Ordering food online is not something new and revolutionary, but in recent years, this industry has begun to develop rapidly. By 2020, this business niche was already estimated at $32 billion, so mobile food delivery apps and the features of their development are increasingly becoming a topic of discussion among entrepreneurs.
If you also plan to create such a product but don't know where to start, our brief guide will help you understand the main aspects.
Why Are Mobile Food Delivery Apps Effective?
A mobile food delivery app can contribute to the serious development of a company that owns a network of restaurants or other catering establishments. This is due to several reasons:
Mobile Food Delivery App: Development Features
Attracting new customers. Considering that the share of mobile Internet users has long surpassed the desktop platform, the app allows companies to reach a larger audience and successfully attract new customers.
Increasing loyalty. The faster and more convenient methods of food ordering a restaurant or café offers, the greater loyalty customers show to its brand.
Faster business return on investment. By implementing new technologies, a company gains more customers and a simpler order processing system, which ultimately contributes to increased profits and improves the ROI of the business.
How the Food Delivery App Works
A food ordering app can be implemented in 3 formats, each with its own features and benefits:
Restaurant aggregators. Here, companies are only responsible for processing and managing orders from restaurants listed in their catalog. They charge restaurants a commission of 10-30% for each processed order. The main drawback of such services is that the barrier to entry into this niche is relatively low, making competition more tough. However, the advantage of this business model is that there is no need to worry about making and delivering food.
Ordering and delivery services. The monetization strategy of such apps is to charge restaurants 25-30% of orders processed for them. There is also a delivery fee, which can be either fixed or based on the distance from the restaurant to the customer. The disadvantage of this model is that companies need to hire and train couriers, which complicates business management and may hinder its scalability.
Branded service. In this case, the company focuses solely on its own brand and creates an app that fully matches its style. This approach increases awareness of the establishment and engages customers, positively affecting the average check and the overall number of orders.
Main Features of Food Ordering Apps
When creating such a service, it is important to consider the needs not only of customers but also of the delivery service. Here are the features that should be included in each version of the app:
A separate version with a different set of functions is also needed to manage the service. The administrator should have access to customer and courier profiles and the ability to change the app's content, process orders, and track payments.
Main Stages of Food Delivery App Development
The development of a mobile food delivery app is a rather laborious process that includes 5 main steps.
1. Market research
To surpass competitors, you need to be aware of all the most relevant trends in the food delivery industry. Ideally, the app should have features for ordering dishes through social networks, a virtual assistant, or smartwatches, as this significantly simplifies the lives of customers.
2. Choosing a business model
After analyzing the niche for interesting trends, you need to decide on the business model. Evaluate the key features of restaurant aggregators, ordering/delivery services, and branded apps, and then choose the format that you can develop the fastest.
3. Studying the target market
To create a cool food delivery app, you need to know your customers and target audience as well as possible. This is the only way you can identify the main "pain points" of users and develop your service in such a way that it helps them solve these problems and meet their needs.
4. Product functionality
The set of functions of the app depends on the preferred business model. If we are talking about a standard aggregator of establishments, it is essential to develop a quality interface for customers and administrators. If the "equation" also includes a courier, you need to deal with the functionality of their version of the service.
5. Choosing implementation technologies
To make the application fully functional, you need to choose optimal technologies that would allow you to implement several basic points. These include APIs for cataloging restaurants, payment gateways, geolocation capabilities, push notifications, etc.
How much will it cost to develop such an application?
The cost of such a mobile app development is determined by many factors, including the number of platforms, integrations, and much more. To get a complete idea of the project costs, customers need to determine the necessary set of service functions. Then, designers think over their UX/UI design and create visual prototypes. Only then can our team understand how much time it will take to implement all the decisions and predict the cost of the product.
Conclusion
Considering the growing popularity of online food orders worldwide, mobile food delivery apps are a promising niche for investment. You need to follow technological trends to stand out from competitors in this industry. Moreover, companies do not need to invest a lot of money in the development of the service. At the initial stages, a minimum viable product (MVP) can be enough here to track the target audience's reaction, and then a full set of functions can be added to the app.