Product Design · Live PWA · E-Commerce
Dill: One Place for All the Supermarket Deals Near You
Most people in Nairobi do their shopping at the same one or two supermarket branches — whichever ones are on their way home. But finding out what's actually on offer before you get there? That's weirdly hard. Some stores post deals on Instagram. Others hand out paper flyers at the door. Dill puts all of that into one simple screen, sorted by how much money you'll actually save.
Role
Product Designer & Builder
Design · Code · Ship
Timeline
Feb – May 2026
~14 weeks · Solo build
Platform
PWA · Next.js · Vercel Edge
Deal Sources
Sort Method
Account Walls
Spam Level
The Friction
Supermarket deals across Nairobi were fragmented between PDF flyers, Instagram stories and physical signs. Shoppers had to check 4 different sources just to compare basics before grocery day.
The Insight
Percentages distort value (10% off infant formula saves KSh 500, while 30% off matches saves KSh 15). Shoppers think in currency, not percentages and only care about stores along their commute.
The Outcome
A fast mobile PWA ranking active deals strictly by net shillings saved, with hyper-local branch filtering, zero account walls and zero notification spam.
01 / The Context
Why Finding Deals Is Harder Than It Should Be
Every major supermarket chain in Nairobi — Naivas, Quickmart, Carrefour, Chandarana, Cleanshelf — runs real promotional discounts every single week. The problem isn't that deals don't exist. It's that finding them before you walk into the store is needlessly annoying.
Some stores post 10-slide Instagram carousels on Friday evenings. Others upload long PDF booklets to their websites that you can't search through. And some only print paper flyers that you see when you're already at the entrance.
If you want to compare prices between two stores across the street from each other, you end up jumping between social media apps and PDF viewers for 10 minutes. Dill was built to replace all that with one fast, simple screen.
02 / Discovery
How People Actually Shop
I talked to regular shoppers around Nairobi — people doing their weekly runs at Naivas, Quickmart, Carrefour — and two things kept coming up:
Behavior 01
Sunday Planning Routine
Most people plan their big grocery run on Sunday evening, before the work week starts. They want to quickly compare prices and figure out where to go.
Behavior 02
Nobody Wants Another App
People really push back against downloading a heavy app just to check a few deals. A fast website they can bookmark is what actually works.
Two Things I Kept Coming Back To
Insight 01
People Calculate in Shillings, Not Percentages
A "30% OFF" sticker on a KSh 50 box of matches saves you KSh 15. A "10% OFF" deal on a KSh 5,000 tin of infant formula saves you KSh 500. Percentages hide what actually matters. So Dill ranks every deal by the real shillings you save — not the percentage.
Insight 02
People Only Care About Stores on Their Route
Shoppers don't want deals from stores across the city they'll never visit. Dill lets you pick the specific branches near your home and office and hides everything else.
04 / Product Principles
What Dill Doesn't Do (On Purpose)
I set four rules early on and they've stayed:
01. No Forced Signups
No sign-up screens. You open Dill and see every deal immediately — no email, no phone number.
02. No Notification Spam
No daily spam. If you save a deal, you get one reminder two days before it ends. That's it.
03. No Gamified Urgency
No spinning wheels, fake timers or pressure tactics. Just honest prices.
04. No Sponsored Bias
Stores can't pay to push their deals to the top. The ranking is based purely on savings.
05 / UI Showcase
What It Looks Like
Clean screens designed for quick, scan-friendly price comparisons on mobile devices:
Pick Your Nearest Stores
Tap to select specific branches along your commute (e.g. Naivas Junction and Quickmart Kilimani), filtering out irrelevant deals from across town.
Deals Sorted by Real Savings
Every verified deal is ranked strictly by net shillings saved rather than deceptive percentages, keeping high-impact staples at the top.
Search for What You Need
Instant fuzzy search for essentials like cooking oil or maize flour, showing real-time price comparisons across your selected branches.
Clean, Readable Price Cards
Tabular monospace figures ensuring unit prices align cleanly, with clear expiration counters so shoppers know when deals close.
06 / Live Prototype
Interactive Deal Savings Calculator
Pick some common items from a typical Nairobi grocery basket and see how much you'd save in a week:
Sample Grocery Basket
Weekly Staples Comparison
Total Estimated Savings
KSh 1,050
~KSh 4,200 saved per month
Product Questions
Is Dill affiliated with any supermarket?
No. Dill is 100% independent. We aggregate publicly published promotions without store sponsorship or paid placement.
How are promotions verified?
Promotions are cross-referenced with public retailer flyer publications every morning. If a price is outdated, users can flag it directly on the card.
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