Over the past few years, grocery and ready-to-eat food delivery in Kazakhstan has evolved from a niche service to a mass consumption standard. Banking ecosystems have become the main conduit to the retail world: grocery ordering is now integrated directly into super apps. This allows for one-click purchases using already linked cards and accumulated bonuses within a familiar interface.
However, the frequency of service usage does not mean that all users equally trust the digital cart. As part of this research, we have identified five key audience segments, each with its own logic for choosing groceries, fears regarding picking quality, and boundaries of trust in online orders.
What is this research about?
In this research, we conducted in-depth interviews with Kazakhstanis to study their experience interacting with banking ecosystems.
In this article, we analyze grocery and food delivery:
- How do different user segments choose between going to the store and ordering online?
- What tools do they use and why?
- What barriers prevent them from fully shifting their grocery shopping online?
Below is a detailed breakdown of the five archetypes that define the landscape of modern food retail in Kazakhstan's banking ecosystems.
😐 Normies
For them, a banking app is basic infrastructure that should support daily life without extra effort. They are loyal to the bundle of their bank with major retailers (for example, Kaspi and Magnum), perceiving this as the easiest way to sort out the fridge.
Grocery and food delivery (Rating: 8/10)
Almost complete coverage of household needs. They value speed and the lack of need to download third-party apps when they need to quickly order groceries home or for relatives.
- Quote: "Magnum in Kaspi is a lifesaver when groceries are needed today. I order for my mom or myself because the card is already linked" (Lina).
- Behavior: They often place orders situationally: in the evening after work, before bed, or on weekends for a large grocery run. It is critically important for them that everything is in one window—in the familiar banking super app.
Blockers and barriers
- The "missing slots" problem: The main blocker for a normie is the inability to order "for right now." If the nearest delivery in the bank app is only for tomorrow, they instantly abandon the idea and walk to the store.
- Annoyance from picker calls: The need to approve every replacement ("this bread is out of stock, will you take another?") knocks them out of their usual rhythm. They need a service that either selects analogs itself or simply removes the item from the receipt without unnecessary noise.
- Limited assortment of a single store: If Magnum inside the bank does not offer the needed brand of diapers or their usual milk, the normie returns to offline shopping.
🤑 Pragmatists
Rational users who view delivery as a way to benefit. They are not brand loyal and choose the service that offers the best cashback or the cheapest "cart" at any given moment.
Grocery and food delivery (Rating: 7/10)
They use delivery as a savings tool. They often choose Arbuz through the Freedom ecosystem for high bonuses, but constantly compare the final receipt with competitors.
- Quote: "With Freedom, grocery delivery even turns out cheaper because of the bonuses. Arbuz is both more convenient and generates cashback" (Roman).
- Behavior: They juggle apps. They might assemble two identical carts in different banks and services to see where the final amount, including delivery and cashback, will be lower.
Blockers and barriers
- Hidden service fees: Pragmatists are annoyed when a 10% cashback is eaten up by paid delivery or order picking. If the final benefit is not obvious, they perceive the service as an attempt to deceive them.
- Difficulty of comparing "on the fly": The lack of a tool within the bank to compare prices for the same item across different chains (e.g., Magnum vs. Small) forces them to do it manually, which kills the motivation to buy.
- Expiring bonuses and "minimum receipt": A barrier arises when, to get free delivery, they need to add an extra 5-7 thousand tenge worth of goods. This is perceived as a forced purchase and cancels out all the savings.
🥸 Old-schoolers
A conservative segment for whom grocery shopping is a way to control quality. Digital services seem too complex to them and devoid of an important step—personal inspection of the goods.
Grocery and food delivery (Rating: 4/10)
Weak coverage. They use delivery only in extreme cases. The majority prefer traditional retail due to a lack of trust in pickers and interfaces.
Quote: "Not a fan of ordering groceries on the internet because you can't control the quality. It's easier to walk to the store" (Sasha).
Blockers and barriers
- "Fear of the rotten tomato": The key unique blocker is the inability to choose a product by weight, appearance, and expiration date. They are convinced that the picker will give them the least fresh items to offload stock.
- Confusion with weighted goods: It is difficult for them to understand the app's logic when you order 3 apples, and the receipt shows 0.850 kg. The change in the final amount after weighing is perceived as a loss of control over their wallet.
- Difficulties with courier logistics: The need to explain to the courier how to find the entrance or intercom is a stress for them that outweighs all the convenience of delivery.
🧐 The Financially Literate
For them, delivery is a way to buy time. They value assortment and service, but are extremely demanding about how these expenses are displayed in their accounting system.
Grocery and food delivery (Rating: 6/10)
Convenient for planning, but the fragmentation of receipts between banks and external services (Wolt, Yandex, Arbuz) breaks their planning system.
Quote: "Delivery is ok if it's free, like in Arbuz. But the analytics in Kaspi don't fully account for all expenses; it's hard to understand the real picture" (Zhenya).
Blockers and barriers
- Lack of itemized categories: The bank only sees the total amount—"15,000 KZT in Magnum." It is important for the financially literate to know how much of this went to "Food" and how much to "Household Chemicals." The lack of SKUs in the statement is the main blocker.
- Difficulty managing subscriptions: If a service (e.g., Wolt+) is linked to one bank, but it is more profitable to buy through another, they are annoyed by the need to track multiple paid deliveries and their ROI.
- Problems with fiscal receipts: If the electronic receipt does not load instantly into the app or does not contain a QR code for scanning into cashback services, the segment's loyalty drops.
😡 The Burned
People with a negative background, for whom any hitch in delivery is confirmation of the bank's unreliability. They expect the worst-case scenario and are always looking for a catch in logistics operations.
Grocery and food delivery (Rating: 5/10)
They order cautiously, often using relatives' accounts to minimize personal risks and access to their data.
Quote: "I use Kaspi Shop only through family accounts; I don't use it myself" (Samat).
Blockers and barriers
- "Freezing" of money when goods are out of stock: If an item is out of stock, the bank refunds the difference, which can take several days. For this segment, the situation "money debited, no goods, waiting for a refund" is a critical barrier and a reason for a scandal.
- Conflicts with "crooked" weight: If the courier brings less than what was paid for (e.g., meat with bone instead of net weight), and the bank does not offer instant compensation in the chat, trust in the ecosystem is zeroed out forever.
- Fear of "unauthorized" charges: They are afraid to link a card to food delivery services, fearing that the app will arbitrarily charge "tips" or the cost of bags without their explicit confirmation.
Final summary
The grocery delivery service in Kazakhstan has outgrown the "just bring me food" stage. Now it is a battle for details: weight accuracy, refund speed, and the depth of analytics in the receipt. The winning ecosystem will be the one that can guarantee "old-schoolers" market-like freshness, and the "financially literate" an automatic breakdown of the receipt by product categories without manual data entry. The main challenge today is to make the delivery process as transparent and predictable as shopping in a regular convenience store.
