A Review of Grocery Mobile Apps in Ireland
As part of my Digital Marketing Postgrad with the Digital Marketing Academy of Ireland, I recently did a review of a number of grocery store apps in Ireland. This blog post provides an overview of the Dunnes and Lidl retail apps and the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Dunnes Stores
Dunnes Stores is an Irish retail chain that sells food, clothes, and household items. Their app offers
- VALUEclub card and vouchers
- Online shopping for groceries
- Online shopping for clothes and household items
|
Strengths |
Weaknesses |
|
o
Easy
to register. o
Received
a €5 off €25 voucher on registration, with
this easily accessible with a clear use-by date. o
The
fashion and homeware sections of the app were easy to browse and shop, with
good filtering options. o
Dunnes
are active on review websites, responding with a positioning of ‘always
looking to improve’. There is evidence that they do take on board comments,
with a suggestion to move vouchers above gift cards made on Google Play in Jan
23 (nodhwg 2023) since being implemented. |
o
Shopping
takes place on the dunnesstores.com website vs the app, yet this isn’t made
clear (Talita VX 2023). This brings 2 challenges § The user needs to register a second time,
which is both confusing and time-consuming. § A user needs to exit the website and go
back into the app to view things such as vouchers. o
Although
an issue with the website vs the app, the filters in grocery are poor, with just
4 departments listed, namely § Chilled Fish & Seafood § Fresh Meat & Poultry § Summer § Summer Offers o
The
above misses out on shopping aisles such as bakery, dairy, and fruit and vegetables,
whilst Summer is unclear as a grocery department. o
The
app is large and difficult to navigate. Yet simplicity is key to success in app
design (Hannah J, 2023) |
The app is doing a good job housing customers’ VALUEclub card and vouchers, yet it’s limited in terms of grocery shopping.
Whilst many of the challenges with the app lie with the website itself, clearer communication on the app around the fact that shopping takes place on the website would be beneficial, at least in the short term.
Dunnes’ largest website audience is 25-34 year olds (similarweb 2024), which according to a study from Delighted by Qualtrics (2021) is the age group most likely to use apps (23%), making resolving some of the issues with the app a priority.
Image 1 – nodhwg (2023) – ‘Why a gift card’ (screenshot)
Image 2 – Gift cards now below
Vouchers (screenshot)
Image 3 – Talita VX (2023) – ‘Brings you to a webpage asking
you to log in all over again’ (screenshot)
Lidl
Lidl is a German discount supermarket with over 160 stores in Ireland (Lidl 2024).
Whilst the Lidl app doesn’t offer online shopping, it houses a loyalty card and offers money off coupons that can be activated on the app before redeeming. It’s also easy to see what offers exist in your local store.
Cleverly, just after signing up, Lidl invite users to update their ‘about me’ section in their profiles, the benefit being to receive offers that are most relevant to the shopper, whilst also offering Lidl significant information about their loyal customers. (Lidl Plus 2024)
|
Strengths |
Weaknesses |
|
o
Easy
to set up and use, and very local (choose your local store). o
Nice
(and obvious) recipe section that allows customisation depending on ingredients
available (Recipe 2024) o
About
me section, positioned as a way to offer coupons that reflect a user’s
preferences. o
Offers
digital receipts, ie, no need for paper receipts instore |
o
Need
to activate coupons on the app prior to redeeming in-store which is less
convenient than an app where vouchers are automatically applied. (Shanmu MB
2024) o
Coupons
are focused on specific products or categories, vs money off your total shop which
is what SuperValu and Dunnes offer. (Glasnevingooner 2021) |
Image 4 – Shanmu MB (2024) – ‘Only negative is you need to
activate the coupons manually’ (screenshot)
Image 5 – Recipes on Lidl app (screenshot)
Image 6 – GlasnevinGooner (2021) – ‘Bear in mind it’s free –
coupons not always relevant but like the digital receipts’ (screenshot)
Bibliography
Nodhwg (2023) – ‘Why a gift card’ (online). Available at https://apps.apple.com/ie/app/dunnes-stores/id1539398657 [accessed 16 May 2024]
Talita VX (2023) – ‘Brings you to a webpage asking you to log in all over again’ (online). Available at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dunnes.valueclubcard&hl=en&gl=US [accessed 16 May 2024]
Hannah J (2023) – UX Design Institute – The ultimate guide to mobile app design: Follow these UI principles & best practices (online). Available here https://www.uxdesigninstitute.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-mobile-app-design/ [accessed 18 May 2024]
Similarweb (2024) – dunnesstores.com Website Traffic Demographics (online). Available at https://www.similarweb.com/website/dunnesstores.com/#demographics [accessed 17 May 2024)
Delighted by Qualtrics (2021) - 7 notable takeaways: US demographic trends in online vs in-store shopping (online). Available at https://delighted.com/blog/us-trends-online-vs-in-store-shopping [accessed 17 May 2024]
Dunnes Stores mobile app (2024) – Gift cards now below Vouchers – Wallet (mobile app) [accessed 18 May 2024)
Lidl (2024) – Want to Work for Lidl? (online). Available at https://corporate.lidl.ie/contact#:~:text=With%20over%20160%20stores%2C%203,roles%20to%20suit%20different%20skillsets. [accessed 18 May 2024]
Lidl Plus (2024) – Email to Marie Wiseman, 17 May 2024. Available here. https://mail.yahoo.com/d/folders/30/messages/AEOnELdxOluqZkb17QnrEBs30TI [accessed 17 May 2024]
Recipes (2024) – Recipes (online via the app). Also available here https://recipes.lidl.ie/ingredients/beef?filters%5BlikedIngredients%5D=1850%2C+6517&filters%5Bfood_type%5D=13828 [accessed 18 May 2024]
Shanmu MB (2024) – ‘Only negative is you need to activate the coupons manually’ (online). Available at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lidl.eci.lidlplus&hl=en_IE&gl=US [accessed 17 May 2024]
GlasnevinGooner (2021) – ‘Bear in mind it’s free’ (online). Available at https://apps.apple.com/ie/app/lidl-plus/id1238611143?see-all=reviews [accessed 17 May 2024]
Lidl Plus mobile app (2024) – Recipes on Lidl app – More – Recipes (lidl.ie) – Browse by Ingredients (mobile app) [accessed 18 May 2024)
Comments
Post a Comment