JOW is the app which sorts out tonight’s supper and does the shopping. It’s a personal shopper which cleverly combines recipe ideas with your shopping list. Simplicity as well as a reflection on the retailer’s position are on the menu in this article.

Faced with the emergence of new players and new ways of doing business such as reducing the intermediaries, the traditional food retail sector could be at risk of being sidelined. To stay fresh, they are increasing their efforts. Innovation, experiential, tes & learn and partnerships are a necessity more than ever.

Do your shopping in 1 minute.

You must admit it’s a tempting offer, especially when that phrase “what are we eating tonight?” just keeps cropping up at home. JOW is the future of varied, simple menus. How does it work? It’s easy.Once the app is downloaded, JOW needs to know the number of people, the type of diet (gluten free, no pork, vegetarian etc), the equipment available (oven, hob, food mixer or blender etc) and where you like to shop.


Have your shopping delivered or go to a drive-through.

Today 3 brands have partnered with JOW. Monoprix with its home delivery service, and E.Leclerc and Auchan with their respective drive-throughs.
Once these choices have been made, JOW offers a selection of meals for the week (between 1 and 14 meals) and a shopping list to match.
You can modify any meals that you don’t like, and the list automatically adjusts.


What about the rest of your shopping?

The app also lets you complete your shopping with other items (drinks, shampoo, detergent etc) and create shopping lists which the Artificial Intelligence can refer to for your next order. Obviously, the more you use the app, the more the app recognises your favourites and adapts to your needs and desires.


Moving into the kitchen!

The menus are set and the shopping is done, now all that is left is to don that apron. Here, again, the app has thought of everything with video tutorials for each of the suggested recipes. The instructions are simple and take into account the equipment available.


Are you ready to delegate your shopping and menu plans?

That’s the question we’re all asking. The model is similar to the subscription principle (for razors, socks etc). With JOW we delegate product choice entirely to an algorithm. It is noteworthy that the default position is to offer brand names first, but it is possible to select cheaper or even organic products.


And the retailer?

This new three-way partnership is not completely risk-free, which is partly due to the app’s business model. JOW functions on the basis of affiliation, so it’s the retailers who finance the service by paying a commission per shopping basket generated.

In addition, by delegating its relationship with the end client to the algorithm writer, the retailer puts itself in the role of an interchangeable supplier. The position could be perceived as risky in the long run, if the app decides to change the rules one day. It will be worth following over the next few months to see how each party finds its role.


JOW in numbers:

4 co-founders : Antoine Maillard, Brice Audrain, Franck Maurin and Jacques-Edouard Sabatier (the current CEO).

1.5 million euros of funds raised as at October 2018.