The growing importance of food retailer apps - Part 1

Comparison of apps from REWE, Edeka, Lidl and Aldi#

The food giants in Germany are pushing their own apps. Lidl Plus has long been known as a pioneer, and REWE is following with the digitization of the brochures in the REWE app and strong advertising measures. The efforts are visible on consumers' mobile phone screens. This is shown by a study by Murmuras, in which the food retail app behavior of the four major food retailer groups in Germany was recorded and analyzed.* In the first part, the general app usage of 945 users in Q4 2021 is compared with Q4 2022. In the second part of the article, the actions in the respective top apps such as Lidl Plus or EDEKA are evaluated.

Food retail apps are used more frequently#

Compared to last year, most food retailer apps have more users in the selected user sample of Murmuras. Food retail apps are therefore gaining in popularity among users. Almost every second study participant has installed at least one app from the food giants and uses it three times a week on average. The top apps from Lidl, REWE and EDEKA are used equally by women and men.

Lidl Plus dominates the app market, REWE and EDEKA are following#

The Lidl Plus app is the most popular food retail app and is installed on every third smartphone in the sample. The app is opened about 10 times a month, more than any other. This puts Lidl Plus well ahead of REWE, EDEKA and Aldi in the competition for food retail apps. REWE and EDEKA are catching up a lot with their apps: In the sample, app users have almost doubled (see graphic above). On average, food retail apps are used between two and four minutes a day. On average, the EDEKA and REWE app users spend a little more time in the apps than the Lidl Plus users. The reason for this is shown in the second part of the article.

The large food retailers advertise heavily on social media#

Food retailers continue to push their products and apps via the social media apps Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. In total, >6,000 advertising impressions of the four food retail giants were measured on the platforms among the 945 participants in Q4-2022. On average, each social media user in the sample saw around 18 ads. REWE dominates the advertising environment in the meta apps, on Facebook even every second user sees at least one advert for the Cologne-based company. The food retail companies also follow the TikTok hype, especially Lidl and Aldi reach consumers via the young platform.

What do customers do in food retail apps?#

Customers can find the latest offers and brochures in the apps. Most providers try to lure customers with individualized coupons. In addition, some apps offer shopping lists or digital receipts. For several months, the study has also been measuring the actions that the subjects carry out. In Part 2 of this article, the exact in-app transactions are therefore evaluated according to target group and per food retail app. Which functions in the apps are particularly popular? How are users targeted with coupons? Who uses digital payment and digital receipts? This and other content will follow in Part 2.

About the study:#

In the current study, the smartphone usage behavior of 945 German Android users aged 18-69 has been tracked passively since October 1st, 2021 using Murmuras technology.