EXPERT ANALYSIS
SECTION ONE
SECTION TWO
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Perceptions Vary among Users of Grocery Apps
A new study has found that the more active a grocery shopper is with social media, the less likely it is
that shopper will use a retailer’s app in a store The study, from the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and
Saint Joseph’s University, also found that shoppers with large grocery expenditures were most active in
using grocery apps. The study found a need for simplification and customization in grocers’ approaches to customer digital engagement.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Are you surprised at the study’s findings? What are the implications for grocery retailers? Will the ability to deploy an engaging app decide winners and losers in the marketplace?
EXPERT ANALYSIS:
I find it interesting that there’s a correlation with social media and in store apps. There’s a lot of different ways to approach the “real” meaning of this data point. Could it be that many social media users are of a younger generation and are not necessarily the primary shopper for food for a family, or that they social media user treats a grocery store as a secondary source of food? Or could it be that a person that frequently spends most of their food dollar in a grocery store is also more likely to use an “app” to find coupons and thus is less likely to use social media because there’s really no intrinsic value there?
I think the answer is bit of both, and the connection - or glaring indictment - of the food industry is that they have yet to understand the need for a unified focus on all shoppers using “new” available technologies. It’s no longer an either-or conversation. It’s really one problem, that of brand equity, and driving that conversation in an omni-commerce way. The app at the store connected to social media brings a simplistic approach and facilities a better ongoing conversation for ALL shoppers, regardless of the medium or channel they choose.
Randy Evins, Senior Principal, Industry Value Engineering, Food, Drug, and Convenience, SAP
Grocery shopping apps resonate with engaged consumers. The more personalized and responsive the app, the more committed the consumer. The apps provide grocer differentiation and are a gateway to shopping online. In this case, they do advantage a winner in the marketplace. The retailer should view the apps as two - way conversations. They are great ways to listen to their most engaged to consumers. The sharp retailers are listening, responding, and adjusting their offerings and services.
Nancy Childs, Professor of Food Marketing, St. Joseph’s University
It’s remarkable that this study has found heavy social media users are so much less likely to use grocery shopping apps. It’s almost as if they don’t have enough room in their lives to devote serious attention to both activities. Admittedly, using grocery shopping apps can be a fairly complex matter, requiring regular visits to maintain shopping lists, select and accept digital coupons, and check sale prices. If the shopper uses more than one retailer’s app, maintaining multiple shopping lists becomes a larger challenge.
For the shopper, this means the investment of a certain amount of effort to obtain the promised benefits of the app. As the study authors observe, those benefits fall into three main areas: convenience, personalization and price. Shoppers tend to have enduring mindsets about these benefits, which may influence their preferences about app usage.
It’s understood that not all shoppers care equally about getting the lowest price. For some, the inconvenience of obtaining, mastering and using a mobile app may outweigh the perceived savings. Engagement with an app may seem superficially like loyalty, when it may be motivated by temporary convenience or cost-saving.
Before investing, retailers should consider that even tech-savvy shoppers may have a limited appetite for multiple retailer-specific shopping apps. The common model for an app - one tied tightly to the frequent shopper membership and designed to deliver personalized promotions - may prove to be a commodity before long. Advanced shoppers may already be searching for a single-app solution that would help them manage household shopping across multiple stores. I’m curious whether the advent of mobile payment apps carries that potential.
James Tenser, Principal, VSN Strategies
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SECTION THREE
