At the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March, supermarket shelves were emptied as Britons around the country stockpiled and prepared for a lockdown. As shoppers looked for alternative ways to do their weekly food shop, recipe box provider Gousto saw record levels of orders for its meal kit products and were eventually forced to stop accepting new customers so they could fulfil orders from existing subscribers.
New YouGov data shows that Consideration scores (whether someone would consider purchasing from the brand in future) for Gousto peaked on the 25th April at +3.3, the highest score it achieved in the two years YouGov has tracked the brand. However, as lockdown restrictions were lifted in May, Consideration for the brand started to decrease, perhaps indicating that demand for the product wasn’t solely driven by empty shelves but by a customer base with more time on their hands.
Buzz scores (a net measure of whether consumers have heard anything positive or negative about the brand in the last fortnight) tell a similar story, increasing by 1.2 points once Gousto started accepting new customers again and then decreasing as more options are available and restrictions were eased.
Gousto executives may be concerned with how the brand can keep its new influx of customers and translate them into loyal subscribers but YouGov Profiles data suggests that, because of its USP, this may not be too difficult. Almost half of Britons say that they are concerned about food freshness (49%) and half again say that when it comes to meal planning convenience is a major concern (50%).
Of those who cook from scratch most days, over two thirds think that fresh food is better than frozen (69%), eight in ten like experimenting with new recipes (80%) and over four fifths like cooking for themselves and others (83%).
Additionally, customer satisfaction scores are at their highest (+2.8) since the start of 2020 (+1.5), even after the recent easing of lockdown (+1.9). This alongside Brit’s desire for fresh, convenient food deliveries with new and exciting recipes should mean that Gousto can convert its lockdown customers into loyal subscribers over the coming months.
Image: Getty
