So, Kazakhstan’s Astana’s first (?) home delivery service for supermarket shopping have made contact. It looks as though their promise of delivery within two hours of ordering (any time of day at least) is a little hopeful on their part. Given that we are the twentieth order they’ve ever taken, I can’t help wondering if as their popularity increases, their time frames will have to become a little more realistic.
As half expected, the bread crumbed chicken products (the sort of thing I can cook in an oven without starting a fire 🙂 ) were not in stock, and the 72 packs of nappies (diapers) also weren’t available.
They’ve just left. It took them 2.5 hours instead of two. Not bad. A woman looked after the paperwork and money, a man carried the bags up and drives. Four packs of nappies became three, with one the wrong size. Cheddar cheese became ordinary cheese slices. A few items weren’t in stock in the supermarket they use, and we were told, a few items were either forgotten, or simply not in stock and they didn’t tell us. The lady was polite, no one on their staff speaks English (for now), and they hope to have images on their site for each product within a month or so. The total charged was correct, and the lady gave Ira her mobile number when we mentioned we couldn’t find some products on their web site. (Some similar items are in different categories or with differing descriptions).
The charge for delivery is sliding, however in the opposite way to how I’d expected. Whereas some UK sites charge a fiver for orders under 40 pounds, for example, and then no charge for anything over, ZaKazDom charge at three different bands – the more you order, the higher the delivery charge. That said, so far, overall the prices have been cheaper than getting a taxi to a traditional supermarket there and back, and certainly a lot more convenient that hauling all the bags, Anna, her car seat and pushchair frame up three or four flights of stairs.
Overall, I’m happy to recommend trying them out, though if you have some last minute shopping to do for a specific meal, where exact ingredients are needed, a walk to your local shop might be safer. I’m hoping the few issues we encountered were down to the company being new, and that they’ll improve over time.
Oh, the web site address might be useful for you – Dostavlyika 🙂
September 15th, 2009 8:34 pm
Wow! You folks up in Astana are fancy. Actually I believe we have the same type service down here in Ala, but me and the wife usually just buy our stuff for the night.
September 15th, 2009 9:05 pm
Fancy? LMAO, come over some time so you can correct your guesses 🙂 Seriously, by the time we’ve paid for a taxi to and from the supermarket, and ended up buying stuff we don’t necessarily need in various aisles, we definitely don’t spend any extra money via online ordering. That and all the stairs (no lift in our block) with shopping, beautiful baby and baby paraphernalia make this a no-brainer, at least for the heavy items and things we don’t need desperately.