You’ve probably seen the ads on the roads for Drops, they’re a grocery store app where you order your items from and they’d deliver them to you. There are a bunch of other grocery store delivery apps but I was attracted to Drops for the simplicity which is why I’ve been using them.
I generally used to love grocery shopping in person but that was mostly when Sultan Center Shaab was open. The place was never too busy and it was always a good calming experience shopping there. Once that location shut down I never really got used to shopping at another supermarket and covid after that just made things worse. I live next to Lulu in Salmiya but that place is so overcrowded and tight, it’s never a chill experience shopping there. The old Sultan Center in Salmiya on the other hand looks great with their new redesigned interior but somehow managed to make the checkout process an even worse experience than before. I’ve stopped shopping there completely because of the checkout layout which is chaotic, squeezed and so old-fashioned. They really should have installed some self-checkout counters at least, it’s 2021! Or at least, at the very least set up a single queue multiple counters layout.
When vacationing in Europe a couple of weeks back I barely dealt with any cashiers, most places I shopped in were self-checkout and a lot of places now had RFID baskets where you just place your items next to the checkout screen and the machine prices everything in it. Super convenient.
Anyway back to Drops. I’ve used them a few times and I like them. Unlike some other apps, with Drops you don’t pick a supermarket and then shop for items. Instead, you treat Drops as a large supermarket and not just a delivery platform. You can shop either by category, brand, or just search for the specific items directly and add it to your cart. You can also create various “wishlists” of items you usually order to make it easier to add the next time. I’ve used them a bunch of times and the items generally arrive within 2 hours. The first time it took longer than 2 hours and they credited my account back with the delivery charge. All the items arrive in Drops branded boxes or bags and the delivery guy has a small trolly so you can order boxes of water for example and not feel guilty about the delivery guy having to carry them.
The worst thing about Drops though is their tracking system is shit. All my orders that were already delivered still showing as “Being Prepared”. When the item goes out for delivery you can’t tell nor can you track the driver even though these features are built into the app, they just never progress past the “Being Prepared” stage.
The prices of the items on Drops are similar to what I pay when I go to the supermarket myself. The only difference is I now pay 1KD to have them deliver the items which really isn’t that bad considering how much time they save me as well as having them deliver the heavy boxes of water instead of me having to carry them up from my car in multiple trips.
If you want to try them out they’re on instagram @dropskuwait and you can download the app from the Apple and Android app stores.
