Dubai: Instead of ordering on the phone or shopping on foot, more and more people in Dubai are using apps to shop for groceries.
Here’s how it works. You download a local smartphone app — say, InstaShop or Clikat — and enter some basic information such as your address and phone number.
Then, you select from a list of products, usually organised by category and price, and place your order. The apps work by signing deals with local grocery shops and supermarkets all around the city.
And the business of ordering groceries through apps just keeps growing.
For example, 100,000 people now use InstaShop, which was set up less than two years ago. Around 15 per cent of its sales are for fresh fruits and vegetables, the hottest selling category, followed by water and dairy products.
When the delivery man comes knocking, most customers pay by cash or a portable credit card machine. But the app firm is currently rolling out an online credit card payment system.
Grocery orders aren’t the only service the firm has in mind. “We have also seen a strong acceptance of other side services such as, for example, booking a maid via the InstaShop platform,” a spokeswoman said.
However, if you’re a grocery shopaholic, you may want to keep ordering over the phone. On average, El Grocer’s 12,000 registered users in the UAE spend Dh100 per shop “which is way higher than phone delivery”, a spokesman for the firm said.
With several players already in the market — and a growing number of supermarket chains offering online orders — some companies are trying to go the extra mile.
Clikat, which has been downloaded close to 15,000 times since its launch in October last year, sees users select from a list of grocery shops according to three different criteria.
These are: quality of service, as ranked by previous users; price comparisons; or speed of delivery. Users spend an average of Dh75 per order. “Daily needs” such as milk, oil, eggs, juices, fruits and vegetables and fresh meat tend to be the most popular items, according to the firm.
Users can also search the app. Clikat allows users to search for products via their bar code.
Apps offer one key convenience — the ability to schedule precise delivery times, said Mariam Ameri, an Emirati who lives in Dubai.
There’s one more added benefit: “The app allows you to set up scheduled orders so I get a weekly order in without having the pain of rewriting the list,” Ameri said. She uses InstaShop to order heavy products — water, juices, cleaning products, milk, eggs and canned goods.
The ritual scramble for change or the right banknotes when the delivery man comes to the door is a thing of the past for Chintan Padhya, an Indian expat. He used InstaShop to buy fruits, vegetables, dairy products and household care items.
“It’s quite convenient since they started a credit card payment option on the application,” he said.
“The best part, however, is that they have a separate listing for organic products, which is a total win.”
