioned to tackle the next wave of opportunities and continue its remarkable growth story.