A Complete Guide to Food Delivery App Development
Most of us cannot survive without meal delivery. The epidemic and safety requirements boosted the popularity of food delivery app developement such as Uber Eats, Glovo, and Just Eat. Restaurant patrons can now order their favorite dish and wait for a courier to deliver it.
Food orders are the only way restaurants make money since dine-ins are still outlawed in many nations.
Even while meal delivery apps are becoming more popular, many restaurant owners criticize the platform for charging unfair service costs that deplete their little profit margin.
That is why Savoy restaurant owners are thinking about starting meal delivery markets similar to other successful food delivery apps. If you can’t beat them, at least lead them.
Challenges of the Food Delivery Market in 2024
By 2023, the meal delivery industry will continue to expand. For the next several years, it appears that the future of a food delivery app owner has been bright. There are still two major difficulties for established businesses and startups to address.
Competition
While it may appear that the industrial giants have a monopoly on the market, this is not entirely true. Companies with food delivery platforms around the world rose to prominence during the pandemic and continue to gain strength.
The on-demand meal delivery software is suitable for all types of restaurant business models. Whether you own a single restaurant or a chain of restaurants, custom food delivery app solutions will benefit your entire business as a result of this delivery strategy.
Gousto, a meal-kit company from the United Kingdom, raised $41 million under restrictive restrictions. Gorillas, an on-demand grocery business that aims to deliver products in under 10 minutes, received $290 million, exceeding its original $1 billion valuation.
There are many similarities, however. Customers prefer services they are already familiar with, such as Uber Eats. That is why your meal delivery app must offer a unique service or feature to stimulate your target audience’s attention.
ConverseNow made headlines when it introduced an AI-powered voice-ordering assistant. Its groundbreaking technology enables restaurants to automate order-taking and processing across several channels, freeing up staff for other tasks.
Appliances and convenience
Lowering pricing is another great way to attract customers and build a huge restaurant network that wants to use your food delivery services. Third-party delivery services like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Seamless are excessively expensive, charging up to 30% for every order. These charges place a huge financial burden on eateries attempting to overcome the pandemic’s challenges.
Restaurant operators may be drawn to a low-cost or free model, which will definitely increase the popularity of your restaurant app. However, there is a disadvantage: How will your app be profitable if you do not charge eateries? Ad-based monetization and cross-selling could be useful.
Food Delivery App Features
Regardless of the business strategy you choose, it is apparent that you must provide transparent pricing and outstanding service. In addition to core functions, your program should consider current industry trends to meet consumers’ requests and expectations. Let’s take a look at what vital functions should be included in your food delivery service from the ground up.
App for Customers
Users should be able to find nearby restaurants and their menus easily using this app. For further convenience, the consumer app should offer the option to easily order food, search using filters, and track orders. Consider including the following characteristics:
Personal Profile.
Many food delivery apps include this as one of their core functions. Personalizing a user’s account is critical for developing a bond with them. An application that has already saved your data, favorite restaurants, or sorts of food is far more likely to be used.
Search Filters
It’s self-explanatory, but filters like cuisine, place of origin, and price ranges are the most typical difficulties when deciding where to purchase food. It makes the ordering procedure much easier and more convenient.
Menu and Payment
Remember that everyone values convenience when developing a food delivery app, so consider offering the option of ordering directly from the restaurant’s menu and selecting your favorite dishes on your food delivery application. The application should also include the option to select the most convenient payment method.
Real-Time Delivery Tracking
It’s a common app feature, and many of the best meal delivery apps include real-time order tracking. We stated that we wanted to go beyond the scheme and stand out from the crowd. This is not the situation here. The popularity of this function indicates that people want to be able to check where their orders are. Customers want to know where their deliveries are. You can employ a software stack based on the popular Google Maps, similar to Uber Eats.
Push Notifications
They can be bothersome at times, but instead of making you angry, they will undoubtedly make you happy by informing you that your dinner delivery is on its way.
Assessment and Support
Each restaurant’s offer appears to be more or less promising and appealing, but it is worthwhile to inquire about specific services. Are they worth the money? Aren’t the dishes spicy? Do they offer vegan dishes? Looking at other users’ ratings and reviews can provide the answers to these queries. In addition, make sure your app allows users to contact someone from the support team.
App for Courier
Delivery people should also utilize the customer’s app to get their meals. It should allow food delivery service providers to rapidly access pending orders and offer an integrated GPS navigation system for pickups and drop-offs. It is the person in charge of ensuring that the delivery process runs smoothly and on time. As a result, he deserves a high-quality, functional app. The following are some of the most important meal delivery app features:
Login and Verification.
This capability is meant for devices that are not assigned to a certain provider. Someone often finishes the shift and transfers the device to another supplier. This is when the various profiles and verification features come in handy.
Managing orders
The courier should be allowed to review order data and accept or reject a delivery order. The application is designed to make his job easier and to establish clear communication with the employee or client.
Status Update.
The courier should confirm the order’s acceptance and delivery. He is the first person in charge of changing an order’s status. It can be resolved even by using push notifications.
App for restaurants
A restaurant app’s principal function is to notify partner establishments of incoming orders. Restaurant management can use the app to assign delivery to a free courier once an order is completed.
Order Manager
The application should be available to both the customer and the courier. You should consider developing an order management system to make your offer as appealing as possible. The restaurant personnel should receive, accept, and alter order status and confirm orders received through the website and mobile app. A manager should be created to be suitable for a variety of restaurant types.
Order History and Notifications
Looking at the order history, dealing with the issues that will undoubtedly arise when offering this delivery service becomes much easier. The correct software can save a tough situation, delighting both the buyer and seller.
Financial Accounting
It is where orders should be settled and coupons and discounts issued. The application should be thorough, allowing for extensive cash register management, online payment, and salary settlement.
Difficulties in developing a food delivery app.
As previously stated, establishing a new, well-functioning, and popular meal delivery app is not easy. It is primarily due to established competition and the fact that they have been in the market for some time.
Glovo and Wolt, on the other hand, had a more limited financial and technical background. Nonetheless, they are used on a regular basis, so do not give up hope; if you put effort into your new concept, you will succeed. However, seasoned competition is not the only roadblock that arises during meal delivery app development.
- Adapting to the Client: Customers are spoilt with choice, with marketing businesses in the food delivery industry lifting their game to the point where consumers struggle to make a decision. It’s difficult to foresee what clients may require in the future.
- Unstable Market Prices: Food prices are likewise quite variable. Several variables influence food product prices. Food delivery companies frequently struggle to keep up with market prices and determine the optimal pricing strategy.
- Adhering to Food Quality Standards: Due to the high demand for on-demand orders, delivery partners face considerable challenges when delivering food from a restaurant far away from the consumer’s home. The disparity between restaurant cuisine and meals delivered to one’s door provides a huge barrier for food delivery companies to bridge.
- Poor Food Handling: One of the most prevalent issues that delivery people face is improper handling of purchases due to a lack of training. Many customers are concerned about uncleanliness, which is one of the primary reasons restaurants must provide enough training to improve food delivery and maintain control over delivery times.
- Logistics: Food delivery services face huge logistical hurdles. Some challenges that must be addressed include deciding whether to limit the delivery range to a few sites or service areas with wider geography, managing higher orders from a single location, arranging the proper number of vehicles, and ensuring food quality.
- Food Delivery App Cost: It’s no secret that creating a comprehensive application that everyone can and wants to use takes significant time, effort, and quality. Hiring a skilled development team comes with a significant cost.
How to Make Money with Food Delivery Apps
The application has large expenditures, but it is worth noting that its revenues can be similarly high. Aside from using your program, providing it is a great way to make money. Here are a few methods to monetize this app.
Delivery Charges:
If a restaurant does not have a delivery team, an app like this can be used to transport meals for a fee. Delivery prices are based on the time it takes to transport meals from one location to another.
Advertising
Advertising is another way for meal delivery apps to generate revenue. Sponsored advertising may incur additional fees from a delivery service. Advertising in a delivery application may result in a business being at the top of search results for an extended period of time.
Commission Percentage
A commission percentage is another way to profit from a meal delivery app. Depending on the order size, online meal delivery apps may operate with restaurants on a pre-negotiated commission basis. Just Eat, for example, generates revenue by charging eateries a fee for every transaction.
Price Management
Adding a delivery surcharge during peak times is another way to monetize your product. UberEats, for example, uses surge pricing between the lunch and evening hours. During peak hours, UberEats restricts menus and locations so that they can be offered later.
Tips for Food Delivery App Development
A basic app cannot compete with the world’s largest ordering systems. It is advisable to add complex and modern aspects to your program. Below are some examples of cutting-edge solutions used by meal delivery apps:
- Ordering Using Social Media Accounts: Over 13,000 restaurants may now accept orders using the “Order Food” button on their Instagram profile or stickers in their stories.
- Smartwatch with Tracker: This function allows users to order pizza from their wrists and displays information about the order’s status on the smartwatch.
- Virtual Assistant: Why not use technology like Alexa and Siri as digital companions, assisting us with a variety of easy tasks?
Conclusion
With the COVID-19 pandemic, food delivery via mobile has emerged as one of the fastest-growing sectors over the past decade. With the COVID-19 pandemic, it has quickly become an essential service. The industry offers several investment opportunities and is highly competitive. However, success is highly likely with a good business plan and a flexible approach to product development.
