May 10, 2024

For a snack and 5 questions with... 
Katja Trenkwalder (from Picnic)

How can recipes influence the shopping behavior of picnic users? How do you personalize the user experience? The answers to these questions (and many more) are available once a month in our snack interview, the Kitchen Stories business questionnaire.

  • This time, answer Katja Trenkwalder from Picnic.
  • As Customer Team Lead - Growth & Marketing, she is responsible for marketing, campaigns and collaborations to advance picnic expansion in Germany.
  • yours By the way, the favorite snack is Antipasti — The Italian snack, already a holiday feeling at home.

#1 - Can you describe how Picnic Rezept integrates content throughout the customer journey and what exactly does it pay for?

We see ourselves as a supermarket for families; we want to make life easier for our customers when shopping for groceries, and also when cooking. We offer convenient and free delivery for the entire week's grocery shopping and also help with the everyday question: “What's there to eat today?” Recipes and meal planning are of central importance for our customer relationship and along the customer journey. Our customers can be inspired by a variety of recipes, which ensure that there is something for every taste. During the customer relationship, we want to ensure that our customers always find the right recipes that meet their needs. Whether you need to be quick in everyday life, whether you're looking for seasonal recipes or want something special for holidays or festivals — our changing offerings offer variety, inspiration and a user-friendly experience while using recipes with step-by-step instructions. The clear advantage for our customers is that they have all the necessary ingredients in their shopping cart with one click and the meals can be completed quickly and easily, from planning to home delivery.

#2 - How do you measure the impact of recipes on user retention and sales?

In addition to their weekly grocery shopping, many of our customers also buy recipes from us, and we see that an increasing proportion of them regularly buy several recipes per purchase. Customer loyalty is positively strengthened when customers try out new recipes and buy their favorites from us regularly. We strive to continuously increase added value for our customers. In addition to being inspired by recipes, customers can plan meals, save favorite recipes and add them easily and directly to the shopping cart the next time they shop. We see that the number of customers who buy prescriptions and the number of recipes per purchase are growing.

#3 - How do you personalize picnic recipe content for different target groups? Can you give examples of how personalization has improved the user experience?

When personalizing recipes for different target groups, we use technology and machine learning models. In addition to general inspiration, our goal is to offer recipes relevant to every customer and to continuously improve this offering.

We use a variety of data, such as product searches in the online shop, previous orders, marked favorites in the app or shared recipes to optimize. Ingredients can be replaced, so vegetarian alternatives can be purchased, for example. We also take regional preferences into account in our recipes, as we are already active in many regions of Germany. Our different buyers have different needs, for example families are looking for recipes that all family members, young and old, like.

#4 - Katja, you have been responsible for Growth & Marketing at Picnic since 2023, what are the ingredients for the perfect team to master an expansion course like Picnic is currently taking?

For a successful expansion course, as we are pursuing at Picnic, we rely on a well-coordinated team, comparable to a carefully compiled recipe. The basis is our strong customer orientation and the effort to precisely understand the needs of our customers. We work data-driven, listen to the opinions of our customers and combine that with creativity. Our goal is to develop customer-oriented strategies to sustainably improve weekly grocery shopping. This includes innovative spirit, curiosity and the courage to test and implement new marketing measures as well. As a team, we are proud of our picnic spirit and the diversity that makes us stronger together.

#5 - What is your recipe tip for summer and why?

My favorite in summer is BBQ, such as marinated grilled cheese with vegetables from Picnic. I like grilling with family and friends and enjoying fresh salads and vegetables, the variety offers something for everyone.

Lisa Rose
Head of Sales & Strategic Partnerships

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