Success factors of German meal kit providers from the customer's perspective compared to the USA

Abstract

The popularity of meal kit services has grown rapidly in recent years. However, few researchers have investigated the factors that influence customers when choosing a meal service provider, especially regarding the German market. The aim of this study is to gain more insight into the customer characteristics and customer success factors of meal kit providers in Germany. In addition, the study examines whether the drivers of customer satisfaction regarding differ when comparing Germany with the trendsetter USA, where meal kits are already more popular. After a literature analysis, the authours used the AI-based text analytics tool Caplena to compare customer reviews in the APPs of established meal kit providers from the USA and Germany to identify relevant drivers of customer satisfaction. The following online survey in Germany helped to gain even deeper insights into the customer demand. The results confirmed that customer satisfaction drivers for meal kit services differ only slightly between the USA and Germany. In addition, the study found that a hassle-free ordering and delivery process, the variety of meals offered by the provider, and an overall convenient preparation process are the main drivers of overall customer satisfaction.