Lockdown has put us back in the kitchen! Bake your homemade bread, finally unpack your Thermomix, prepare the recipes of your favorite star or simply reconnect with the gustatory and guilty pleasures of your childhood, We overconsumed content relating to the pleasure of the dear. The mandatory closure of restaurants has also prompted consumers to make massive use of online shopping services (drive) in order to obtain supplies during this period, and players in the sector have been seeking to retain them ever since. Si home delivery applications have not been affected by the crisis, they would not necessarily have taken advantage of them, being strongly criticized for their economic model. Finally, consumers were able to feel a need to go to restaurants as soon as they reopen although there are many uncertainties about the economic stability of the sector.
Thus, mobile applications dedicated to Cooking and Catering were at the heart of our uses during the lockdown period. We have put together a dataset of evaluations and comments posted on the main app stores (Google Play and App Store France) for a series of popular applications. Our type of applications is divided according to the customer journey:
- Drive: the consumer makes a shopping list and collects them in store. E.g.: Leclerc Drive, Auchan Drive, Houra.fr
- Home delivery: the consumer orders a prepared dish which is then delivered by an intermediary. E.g.: Uber Eats, Just Eat, Deliveroo...
- Recipes and cooking companions: the consumer consults a directory of recipes to prepare yourself. E.g.: Marmiton, Thermomix, Cookeo...
- Catering: the consumer orders a dish to eat on site, to take away or pick up unsold food from a store. E.g.: McDonald's, Too Good To Go...
In total, over the period of 1Er From January to July 25, 2020, more than 61,000 evaluations were analyzed. 86% of comments come from Google Play (vs 14% from the App Store). Seven applications account for more than three quarters of the evaluations : Too Good To Go (average score: 4.7), Uber Eats (average score: 2.7), Uber Eats (average score: 2.9), Leclerc Drive (average score: 3.8), Marmiton (average score: 3.8), Deliveroo (average score: 3), Deliveroo (average score: 3), Carrefour (average score: 3), Carrefour (average score: 3), Carrefour (average score: 3.2), and Just Eat (average score: 3.6).
Finding 1 - Buying supplies to cook at home during lockdown
We are clearly observing different dynamics of evolution following the government's announcement to close restaurants as early as March 14, and until they reopen on June 2. The most obvious one concerns'collapse in the number of reviews filed on restaurant applications; the most affected application being Too Good To Go, which divided its average number of weekly reviews by 10. Conversely, we are seeing a peak in the number of evaluations of the Leclerc Drive application during the first 4 weeks of lockdown. Finally, the increase in returns on the Marmiton application will continue for a longer period of time, until the last week of lockdown before gradually fading away. This testifies to the double need to stock up in order to be able to cook at home. The number of evaluations of home delivery applications (Uber Eats, Deliveroo, etc.) remained generally stable over the period lockdown (until 11 May) before increasing until mid-June.
Finding 2 - More positive reviews for home delivery applications
At the same time, the evolution of the rating testifies to the perceived usefulness of these applications. If,The Drive and Recipes & Cooking Companions applications were acclaimed by consumers by receiving a large number of positive reviews, proportionally, they were also more strongly criticized., mainly for supply problems or technical difficulties encountered by mobile users. We are seeing a drop in the number of positive ratings for Take-Out Catering applications, without there being any more negative opinions shared during the lockdown period. On the other hand, the most interesting development concerns home delivery, with the intersection of positive and negative review curves, as soon as the closure of restaurants was announced. If, at the beginning of the year, these applications regularly received a majority of negative reviews, starting with the implementation of lockdown, the opposite is true.
Finding #3 - Consumers generally satisfied with Drive's services
The analysis of reviews submitted under Drive applications during the lockdown reveals general satisfaction with Drive services. Remember that the majority of evaluations are positive and that the first weeks of lockdown will bring new users “into discovery” on these applications. 27% of the comments applaud the ease and convenience of using this method of procurement and 11% say they are satisfied with the staff. The main obstacles to use are bugs inherent in applications: impossible to open the app or connect (18%), basket that disappears (17%). The drive service itself is relatively uncriticized: after-sales service returns for a damaged product or a delivery error (7%), difficulty in obtaining a delivery slot (7%), unavailability of certain products (11%).
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