Millennials and Mobile in the Kitchen

by Matt Labus | Last Updated: Jun 26, 2018

It doesn’t seem like that long ago that kitchens were filled with cookbooks and handwritten recipe cards, does it? But take a look in any 20-something’s kitchen today and you might not even see a single cookbook! That’s because those millennial mobile habits follow them to the kitchen! A recent study revealed that roughly 60 percent of 25-34 year olds prefer to cook with their smartphone by their side rather than a cookbook. And, millennials actually prefer the process of cooking as much as the finished product due to their I-want-to-do attitude. In fact, 100 million hours of “how-to” content has already been watched in 2018, and brands have a huge opportunity to tap into this digital kitchen trend. Phones have become the culinary guide for millennials as the art of “cooking by heart” is dying. Based on data from YouTube, "How to Cook That" is one of the ten most popular how-to searches on YouTube. With all of this said, it’s obvious that CPG/FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) companies have an amazing opportunity to engage with their customers in the kitchen with digital experiences that make them revisit their brand and inspire them to use their product to try new things. Brands can capitalize on every micro-moment of the cooking journey: picking what to cook, preparation, and the actual cooking phase. Tapping Into Mobile at Micro-Moments Millennials are notorious for having a “want it now” attitude, so they are less likely to download a native app. Instead they want fast, frictionless results right there in the moment without visiting the app store...enter: Progressive Web Apps. They’re the perfect way to reach millennials on their phones in the kitchen, since they allow for all the rich functionality a native mobile app provides, without the need to ever download or update it (check out this infographic if you are interested in learning more). PWAs are especially perfect for CPG brands, since product packaging is the perfect place to put easy activation methods like text codes and QR codes! With PWAs allowing for instant mobile experiences and ditching the download of a native app, this opens a world of engagement possibilities. Let’s look at some creative ways CPG brand can use mobile to reach millennials in the kitchen and beyond:

In The Aisle Imagine being in the aisle for your weekly grocery trip, and noticing a QR code on a box of pasta. You open your iPhone camera and aim it toward the QR code, which brings you directly to a mobile experience that lets you flip through 3-5 different recipes that could be made using that pasta. You click on a recipe for pasta carbonara, and you’re automatically redirected to an interactive shopping list that tells you everything else you’ll need for the recipe, and lets you check the items off as you go! This kind of sounds like a futuristic shopping experience, doesn’t it? But PWAs make this possible! Brands can catch the eye of the consumer in the aisle with an activation method on the box that brings them to a mobile experience that previews the recipes they could make with that product.

Another awesome in-aisle mobile use case would be to include a video (think: the popular food-based social media account Tasty) that could be accessed easily with a PWA. Enticing images can pop up showing what the final product will look like, followed by a short 30 second clip of someone actually cooking the recipe step-by-step. This shows the shopper how easy the recipe will be to complete, compelling them to buy and getting them excited to get home and start cooking!

The Preparation Brands can use smart packaging to provide easy access to trendy recipes that match the tastes and preferences of the millennial generation–all on the device they already have on-hand! Upon choosing the recipe, they would be given a set of detailed instructions as to how to prep for the specific recipe, and maybe even a check-list of ingredients to help them get set up.

The Cooking In the kitchen, mobile can become an invaluable sous chef. A mobile experience for cooking could include an interactive checklist that helps them follow the recipe precisely, personal videos that help with cooking techniques and ease the cooking experience by having “someone” else in the kitchen coaching you through the recipe, and easy access to kitchen tools like pre-set timers for each step. The value here is huge, as 27 percent of millennials said they were likely to be sharing the cooking experience with a spouse, friend, or child.

The opportunities for creative ways to reach millennials on their phones in the kitchen are endless. CPG and FMCG companies have the chance to increase repurchase rates by implementing a user-friendly, interactive PWA. Get the most out of the millennial marketplace and beyond by using mobile to your advantage.

Millennials and Mobile in the Kitchen

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