This post is sponsored by Chicory.
Home cooking has seen a huge resurgence in the past couple of years. Now, it’s an essential solution for consumers trying to cut costs or create customized meals that suit their dietary needs. When it comes to deciding what to cook, the vast majority of consumers turn to online recipes, which inform the cooking methods they use as well as what groceries they’ll add to their carts.
Online recipe use is on the rise
Almost 88% of consumers use recipes from food blogs, recipe sites and social media or video platforms, according to the “2023 State of Online Recipes” report from contextual commerce advertising platform Chicory. The report found that online recipes are most popular with younger age groups, with 91.77% of millennials and 89.57% of Generation Z consumers using online recipes. About 39% of consumers surveyed said they use online recipes weekly, and more than half say they are using online recipes more now than they were a year ago.
Organic search and social media are the two most popular methods for consumers to discover online recipes, and many home cooks are seeking to shake up their home cooking routines with new dishes. Nearly 80% of those surveyed said an online recipe has inspired them to cook a meal or dish they had not prepared before.
Recipes drive grocery purchases
Making new recipes they find online often drives consumers to purchase new ingredients they haven’t cooked with before. About 3 in 4 consumers surveyed said an online recipe has inspired them to purchase an ingredient or product they had not previously purchased. This also extends to trying new brands. Nearly 58% of consumers said an online recipe has inspired them to purchase from a new brand or buy a different brand of a product than they usually purchase.
Chicory’s survey found that consumers often refer to online recipes while shopping, both in-store and online. More than 71% of consumers said they have looked at an online recipe on their smartphone while shopping in a store, and 53.43% have added grocery products to an online cart after seeing those products listed in an online recipe.
Harnessing the power of online recipes
Online recipes influence what consumers add to their grocery carts, and consumer packaged goods brands can harness the power of online recipes using contextual commerce. About 47% of consumers surveyed by Chicory said they would be likely or very likely to make a grocery purchase directly from an online recipe if given the option.
Allowing consumers to use a “get ingredients” or “shop recipe” button to add products directly to an online grocery order from an online recipe allows brands to engage with consumers at the “‘moment of inspiration’ and reach consumers who are not only exhibiting high intent but are also open to trying something ‘new’ – meals, ingredients, products and brands,” Chicory’s online recipe report says. “In addition, integrating shoppability into this type of contextual advertising helps provide consumers a seamless path to purchase, from recipe to commerce.”
To learn more about connecting with consumers through online recipes to drive incremental sales, download the infographic and the full report.