Taking a Stab at the Top Charts – Did the Dunkin’ App Spike Because of a Stabbing?

Dunkin’ Donut’s United states app, simply named “Dunkin’” has leaped from 13th in the food category to 3rd overnight. The mystery is… why? Dunkin’ Donuts app spikes in ratings after a Georgia location stabbing. But let’s take a look at our dashboard to see if we can find any clues…

The application allows customers to pay online and receive their orders directly from their car. This has been a useful update during covid times. It still doesn’t explain the spike in downloads! looking at their most recent update, there is not a correlation.

The brand has recently released a new Holiday Donut flavor or coffee called the sugar plum macchiato. The store released the new menu item on December 2nd. Dunkin’ experienced another small peak then.

The outlet has quite abysmal ratings and they have not improved of late. Nor has there been an update or recent promotion by their TikTok star ambassador Charli D’amelio. (102.5 Million followers on TikTok). So what prompted the app’s sudden increase in popularity?

The highest-ranking keyword searches are all variations on the brand name, competitor names, and “breakfast desert”. It seems like we have reached a dead-end…

However, there was a recent news event that could have caused people to want to order from their cars, faulty app, or not. According to the outlet an unnamed man and woman went through the drive-thru to place an order. They got into an altercation with a staff member over the absence of a specific order. Later, the man returned to the shop. The man ended up brandishing a blade and slashing the employee’s arm. This all according to the Newyork Post, and AJC

A clip of the event has been circulating on Twitter. As the news grows, logically, so would the concern surrounding entering a Dunkin’ establishment. It is impossible to know with certainty that this is the cause of the spike. However, it is a possible candidate.

Looking at their creatives, we can see that Dunkin’ is offering curbside pickup. The option of curbside pickup may very well be more appealing to customers who are scared to enter a location. The brand name circulating in the news could also have given it a push. This may therefore be bringing the Donut and Coffee Chain to the forefront of people’s minds.

When your dashboard is showing you a spike in activity but it is not correlating to any in-app event or trend, this is also useful information. A sudden burst of app activity can also indicate external factors.

These previous peaks correspond to Free Donut Friday announcements. Oftentimes apps that are linked to real-world events and places require some additional sleuth work. You may need to check news events. This can help you to detect the reasons behind the rises and falls.

Do you have an application with a real-world counterpart? To do some of your own detective work, sign up for a demo with us.