Dinnr was a web platform which allowed customers to select a recipe on the website and order pre-measured ingredients accompanied with printed instruction which would be delivered to them on the same day. The only item clients were required to have at home, besides an equipped kitchen, were oil, salt, and pepper. Dinnr did not provide readymade food, it only provided the customer with ingredients and instructions. An exception was made on popular celebrations like Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and Thanksgiving, where they actually offered special ready to eat meals.
Dinnr failed because from the beginning there wasn’t a real market need for the business. Besides, if people had markets and superstores close to them (as it is often the case in developed countries), there would be no need for them to order ingredient when they could go themselves and buy what they needed. Dinnr concentrated on providing and delivering ingredient but the reality is that most potential customers would have rather ordered ready-made meals instead of only ingredient which will then have to prepare. And while the product might have been useful in some cases, the demand for the product was low and it resulted in low-profit margin.
The Dinnr team seems to have developed a product that they personally liked without conducting thorough market research first. They conducted few interviews and concentrated on marketing their service rather than inquiring on the challenges the average customer faces with grocery shopping. They overlooked the fact that pitching a product instead of conducting solid market research gives great statistics on paper but will often lead to nothing but disappointment after the product launches.
Moreover, when starting out, Dinnr, set high monthly goals for themselves but they were too ambitious and failure to meet their own expectations might have dealt them an ulterior mental blow.
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