UK Grocery Online Shopping Benchmark

The Challenge

Lumivo partnered with leading UK supermarket brands to assess the effectiveness of their websites and apps in delivering an engaging and seamless shopping experience.

The study aimed to understand how well these platforms performed across key tasks and identify opportunities to drive user satisfaction and improve conversion rates.

The study spanned from 2nd November to 4th December, with 1,411 participants evaluating grocery websites and apps via desktop, mobile, and app platforms. Each supermarket was assessed by an average of 176 participants. Key objectives included:

• Evaluating the usability of the homepage
• Assessing the process of booking delivery slots
• Testing the ease of product search and basket management
• Reviewing the checkout process
• Exploring loyalty programs

Our approach

Lumivo designed a comprehensive benchmark study to evaluate digital shopping experiences across major UK supermarkets. Participants performed the following tasks:

1. Homepage Evaluation: Participants spent time reviewing the homepage, considering its navigation, product displays, deals, and account settings. The goal was to assess the clarity and relevance of content, as well as identify any missing or unhelpful elements.
2. Booking a Delivery Slot: Participants navigated to the delivery section to explore slot availability, clarity of instructions, associated costs, and flexibility in scheduling.
3. Product Search and Basket Management: Participants performed one of three tasks:

• Adding 10 predefined essential items (e.g., bread, milk, eggs).
• Conducting a large shop for weekly groceries.
• Adding items for a complete mid-week meal.

4. Checkout and Delivery: Participants tested the checkout process, noting ease of use, clarity of steps, and any roadblocks during payment and delivery slot booking.

5.Loyalty Program Evaluation: Participants explored each supermarket’s loyalty scheme, assessing clarity around earning and spending points, perceived benefits, and overall appeal.

Key findings

1. Checkout Success Rates:

• Participants were most successful at checking out on the Ocado website (79%) and Sainsbury’s app (87%).
• Tesco’s mobile web platform lagged with a 72% success rate, impacting its overall scores.
• Ocado’s multi-step checkout process was highlighted as a top performer, providing clear stages such as "Before you go" offers, flash sales, voucher application, and payment summary.

2.Advertising Content:

• Morrisons ranked first in advertising content, with participants praising its non-disruptive, visually appealing ads, especially during Christmas.
• Tesco’s ads were perceived as less helpful and more distracting, significantly impacting user experience.
  
  

3. Loyalty Programs:

• Sainsbury’s Nectar card topped the loyalty scheme discovery driver, with participants valuing its diverse redemption options and personalised offers based on past purchases.
• Tesco followed closely but lagged in providing immediate benefits.

 4. Key Insights:

• Participants appreciated Morrisons’ focus on savings and product updates through well-designed ads.
• Loyalty program clarity and tailored offers significantly influenced participant satisfaction.

The Outcome

Lumivo provided actionable insights to the digital and marketing teams of the participating supermarkets, identifying critical areas for improvement and best practices. Key recommendations included:

• Enhancing Mobile Web Experiences: Addressing performance issues on Tesco’s mobile platform to improve usability and checkout success rates.
• Optimising Advertising Content: Emulating Morrisons’ strategy of non-intrusive and visually engaging ads to enhance the shopping experience.
• Streamlining the Checkout Process: Encouraging supermarkets to adopt multi-step checkout flows similar to Ocado’s, ensuring clarity and reducing drop-off rates.
• Improving Loyalty Program Engagement: Highlighting immediate benefits and personalised rewards to increase user satisfaction and loyalty.

Lumivo’s study findings were shared through detailed reports and workshops, enabling supermarket teams to implement changes that enhance user satisfaction and drive business outcomes. This initiative demonstrated the importance of tailored digital experiences in the competitive grocery market.