The chart was made after analyzing the cost of living, rent, cost of living plus rent, groceries and restaurant prices prevalent in the countries included.
A man in the United Kingdom received an Apple iPhone when he bought groceries online including apples.
According to details, Nick James, 50, was gifted a free iPhone SE as part of an online rewards scheme for shoppers of the UK-based supermarket chain Tesco.
Staff at his local Tesco told James that there was a “surprise” in his click-and-collect order.
“I was half expecting the surprise to be an Easter egg or something – [so] I was a little bit shocked, to say the least,” said James while talking about his unexpected gift.
The UK resident, later, shared his excitement on social media writing: “A big thanks this week to Tesco. On Wednesday evening, we went to pick up our click and collect order and had a little surprise in there – an Apple iPhone SE.”
“Apparently, we ordered apples and randomly got an Apple iPhone! Made my son’s week,” he added.
A big thanks this week to @Tesco & @tescomobile. On Wednesday evening we went to pick up our click and collect order and had a little surprise in there – an Apple iPhone SE. Apparently we ordered apples and randomly got an apple iphone! Made my sons week! #tesco#substitutepic.twitter.com/Mo8rZoAUwD
The supermarket chain had randomly selected customers for promotional rewards that link with a product they had purchased from the supermarket’s online store.
The marketing campaign is called the Super Substitute scheme and aims at replacing a particular item in a customer’s cart with a surprise gift. Customers are randomly selected while the original piece will be retained in the cart, the report said.
Tesco has given up to 80 such gifts to its online shoppers across its outlets in the UK so far.
“The smartphone has transformed online shopping in Pakistan and the COVID-19 lockdown has accelerated it,” says Jarrar Shah of 24seven, an online grocery store based in Lahore.
Shah’s words ring true because the past couple of weeks have witnessed a great shift in the way the world functions. As cases of coronavirus rose in Pakistan, the country went into lockdown, until recently, with all offices, shops, malls, restaurants closed. Only pharmacies, grocery stores and essential businesses were allowed to operate and that too for a limited number of hours. Unfortunately, us Pakistanis are not very used to that lifestyle – our day begins well into the afternoon and ends just before midnight – but changing circumstances forced us all to alter our routines and many of us turned to online shopping in a bid to make life easier for ourselves. According to Google Trends, searches for ‘online grocery’ grew exponentially in the last few weeks with the sharpest rise registered in the week following the lockdown.
While we’re all aware of how online shopping works at our end, on the other side it’s a whole different ball game.
Speaking to The Current about the procedure that follows, Jarrar explained that after the customer places an order on any of their portals – website, application, Whatsapp – the order is processed and their team begins to collect the items. He shared that though they have their own warehouse, they have partnered with other stores, bakeries and meat shops and sometimes depending on the order placed, they have to collect items from different locations to complete an order. Both Jarrar and Bilal Bakhtawari of D Watson, Islamabad said that the app is the most convenient of them all because it mentions the price and availability of products saving the time of both the customers and the stores. Once the order is complete, the riders deliver it.
In this whole process, the rider perhaps has the toughest job.
“We provide the riders with all the necessary precautions, including sanitisers, masks and regular temperature checks, but to what extent can we keep them safe? These guys often have to deliver stuff, come rain, come sun and often have to travel long distances to deliver orders,” says Bilal, adding that if any of the riders feel ill, they are told to immediately get themselves checked and are sent home.
Both Jarrar and Bilal also asserted that their premises are regularly disinfected and cleaned.
While most customers are accommodating and patient and are willing to overlook delays and incomplete orders, given the situation, there is a small percentage of them who tend to be unreasonable.
“Customers have been by and large accommodating. Only ten percent of them have issues,” says Shah.
Both business owners explained that they initially faced problems because they were not prepared to manage such a situation as they went from a few orders to a hundred or more orders every day. However, with time they managed to streamline their services by increasing staff and opting for better rider services.
24Seven’s warehouse
Sharing a particularly harrowing experience, Shah shared that someone placed an order from abroad for their loved ones in Lahore using a credit card.
“When the rider went to deliver they said the stuff is not up to the mark and kept the rider hostage, demanding that we refund them the amount in cash. It turned out that the whole situation was a scam. The person from abroad wanted to send money to Pakistan and because all money wiring services were closed, they attempted to use our store to do so.”
“We’ve referred the matter to the police,” he added.
Similarly, Bilal recounting his nightmarish experience shared that a lady placed an order for fruits and vegetables on their app after store timings. He said that the prices of fresh goods are revised daily and when her order was processed the next day, she was informed of the change in prices before confirming her order. However, when the rider went to deliver her order, she claimed that she had cancelled her order. After a whole fuss, it was revealed that her husband was not satisfied with the prices and was not willing to pay for the order because of which she put the entire blame on the management to try to get out of the situation.
Orders being put together at 24Seven’s warehouse
While people in Pakistan still prefer to go and buy their groceries in person, online shopping is slowly but steadily getting popular, especially among those who lead fast-paced lifestyles and have limited time.
On whether this is feasible in Pakistan or not, Jarrar is positive that it is. However, Bilal feels that until online payments like Paypal don’t come to Pakistan, online businesses won’t flourish.
“As we have observed in the past couple of weeks, the market for online shopping is definitely promising. However, in my opinion, it won’t flourish until a proper payment system is put into place,” says Bilal. “We often receive bogus orders with Cash on Delivery because of which our business suffers. People place orders but when our rider goes to the address, there is no one to receive the order.”
“Until online payments come to Pakistan, online businesses will not flourish.”
The police in India’s Sahibabad was stunned when a woman came to the police station complaining that she had sent her son to buy groceries but he returned with a wife instead.
“I had sent my son to do the grocery shopping today, but when he returned, he came back with his wife. I am not ready to accept this marriage,” said the mother.
Meanwhile, the 26-year-old groom, Guddu, said: “I got married to Savita two months ago at an Arya Samaj Mandir in Haridwar.”
“However, we could not get the marriage certificate at that time due to lack of witnesses. I had decided to visit Haridwar again for my marriage certificate but could not do so as the lockdown was imposed,” he added.
“After returning from Haridwar, Savita stayed at a rented house in Delhi. However, today I decided to bring her to my mother’s house as she was told to leave the rented accommodation due to lockdown,” said Guddu.
Giving a solution to the family dispute, the Sahibabad Police have asked Savita’s house owner in Delhi to let the couple stay there during the lockdown period.
A small market in Washington DC is turning to technology to deliver essential supplies during the coronavirus pandemic in one Northwest neighborhood.
Broad Branch Market in Chevy Chase is using robots to deliver the groceries. The store began using the robots about two weeks ago and makes 10-15 deliveries a day within a limited area of the neighbourhood.
While talking to a news outlet the owner said that she has learned to adapt to the times being a small business owner and since lots of customers have concerns about coming to the store during the COVID-19 outbreak, she can now deliver to them.
A food delivery robot from the Broad Branch Market grocery store goes to work in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Washington, DC.
The store began using the robots about two weeks ago and makes 10-15 deliveries a day within a limited area of the neighborhood
