L2 Digital IQ Index: Top Food Brands in Digital 2017

L2 Digital IQ Index: Top Food Brands in Digital 2017

With digital sales of food and beverage expected to eclipse 20%, by 2025, the food industry is ripe for disruption. While only 10% of index brands offer direct to consumer e-commerce onsite, there is near universal distribution across major e-tailers.

In lieu of DTC e-commerce investments, brand sites are content hubs for recipes, and have invested steadily in third party handoff. While recipe content can help drive traffic, it’s competitive. Top brands are working with recipe leaders, including AllRecipes and TasteMade, to promote content and reach larger audiences.

However, the real battle is fought on e-tailer sites, where private label brands are proving to be formidable competitors. Merchandising opportunities on Amazon provide brands a way to differentiate from competitors, offering comprehensive descriptions, multiple images, and video content. Yet only 8% of index brands have taken advantage of the opportunity.

With the Amazon acquisition of Whole Foods, food brands are facing a disruptor whose private label dominates the site food categories, coupled with technology that could be the Lucifer of brand equity, Alexa.

Quaker rises to the top in this year’s L2 Digital IQ Index – Food, with investments across Amazon’s Echo system, including Amazon.com, Prime Pantry, and Alexa.

Cheerios follows, with best in class recipe content investments, featuring in-depth ingredient lists and opportunities for user-generated content.

Barilla takes third place, with outsized share of shelf within the pasta category, on Amazon.

And McCormick, Betty Crocker, and Campbell’s maintain their position in the Genius category, with continuing excellence in recipe content.

Our fourth Digital IQ Index – Food 2017, benchmarks the digital performance of 146 brands.

For these and more insights, visit L2Inc.com.