Global digital consultancy Practicology has assessed a group of 10 online grocers in Dubai against a set of global best practice criteria for selling food online. The findings highlight how much more online grocers in the region could be doing to provide an excellent online experience, customer service and delivery experience.
The best performing Dubai grocer in the research scored 51% against the criteria. In comparison, when Practicology conducted the same analysis for UK online-only grocer Ocado it scored 80%, showing that there is significant room for improvement among its peers in the UAE.
Practicology also analysed the two largest marketplaces in the region selling ambient food items – SOUQ and noon – against the relevant criteria. SOUQ scored particularly well; and has developed a customer experience and proposition for ambient that could see it positioned for broader success were it to launch Amazon’s Fresh or Pantry services in the region.
The Dubai Online Grocery Report 2019 highlights benchmarks that all online grocers in the region should be working towards if they want to delight consumers. These include:
“There are some clear recommendations to online grocery retailers from this research that they should take notice of. We have seen the online grocery sector heating up this year, and established players need to stay on top of the competition both from start-ups and marketplaces,” said David Quaife, managing director – MENA, Practicology. “There is clear best practice for providing an excellent customer experience at every stage of the buying journey. We hope that our research provides inspiration and advice to online grocers in the region as they continue to evolve.”
Each retailer was reviewed on criteria related to its site usability and content, payment methods offered, customer service, delivery proposition and delivery service. The 10 retailers reviewed includes aswaaq, Carrefour, Choithrams, El Grocer, Instashop, Kibsons, Lulu, Quality Food, Supermart and Trolley. In addition, digital marketplaces noon and SOUQ were also reviewed against the criteria that were relevant to their models.
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