Living at the Pearl, Qatar comes with its own set of Pros and Cons (but then which place doesn’t?!). I personally LOVE the life on this luxury island, no matter what anyone says about traffic or noise etc. etc. For me, it is just the most gorgeous place to be in Qatar. The first thing I do, when I wake up is open my bedroom window curtains and take a deep breath looking at the beautiful view!
The one thing I missed the most when we moved to the Pearl, was the convenience of having the corner grocery store on my speed dial. They would deliver grocery items to my home even if I needed just a can of Coke!
Here in the Pearl, for every small thing, we had to either walk to Spinneys or drive to the Supermarket at a nearby petrol station.. but it always meant that “We” had to go get them ourselves. Things did get a lil better when a nearby grocery store(which btw is outside the Pearl) started delivering to the Pearl. But that had its own set of issues..it meant
- making a phone call & explaining what I want in an accent the guy at the other end would understand and then after endless waiting would finally get my order.
- Plus there was minimum order limit which meant, I had to have a list of at least 4-5 things to get my order delivered at home.
Things took a turn for the better when I came across an advertisement for Baqaala App on Facebook a few months back.
What is Baqaala?
Baqaala (means ‘a Grocery Store’ in Arabic) is a fast, ultra-convenient Doha grocery delivery service that brings fresh groceries from your local stores to your door within 30 minutes, making shopping in Doha a quick and hassle-free experience.
So I downloaded the app on my phone to give it a go and trust me, my grocery store trips have reduced from at least twice a week to a maximum of twice a MONTH! The Baqaala App has been a Game Changer in my life!
How Does It Work?
Ordering groceries with the app, is as simple as 1-2-3.
However I will give you a step by step insight on how to place an order through the app, so you get the real feel of how it works.
Once you download the app, it asks you to do an ONE-time registration with your number and delivery address and that’s it! Its Cash on Delivery – so NO payment information is needed.
Once you open the app, you will get the list of stores that deliver in your area and you can select the ‘Baqaala’ enabled store of your choice (however, there is only one store that currently delivers to the Pearl)
- The app will show you a screen with various categories of items.
- Select the category to view the items available in that category (I picked Dairy & Poultry in the screen shot below)
- Select the item, specify the quantity and Add to Basket ( I added the white eggs tray in the screen shot below)
- If the item you are looking for is not listed, you can type the product’s name (I added Strawberry milk tetra packs as they were not listed).
- Browse and add items to your basket. You can view your shopping basket at any time.
- When you are done – Place Order. The app, then freezes to the screen shot below.
Some Useful Things To Know!
- In case any of the items are not available at the store at that time or they don’t understand the item you typed in.. they guys at Baqaala will give you a call to clarify.
- In case you have forgotten something and placed the order already, you can use the ‘Contact Store’ option to Add/Cancel items.
- If for some reason they are unable to deliver within 30 minutes, they will give you a phone call informing you of the same.
- The final bill may vary slightly depending on the cost of the fresh produce items or any other items you typed in yourself.
- You will get the actual printed receipt from the grocery store along with your order.
Do They Deliver In Your Area?
They are a new startup but are growing rapidly. Currently, they deliver only in the following areas.
Disclaimer:
This post is NOT in collaboration with anyone! I am sharing this purely out of my LOVE for their service 🙂 I have been raving about it to my friends and getting all sorts of questions, so I thought I might just do a post on it and let everyone know!
DIARY OF A PMP MOM 