Ten years ago, the only way you could order food in India was by calling up the restaurant and talking to actual people. Or in the cases of major chains like McDonalds and KFC, ordering off their websites.
But today, we’re spoilt for choices when it comes to food ordering options. And all of them bend over backward with 100% cash back or flat out a free 1st meal for new users to make them stick.
But the thing is, nobody needs 20 different food delivery apps. Most people stick with just a couple at most. So that means they’re picking the best ones for them, based on delivery range, inventory, and ease of use. The other apps just get dumped by the wayside. But the winners aren’t safe because, as any millennial will testify, you always try the new app because you never know how great it’s going to be.
Because of that, there’s a lot of what market researchers call “churn”, which is when users try an app, get bored or dissatisfied with it, and eventually move on. According to a new report by CleverTap, food order apps are particularly susceptible to this.
Ten years ago, the only way you could order food in India was by calling up the restaurant and talking to actual people. Or in the cases of major chains like McDonalds and KFC, ordering off their websites.
But today, we’re spoilt for choices when it comes to food ordering options. And all of them bend over backward with 100% cash back or flat out a free 1st meal for new users to make them stick.
But the thing is, nobody needs 20 different food delivery apps. Most people stick with just a couple at most. So that means they’re picking the best ones for them, based on delivery range, inventory, and ease of use. The other apps just get dumped by the wayside. But the winners aren’t safe because, as any millennial will testify, you always try the new app because you never know how great it’s going to be.
Because of that, there’s a lot of what market researchers call “churn”, which is when users try an app, get bored or dissatisfied with it, and eventually move on. According to a new report by CleverTap, food order apps are particularly susceptible to this.
Apparently, when a new app launches and gains some hype, 86 percent of new users abandon it and leave in just the first two weeks. But it’s not just the newbies, established apps also see plenty of churns. In fact, an average of only 22 percent of users stays active after their first week on the app.
On average, 54 percent of new users to an app will leave during the first month. However, if it’s good enough to use at least once, that number goes way down. In fact, users that make at least three purchases in their first month only have a 28 percent churn rate.
Basically, the fact that you’ve used a food app once means you were at least satisfied enough to engage with it. After that, these companies are on their toes, monitoring which users are not ordering or opening the apps anymore. That’s when they start sending you discount coupons, and “We miss you!” messages in push notifications. And a lot of the time, it’s enough to draw you back in. For instance, one tip given to promote engagement from users that have registered and ordered, but who aren’t active at the moment is, “Send personalized push notifications, emails or text messages encouraging users to make a repeat transaction or purchase on days 7, 15, and 25 after their first purchase.”
Another thing these apps are advised is to keep their notifications between 40-60 characters. It makes sense, given that you don’t want a wall of text popping up at the top of your smartphone. They’re also told to “optimize send times for your notifications based on user ordering patterns and meal times.” Apparently, users like you are most likely to interact with push notifications between 9:00-10:00 AM, 1:00-5:00 PM, and 9:00-10:00 PM. You know, standard meal times (with extended hours in the afternoon for a late lunch).
All of this plays a huge part in the revenue of business like Zomato order and Swiggy. It doesn’t matter if they keep getting new users if the old ones don’t stick around after all. It’s the users that develop loyalty to your app and keep order that is the big spenders.
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