The world has become fast and so fast that people do love to see how the food is cooked but don’t love to cook neither want to put extra effort of going to the restaurant and spending time to eat. (just talk to yourself, when you are at work what do you prefer? Ordering online or visiting the restaurant? Hmm, yes; the answer is Ordering online.)
The world is now called a family just because of the internet which has brought a wide change in every business industry, then be it Agriculture, Commercial, Industrial, Healthcare, Medical, Education, or Restaurant/Food industry. Each industry is taking the help of technology to make their presence on the internet to grow as much as possible.
As per the stats; Food delivery services surged to 300% in 2021, yes the effect is due to pandemic but before the covid crisis, 44% of the US consumers were already using food delivery app services, and it’s still growing.
Are you a Restaurant owner, Food Supply chain owner, or in a business related to the food industry (selling Dry Fruits, Vegetables, Meat, Cooked food, Fast Food, etc.)? Are you facing a constant fall in revenue and your popularity? Do you find the emerging Food Delivery Apps a reason behind the drastic fall in revenue or the success reason of your rival? Do you also want to build a food delivery app like UberEats or GrubHub etc as a food delivery solution? Or you are new and want to know ins and outs about the app how it works and how you can earn having your application?
No matter what your current problem is, in this post, we will talk about the complete solution for you that will help you grow again as a food seller. You will learn how the app works? The complete process of creating food delivery apps like UberEATS, Foodpanda and DoorDash. We will also discuss the features and functions your application should have. The design you should consider, the navigation process, and all other important parameters that makes the food delivery app a successful brand.
Food Delivery App Development – Growth, Stats and Market Size
As Property, gold, silver, and bitcoin are considered precious assets, in the same way, Local Food Delivery Apps are also considered one of the best digital assets that help you gain popularity and succeed in the market. Below are some stats collected by the trusted sources that can help you understand why you should invest in making a food delivery mobile application and what could be the ROI and future scope of investment in food delivery app development.
- Online food delivery is increased by 300% after the covid-19 hit the world. The stats were recorded in 2021. (source)
- The Global online food delivery market is expected to grow from $111.32 billion in 2020 to $154.34 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 11.51%. (Source)
- 56% of traffic is generated to US food brand websites with a google search. (Gartner)
- 70% of the consumer prefer ordering online for delivery and in near future, it is expected to add more than 15% (Deloitte)
- As per the US food delivery applications, at least $220 is spent annually per consumer whereas 34% of the global consumers spend at least $50 per order while ordering online.
- 93% of the consumers say that they plan to continue shopping for groceries online even after the pandemic. (Oracle)
- 68% of shoppers use a mobile application while shopping (Inmar Intelligence)
- 87% of people order foods using 3rd party food delivery apps and belives it makes their life better and saves time and energy. They found it extremely beneficial (Mintel)
- Restaurants will lose 70% of the customer base by 2021 if they do not offer online food delivery services. (Source)
Bottom-line: Regardless of the multiple online food delivery services provider and good and bad feedback, On-Demand Food Delivery App Development Solution will be the only solution to succeed in the food industry in the coming days.
Top Online Food Delivery Business Ideas in 2021 for Startups–
- Grocery Delivery startup
- Corporate Food Delivery
- Pet Food Delivery
- Homemade Food Delivery
- Fruit Delivery Business Ideas
- Meal Kit Courier Business Ideas
- Business ideas for packed Lunch Delivery services
- Online Catering Booking Services
- Custom Meal Preparation App
- Online Frozen Food Ordering Services
- Nutrient-Rich and Eco-Friendly Food Delivery
- Milk and Daily essentials delivery services
- AR-based apps to find right Restaurants
- Online Restaurant Table Booking Services
- Recipe Restaurant Table Booking Services
- Online Bakery Items Delivery
- Food waste management app
A Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Develop a Successful Food Delivery App for Restaurants, Hotels, and third-party Food delivery services providers.
As per Sir Harold Harley: The best insurance policy for the future of an industry is research, which will help it to foresee future lines of development, to solve its immediate problems, and to improve and cheapen its products.
Whether you are a restaurant owner or a third-party food delivery service provider, successful business owners always do deep research to gather information about the market and other applications & customers and their tastes. They Analyze the rivals and their business model, features, and functionalities. Planning is the 3rd step to develop a new mobile application that can lead the industry.
Below are the 8 steps that every successful food delivery services provider followed. We will make it simple for you to understand and develop an app that can make you one of the successful online food delivery services providers.
Before we begin to inform the magical 8 steps to make a successful application, you need to remember 4 key components for every food delivery app.
1) Customer App: The customer app is designed and developed for the end-user to order food from the available list of restaurants. It also allows to place orders, track, replace, return and cancel the order for better customer service.
2) Admin Panel: The key element of the application that enables you to monitor all activities like managing users, deliveries and delivery providers, restaurants, set commission prices, generate reports, etc.
3) Restaurant App: A feature-rich restaurant app is another element that every food delivery app should have. It makes it easy for managers to monitor all the orders and forward them in real-time to fulfill orders on time.
4) Delivery Provider App: The last element but the pillar element for every food delivery app is an app for delivery providers. This app helps streamline the delivery process and plays a vital role in the success of a business by adding vetted features.
These are the essential elements that you must have in your app. Now we will talk about the 8 magical steps that have played a vital role in the success of apps like UberEats, FoodPanda, Zomato, and more.
Step 1: Quick and Effective Market Research and Analysis
“Once you create a loyal customer base, it’s tough for a competitor to take that away.”
Successful business owners always believe in investing their time in effective research and analysis. It is recorded that effective research and marketing reduces the tool error by 75% and boosts their Net Promoter Score NPS by 1%.
You might have a general idea about your business, customers, and market but to win, you have to dig deep. Success lies in having loyal customers, and that is possible only with effective market research.
There are thousands of businesses in the market: what do you have unique to attract the user and stand different from your rivals? Without research and analysis, you will provide the same and will just be able to survive and not win.
Use the market research technique to gather information, understand a company’s target market, users, design better products, enhance user experience, and improves the conversion ratio. You might be thinking about how to do that?
- It’s easy; you can Google the topic. Do online research, invest in every aspect of the industry you are planning to jump into. Check public records, customer taste, behavior, problems, needs, feedbacks on your competitor’s website, application, and online platform.
- Once you are done, you should note down the below-mentioned points.
- Decide the marketplace to launch your project successfully
- Collect every information about the market, its size, drivers and their duties, mobile users, etc.
- Calculate the spending per client by analyzing the market value
- Analyze your competitor’s applications and customer feedbacks and accordingly finalize the features your application should have.
- Perform testing of your ideas and demographics with your target audience to get a better understanding of the customer’s interest in your business model
- Identify if you should go with the niche or built a multi-purpose application.
- After you are done with all the above activities, frame it well, shortlist the important factors and prepare a development approach to create the customer-centric food delivery application.
Step 2: Analyze competitors and decide your unique business model
Don’t rush to create an application quickly nor copy the brands like FoodPanda, UberEats, and others. Not every business is perfect, if this is true, then there would have no other competitor.
Every business has its pros and cons. Take pros from the competitors, understand their cons, and find the best solution to it.
Note it down in a book or on the computer to give extra weight to your thoughts and vision. It is very important to add the best features your competitors have and add the solution that they don’t have to succeed.
Write it down how you can generate revenue? Will it be through advertisement, subscription plans, merchandising eCommerce products, or any other option.
Decide what unique selling method you will offer to your customers? What unique features your application will have that your competitors won’t?
Step 3: Approach, Shortlist and Consult an on-demand app development company for food delivery
You have points noted down, framework with a meaningful roadmap for your application is ready.Your very next step should be to hunt for a trusted and experienced app development company.
Successful companies don’t go for freelancers or inexperienced developers. They always prefer to hire a mobile app development company that deals with developing a custom food ordering app and has sound experienced in developing ROI assured applications with responsibility.
There are several options you can go with:
- Freelancers
- Individual contractors
- On-demand food delivery services provider
As per the survey, FoodPanda, Zomato, UberEats, and many other food delivery app owners prefer an organization that deals in custom mobile app development services over the other 2 options as they will get an end-to-end solution with the assurance of quality and on-time delivery.
Important for you: Cross-check about the company, its location, feedback on the recognized platform. After the online verification, the next step you should do is talk to the company and ask them:
- What working method do they follow?
- Since when the company is providing software development solutions?
- If they have experience in developing any food delivery applications?
- Do they follow NDA?
- If they have certified Android and iOS app developers?
- Their reporting system?
- Last but not least, how much will it cost to develop an incredible online food delivery application?
Talk to at least 4 or 5 companies and then finalize the one that fits best in your budget. But remember, cheap is not always best, and best is not always cheap. Thus if you want to get the best application, you should go for the quality.
(Check out some of the applications from the leading the market that i-verve has built )
- GEODATE: Location Based Application
- For more applications check portfolio.
Step 4: Hire the Company, Sign NDA and Start the Development Process
Here, you will finalize one company for your app development by signing a Non-disclosure Agreement. You will be assigned a team of experts who will help you in giving shape to your dreams. You need to be active in terms of the activity developers will do and make sure things are going right to get your application delivered on time.
The software development company will help you with end-to-end design and development solutions that include:
- Front-end development (UI/UX)
- Back-end development (Features and Functionalities)
- Integration (Payment gateway, Google Map)
- Extension development (To enhance the app’s performance)
- Testing and QA (For bug-free deployment)
- Maintenance and support (To prevent any future problem like cyber-attack, app crash issue due to heavy traffic, and more)
Be careful about the design part, as the more the intuitive design will be, the more the customers will stay on your application. Make sure you stick to the budget with the plan you have to get the application on time within the price agreed on.
Step 5: Select An Attractive and Intuitive Design For the App
Always remember, “People ignore designs that ignore people.”- Frank Chimero.
If you check the design of the leading food delivering services provider’s applications, you will find they have made the design keeping the customers in center. And that is what makes it loved by the customers.
Your application will be used by the customers and not only you, you need to understand which design layout you should have for your application to attract maximum users and help you make loyal customers.
Choose the design layout that is simple to use, easy to understand and navigate, and attractive enough to attract and wow customers.
Continue Reading – how to develop an online food delivery application
i-Verve Inc 