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Many of the best restaurant apps on both Android and iOS devices have failed to truly attract U.S. consumers, according to a new report from app engagement company Applause.
The company analyzed nearly one million app store reviews in the U.S. and ranked them on a 100-point scale of sentimentality. This analysis determined that the average restaurant app earned a mobile user sentiment score of just 38%.
This low score stems mostly from many of these apps don't use engagement tactics such as rewards programs and mobile order-ahead services. But there are several notable examples of companies that are not only successfully engaging customers, but succeeding in driving consumer spending.
Approximately 21% of Starbucks' transactions in the U.S. occurred through its app in the first quarter of 2016, and the app's Mobile Order & Pay feature accounted for 10% of transactions at high-volume stores.
Domino's cross-device payment feature represented half of its U.S. sales in Q1 2016. The pizza chain offers customers multiple payment options across 15 platforms such as the Apple Watch, Amazon Echo, and Samsung TV.
Finally, Taco Bell's mobile app had 20% higher average orders than in-store purchases in 2015.
The addition of loyalty programs, mobile order-ahead, and favorite order features boost the engagement of apps that have them and negatively affect apps that do not. The companies that received negative reviews in Applause's study did not have features that their competitors had. This shows that customers are acutely aware of these features and restaurant apps need them in order to succeed.