A Quest for Pampers Pull-ups Size 6 – Carrefour, Souq, Noon and Amazon

Stopping by my local Carrefour to pick-up a pack of ‘Pampers Pull-ups Size 6’ for my son is a biweekly chore. I head straight to the baby aisle to pick up the pack for the usual AED 56, I occasionally remember to grab some baby wipes that are conveniently stacked close by and I try to identity the emptiest cashier from a distance on my way out. It’s a classic example of the “need to shop” mindset - see below video for my perspective on omni-experience shopping.

Following the recent flurry of investments, acquisitions, announcements and new launches in the e-commerce space, I decided to try and get my ‘Pampers pull-ups size 6’ online. 

First, I was surprised to see that offline stores still leads on price. Although Noon and Souq both claim that my son’s ‘Pampers Pull-ups Size 6’ are on a special offer of some sort, Carrefour is still AED 2 cheaper per pack. I also had to by 2 packs online to avoid a hefty delivery charge relative to the size of my purchase. 

Second, I was underwhelmed by a very basic online experience. Searching for Pampers size 6 on Noon and Souq returned a long list of results. Other size and type Pampers were listed ahead of the item I was actually looking for. In case of Souq it was #7 on the search results and #5 on Noon. In addition, both online merchants didn’t offer the expected recommendation to buy some wipes or to setup my order as a recurring purchase similar to what Amazon does in the US and the UK.  

Third, delivery experience was very disappointing. Noon offers next-day free delivery, while Souq can only deliver in 2 days for free. Neither are still able to do same day delivery although I placed my orders before noon. Promises aside, Noon delivered in 2 days while Souq shipped the items late and failed to deliver to my home address despite me providing them with my geo-location. 

Finally and perhaps more surprisingly, Carrefour doesn’t sell any Pampers online despite their price leadership position and being one of the first to market online in the UAE.

So until online players get their price, experience and logistics right, I’m sticking to the baby aisle.