Smartphone searches: a recipe for grocery sales success
Helen Dickinson, director general, British Retail Consortium, said: “In a change that will give particular cheer to grocery retailers, the latest BRC-Google numbers show that customers are increasingly turning to their tablet computers and smartphones for culinary guidance. With recipes dominating the top ten search terms and a personal favourite, chocolate cake recipes, topping it, this presents a great opportunity for retailers. Many grocers are integrating their online shopping offer with recipe websites and apps. This means that when customers find a recipe they like, they are a mere one click away from having all the ingredients placed in their online shopping basket.
“The internet is also proving to be a valuable resource for those with special dietary requirements. A spectacular 122% rise in smart phone searches in this category suggests that customers are researching their purchase on-the-go, potentially even as they walk the supermarket aisles, to find products that meet their very specific needs.
“Across all devices, searches for grocery items were up 22% on the same quarter last year. Customers, it seems, are looking for the best value across everything they buy. Grocery retailers with a great online offer are set to benefit as consumers turn to looking online for the best prices for the food they buy.”
Peter Fitzgerald, retail director, Google, said: “Grocery shoppers have embraced mobile technology, with nearly double the number of searches coming from mobile devices compared to last year. Greater London has seen the sharpest rise in searches, reflecting the developments grocers have made in the region, for example the increase in delivery options becoming available to Londoners. Further growth should be expected as these options are expanded across the UK.
“The warm weather led to an increase in barbecue and beer related queries, plus the World Cup brought a rise in Latin American cuisine searches of 35% year-on-year. However, Britain still remains health-conscious, with significant growth reported in diet, organic and weight-loss foods.”
Grocery search volume breakdown – monthly (year-on-year % change)
– All device grocery search volumes growth was 21% in April compared with the same period a year earlier. Across smartphones and tablets, search volume growth rose by 99% and 32% respectively.
– Search volumes on smartphones were also highest in May 2014, up 98%.
– Growth of grocery search volumes on smartphone devices was also strongest in June, up 85% compared with 23% growth on tablets and 22% growth across all devices.
Top trending sub categories searches – Q2 2014 (year-on-year % change)
– The growth rate of smartphone searches for organic and natural foods outpaced all other grocery categories for Q2 2014.
– Total grocery search volumes growth across all devices was highest for BBQ and grills (40%), special and restricted diet foods (37%), Latin American cuisine (35%) meat and poultry (34%) and beer (32%).
– Special and restricted diet foods, meat and poultry and French cuisine were the three fastest growing categories on tablet devices.
United Kingdom focus
– All countries and regions of the UK have experienced growth in grocery search volumes across all devices but most significantly in smartphone searches.
– Consumers searching for groceries on smartphones grew most rapidly in Greater London, 152% up on a year ago.
– The South West experienced the largest growth across all devices and tablets for grocery searches.
– All devices and smartphone search growth for groceries in Northern Ireland outpaced that of Scotland and Wales.
United Kingdom regions
– London accounted for 35% of total proportion of grocery searches in Q2 2014, the highest in all the regions and countries of the UK, followed by the North and Yorkshire (20%) and the Midlands (14%).
– The proportion of grocery searches in Northern Ireland (2%) and the South West of England (2%) is the lowest in the UK.
– Scotland and Wales proportions of grocery searches are 7% and 3% respectively.