UAE: 4am grocery deliveries up by 70% during Ramadan; what residents ordered
According to figures released by local company Careem, groceries ordered by UAE residents at 4am soared 70% during March from before the coronavirus closure. Data aggregated from their Everything App has exposed some quirky resident trends over the holy month of Ramadan.
Fasters typically have their pre-dawn meal -- called suhoor -- before the morning call to prayer at roughly 5am. Top suhoor orders were The Big Feast by McDonald’s and Plain Paratha by Punjab Flower Restaurant. The most popular meal choices for UAE residents for iftar, at sundown when the fast is broken, were an 8-piece Wings Meal from Wingstop in Dubai, and the meat-based specialty dish Haleem from Ritaj Restaurant in Abu Dhabi.
The amount ordered through Careem's food delivery service increased 36 percent during suhoor hours during March, compared to February. Dubai also saw a record for the largest single order food for this month via the app for more than Dh2,460 for 10 items from Cafe ́ Bateel. In Abu Dhabi, the highest value order placed during the three-week long campaign was Dh1,410 for 12 items ordered from Behrouz Biryani.
During the month, the app saw a surge in online groceries deliveries, with an 8 per cent rise in the number of grocery orders delivered in March compared to February. During Ramadan, the evening peak hours also moved from between 7pm and 8 pm to between 4pm and 5pm with orders around iftar – between 5pm and 6 pm – increasing 25 percent.
A record grocery order in Dubai was placed with 60 items costing about Dh2,800, while in Abu Dhabi the biggest order was more than Dh1,400 with 42 items. The items people ordered the most during Ramadan included bananas, bottled water, cucumbers and blueberries. Al Safa Park Complex received Dubai fastest grocery delivery in 1min 30s, closely followed by Najmat Tower in Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi, at only 2min behind.
In the month of March, not just confined to ordering in, UAE residents were also eating out, and availing discounts via the app’s Dine-Out option. This customer in particular scored over Dh6,000 off a booking worth more than Dh27,000 at the Terrace Iftar at JW Marriott Marquis, whilst another individual used the service a whopping 31 times, over once a day, over the month.
There was also a 6 per cent increase in the amount of international money remittances sent through the app over the month with money sent to India up 10 per cent. Many customers hit the Dh450,000 cap in monthly remittance that can be made to India, possibly on account of increased gifting and donations made during the month. Pakistan experienced the highest month-on-month growth in transfer volumes, which included one customer who sent 46 separate transfers to the nation during the month of Ramadan.
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