Food delivery apps have become very popular in recent years. Notably, the leading ones receive millions of dollars in investment and acquire tens of thousands of customers every day. Statista says that food delivery apps will grow and reach a whopping $2013,142 Million by 2024.
However, it’s not as convenient as it seems to develop one of these apps and succeed. It is why I have created this ultimate guide to developing food delivery apps.
It contains everything you need to know about developing and marketing your food delivery app. Right from business model analysis to monetization strategies let us explore each aspect of the food delivery app development.
Also Read: Time-to-market & Cost of Food Delivery Apps like GrubHub
Table of Contents
What are the Standard Business Models of the Food Delivery App Development?
Well, the standard food delivery business model includes the following:
1. Platform To Consumer (P2C) Model or Aggregator Model
P2C stands for peer-to-customer, and it’s one of many ways food delivery apps operate. It typically involves an on-demand marketplace that enables customers to place orders via a third party. It forms an important part of food delivery app development.
After placing their order through a web or mobile platform, customers can opt to have their meal brought directly to them. Or they can pick up their food in person at either a restaurant or a designated location.
Famous examples of the P2C model include GrubHub, Eat24, and Amazon Restaurants. While these are all technically different, they work similarly. Customers place an order online or through an app, then a delivery driver picks up their food and delivers it to them.
You want to build your brand around multiple channels (online, social media, etc.). Such a model comes with challenges and offers significant benefits when used as part of an omnichannel strategy. At first glance, there are two crucial benefits: convenience and cost savings.
When consumers order ahead on their smartphones, they don’t have to wait in line or even go into a store at all. And since Ecommerce food services have lower overheads than restaurants, they can often offer lower prices. It is always good news for consumers!
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2. Restaurant To Consumer Model (R2C)
The R2C model (or restaurant to consumer) is a business model in which a food provider, usually an existing full-service restaurant or a food truck, sells food directly to consumers. It involves mainly the leading food owner or the restaurant, customers, and delivery agents. For example, a food truck business plan can detail how to effectively implement the R2C model to reach consumers directly and streamline operations.
Famous examples of R2C food delivery models include Pizza Hut, Dominos, etc. It’s a viable alternative for restaurants to pursue when they have limited resources to expand operations.
In some instances, it also enables restaurateurs to compete with more prominent players in their market. It is because it does not require significant upfront investments for developing infrastructure and operations.
In addition, it allows them to compete with other well-established players by focusing on smaller geographic areas or individual consumers.
Once you are clear with what business model you want to go for your food delivery app! You need to focus on the functional features of the app. A food delivery app has three prominent users as follows:
- Customers,
- Delivery agents, &
- Administrator.
Let us explore what sets of features are a must for each of them:
Features of a Food Delivery App
Features for the Customer
Easy SignUp: Make it possible for users to sign up in under a minute. Users don’t want to enter complicated details, so keep the signup page short and crisp.
Search with Filters: The app must offer multiple search filters to narrow restaurants by Cuisine, rating, price, or location.
Automated Real-Time Location Detection: When users open their phone and click to order food, they expect their food to be at their door in minutes. Real-time location detection saves time and enhances the experience of the users. Thus, automating real-time location detection makes for smoother transitions, happier customers, and better business.
Access to Background Information on Restaurants: Restaurants should provide accurate information such as what they specialize in, whether or not they deliver, their addresses and phone numbers, contact details, menus, & photos. All these features should be searchable from within a food delivery app. This way, consumers can check out different restaurants to choose one that fits their taste and budget.
Smooth Order Placement: User’s decisions on what to eat shouldn’t feel like a chore. For ensuring a seamless experience, the interface must include as few steps as possible between ordering and paying. Ensure smooth navigation especially for repeat users. For example, allow registered users to add multiple delivery addresses over the app.
Ease of Secured Payment: All food delivery apps make it convenient to pay. The standard modes of payment include using a credit card, e-wallets, cash, online banking, etc.
Ability to rate and comment: Customers also rate and comment on their experience with a restaurant. It allows other users to make more informed decisions about where they’d like to order.
Features for the Delivery Men
User Profile Creation: Drivers/delivery agents working for the food delivery platform must easily create their profiles on the app. It means entering personal details such as name, date of birth, and driver’s license number. It’s also essential to receive messages from customers or restaurants quickly and access a customer service department if they run into problems.
Alerts & Notifications: The drivers must know when the orders are assigned & when customers expect to pick up their orders. You can achieve it through alerts and notifications. It can also help while scheduling ahead.
Scheduled Multiple Deliveries: Drivers must be allowed to schedule two or three delivery services in advance using such a system. And then they would only have to focus on picking up food from various places as soon as a customer places an order. It also helps delivery agents in enhancing their revenues.
Google Maps integration: It helps the driver analyze and choose the most convenient route to ensure quick and smooth food delivery. It’s easy to track orders and search reviews for drivers at all times through Google Maps.
Call/Chat Options: The drivers can easily connect with the users via this option to ensure smooth communication in the delivery process. They will explain any specific queries/ issues by chatting on their phones. These features will surely make customers happy, which every business wants.
Features for the Admin Dashboard
Manage Order Requests: Under this section, the restaurant owner accepts, rejects, and manages the received order from the users. On getting an order, a notification gets sent to the driver who delivers food at a specific location on time.
On rejecting an order, a refund gets provided back to the customer’s app. Or bank account if it is already in-app wallet and there is no cash-out policy in place. It saves time for restaurants that can manage all these activities through their dashboard. All of it can be done with simple clicks as they don’t have to talk directly with users every time.
Real-time Update of the Available Delicacies: Restaurant owners or managers can update the menus via this feature of the food delivery app. It allows them to list down what items got sold out and which ones they can prepare right away.
When customers browse through their choices, the app will push these notifications immediately through push notifications and email alerts. This way, they’ll already know if they want to place an order at a particular restaurant/fast-food chain when going online.
Payment and Commission Administration: This app feature allows the administrator to pay and manage commission to the drivers appropriately. The application can calculate distance traveled, total time spent, fuel cost, and more. Thus, you can calculate the commission amount correctly. The payments can be sent at any hour of the day, either automatically or manually, based on your choice.
Generating Offers & Coupons Code: The restaurant owners or the app administrator often generates offers & coupon codes for business development. This feature facilitates the administrators to create coupons conveniently.
Additional Features You Can Go For
Apple Watch & Android Wear Integration: Creating this feature enhances the app’s user experience by making it available on various devices. Users can also track or cancel an order directly from the wrist while meeting or out with friends.
It is also beneficial for delivery drivers, as they don’t have to take out their phones every time for viewing order updates. Integration with these apps also allows customers to receive notifications about when their driver arrives.
Geotargeting: Restaurants can also turn on a setting that highlights their menu items in areas where they can instantly deliver. It means customers who live in specific neighborhoods will have higher chances of getting orders. Combined with automated offers and coupons, you can ensure more significant engagements and orders from the users.
Contactless Deliveries Combating The Pandemic: As the title suggests, it’s already popular among food delivery apps. You need to highlight your care for humanity and take additional steps to ensure the registered restaurants & delivery agents follow the scientific approach while delivering products.
That was all about the top features of food delivery apps like Grubhub, Uber Eats, or Doordash. Talking about the lords of the food industry, do you know:
What are the top food delivery-based firms in the United States are?
The infographic below offers insights:
Source: Statista- Market Share of Food Delivery Companies
We have covered the business model and the standard features of food delivery apps. The next big question is how to create one?
Well, the quick answer is to connect with a reputed food delivery app development company when you are ready with your research and needs.
Also Read: How to Create an app like UberEats
However, if you are not sure yet, you can perform the following steps.
Step-1: Research & Analysis
Before we get started with development, it’s a good idea to research where your competitors are falling short. Let’s examine Caviar and Grubhub as our main competition for our food delivery app.
In particular, let’s look at their menus, user interface/experience (UI/UX), feedback provided by users, and customer service reviews. Find out:
- Does any user have anything positive/negative to say about these apps?
- Where could they improve?
- Is there something they do better than others?
Remember: Knowing is half of the battle! Once you realize what your competitors are doing well or not so well. You can apply that knowledge while developing your app.
Step-2: Choose an Appropriate Business Model
As discussed earlier, the two popular models of food deliveries include P2C & R2C. Thus, it’s best to have a market survey. It will help you analyze & understand which of these two business models is most suitable for your needs.
Conducting surveys requires spending some money on tools and resources like focus groups, questionnaires, etc. Remember that none of them are accurate. However, they’ll provide you with an approximate outcome that suits your business idea or requirements.
The table below offers insights into the fundamental differences & the market scenario of the two models:
Source: Statista- Online Food Delivery
Focus on finding multiple methods that provide similar results because only then can you be.
Also Read: How To Create A Food Delivery App? Food Delivery Business Model Explained
Step-3: Finalize the Major Features
You drafted up a business plan that outlined your vision & goals for the app in the previous steps. Now, it’s time to finalize some of those essential details. It will determine what your app looks like and how it operates.
As discussed earlier, the significant features lie in three essential categories. The infographic below presents a clear idea.
Step-4: Choose a Cross-Platform Technology Stack
To ensure a more extensive audience reach and a high number of orders via your food delivery app! You must choose a compatible technology with diverse operating systems.
For example, Our dedicated developer’s team chose PHP for developing the renowned restaurant booking app- Eatigo. Combined with MySQL, the app is lightweight and has become everyone’s favorite in no time. Eatigo has 1 Million plus downloads from the Android Playstore.
We at PixelCrayons, suggest using cross-platform technology to save on development costs and reach a massive audience.
Source: Statista- Global Cross-Platform Mobile Frameworks
To leverage a platform’s robust capabilities, you should choose a cross-platform technology like Cordova. You can use Ionic, based on AngularJS, Cordova, and WebSockets. It lets us build native apps for iOS and Android by writing code in JavaScript using web technologies.
Step-5: Hire a Dedicated Developer
Start by contacting a developer that has worked on several similar projects in your niche. You cannot make a great food delivery app with just a few clicks. Thus, make sure you choose a developer who will consider your specific niche and needs.
For instance, if you’re opening up a food delivery app for college students. Then working with a well-versed developer in that particular demographic would be helpful. Make sure they can read and speak your audience’s language fluently.
It will ensure your app doesn’t come off as generic or overtly catered toward a different crowd than intended. It will also provide trust in your target customer base.
Remember: The better your app functions, serves its purpose, and looks—the more people will use it!
The last thing you wish is for your app’s development process to be held up by technical problems. Your food delivery app deserves better! Do your research and make sure that you hire app developer whose work is committed to quality & fulfils your needs.
Final Words
On-Demand Apps for The End-User While millions of people worldwide use them, many are still unaware that these services exist. Yet, as more startups launch their platforms and expand, we’ll likely see more awareness spread in the coming years.
As more restaurant chains adopt delivery apps & customers enjoy a more comprehensive selection of food choices, overall revenue grows. In other words, there’s real money in on-demand delivery – especially if you have a startup idea of your own.
Whatever category of app you want to create and whichever industry it involves! Now is a great time to jump into development and get started. The demand is already here. You can get in touch with an app development company for any service related to app creation.
All you need is an innovative idea to make the most of your project.
Also Read: On-Demand Online Food Ordering App Development ideas, Cost and Features
Get in Touch With PixelCrayons Today.
FAQs
Question: Is it advisable to offer tipping services on the app?
Answer: It largely depends on the audience you cater to and how they perceive tipping. If the demographic is generous with tipping, you can add the feature.
However, the intelligent way is to customize the app. This way the users who don’t want to proceed with tips can turn it off.
Question: Have you ever dealt with delivery or cuisine-based Apps?
Answer: Yes, we at PixelCrayons have dealt in diverse business categories. However, sticking to delivery or cuisine-based apps, we have developed Eatigo. It’s a restaurant booking app popular in Asia with more than a million downloads on the Google Play Store.
Here’s the link to the case study: Eatigo App Development
Question: What are the pros & cons of Food Delivery App Development Services?
Answer: Food delivery app development offers you the following benefits:
- Provides greater convenience to the users
- Enhances business visibility
- Provides access to a more significant market
- Streamlines the food delivery process
- Establishes a phenomenal digital presence
- Helps in establishing a brand and its associated values
Food delivery app development does not have any significant cons, but a few include the following:
- Unexpected time delays sometimes lead to poor customer experience.
- Ensuring optimum food quality under the delivery service is sometimes challenging. It is especially valid for food items meant for immediate serving once cooked—for example, choco lava cake, sizzlers, etc.
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