Price and speed start to matter for UAE's online grocery apps and shoppers

Dubai: The price battles are now being fought on and by UAE’s e-grocery apps.

A new one – Yeepeey – has launched promising shoppers they can get the same prices offered at stores… and even the same promotions. “Yeepeey’s objective is to eliminate mark-ups and reduce service fees to a minimum or even free to give users the ability to stay home and order their essentials more frequently at in-store prices,” said a statement issued by it.

And delivery? Between 30-45 minutes.

Focus on speed

Prices and delivery times are being all important for online grocery apps now that more shoppers in the UAE are quite comfortable with ordering in their daily/weekly needs.

Just recently, Carrefour confirmed launch of its quick service delivery, with the average time set at 60 minutes. As part of the launch, Carrefour Now will deliver free of charge until May 15 for a product range of up to 31,000 everyday items.

Carrefour isn’t the only one – other delivery-focussed apps such as Talabat have ventured out with their own ‘q-commerce’ – for quick – feature.

Yeepeey’s formula

By “reducing” service fees, Yeepeey’s promoters expect to get backing from cost-conscious shoppers.

“Ordering basic essentials via an e-grocery app was way more expensive than buying it from the store itself,” said Monish Chandiramani, co-founder. “Even though the convenience plays a major role, consumers still don’t like to pay extra mark-ups over and above the prices displayed in the grocery stores in additional to the exorbitant delivery fee. “With the ease in movement restrictions, consumers would simply prefer walking down to their nearby stores for small purchases.”

Yeepeey, was conceptualized after Chandiramani noticed he was spending more on the same amount of groceries when shopping through the e-grocery apps available then.

Happening on food deliveries too

It’s more or less a similar situation with food delivery apps, with Careem and noon recently coming out with changes in the way they bill their restaurant clients on orders placed. What this means for the consumer is lower cost of ordering in a meal.

“Even in online, the same strategies used in physical retail will apply – more entrants will mean there will be pressure on what apps can charge,” said a restaurant operator.