Salalah: As a start-up enterprise an Omani firm has come out with online supermarket to ease grocery supply. It has started its trial in Salalah and based on response, it has plans to launch in Muscat as well.
This is an easy solution for those who want to cut down outside visits to rule out the possibility of getting COVID-19.
The Omani Vegetable Oils and Derivatives (OVOD) has identified this challenge and developed online supermarket for called ‘Abshar’. The company started its services on Monday.
“Our mission with this service is to help customers stay safe by providing a convenient online shop with competitive prices and free fast delivery,” said Salim bin Thaman al Maashani, Managing Director of OVOD.
“We are operating from our existing warehouses in Salalah which gives us lower cost of operation compared to supermarkets situated at prime locations. We have passed on this benefit to the customers by keeping the prices low and absorbing the cost of delivery to motivate the customers in taking advantage of this service. We are happy with the recent directives on Omanisation for last mile delivery, and accordingly this service is also generating employment for our Omani youth,” he added.
Abshar has a selection of essential products to cover full supermarket range including fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry, breads, dairy, food ingredients, drinks, snacks, along with non-food products such as soaps, shampoos, toothpaste, detergents, tissue papers, and more. It also boasts a decent selection collection for baby milk, diapers, and pet food. More products are being added everyday based on customer demand.
P S Kumar, OVOD said, “We are on a digital transformation journey and being headquartered in Salalah, we want to offer a digital solution as a service to this region. We are excited to be able to help the customers stay safer and provide grocery shopping without any hassle of driving, parking, pushing trolleys and carrying heavy shopping bags. Customers can rest assured on quality of the products, as we have expert staff who pay utmost attention to quality while sourcing products and packing customer orders.”
Commenting on mode of payment, he said, “We encourage customers to pay online or pay using their cards at the time of delivery which makes it probably the safest way to buy groceries in Salalah. In case a customer is not happy with any delivery, we will be happily to take it back and refund full amount.”
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