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Manoj
Manoj

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How To Make a Food Delivery App - Complete Guide For Entrepreneurs

The world is going mobile, and with it, there is an ever increase in utility applications. One such field that has seen a major change is the food delivery app. Many food delivery apps such as Zomato, Food Panda, Swiggy, and many more have catered as per the convenience of the customers. Now customers don’t have to seek only those few restaurants which do a food delivery. So making a food delivery app is the simplest answer to people's food cravings.

Food delivery is not a new phenomenon, initially what people used to do was to call the restaurants and get the goods delivered. This was limited only to a few restaurants though. According to data, the food orders placed via phone amounted to $ 11 million in the US alone. And then after high-speed internet, smart phones and cutting edge technology food delivery apps were created. And in 2015, the numbers drastically changed. The Orders made in delivery apps took over the number of orders made on the phone. According to the latest survey, made by Statista, it is reported that the food delivery revenue is going to increase by $ 130 million by 2020. Which will show not steady but almost an exponential increase over the next few years. The numbers are expected to increase to $182 million by 2024.

Market trends

Let's back up my say with recent statistics which will give you a sure shot idea of the boom that the food delivery business is witnessing and COVID 19 has provided with enough fuel to fire it.

• In 2019, the revenue from the food delivery industry was $94.385 billion, which is expected to grow to $ 134.49 billion by 2023, good 9.3%growth annually.

• According to a recent report, the mobile food delivery app market will record a high of 27.9%growth and will reach a $16.6 billion market by 2023. The online food delivery industry is expected to reach a $365 billion market by 2030

• Due to the COVID pandemic, there is a 169% increase in the restaurants actively using online ordering and delivery. There was a huge 840% increase in sales volume by the online ordering of the restaurants.

In addition to the above, look at the consumer's behavior which predicts a sharp ride in their preferences towards the food delivery apps and their willingness to spend on the food delivery service. The rising figures are just clear proof of the potent scope of the food delivery app

• 60% of U.S. consumers order delivery or takeout once a week.

• 31% say they use these third-party delivery services at least twice a week.

• 34% of consumers spend at least $50 per order when ordering food online.

• 20% of consumers say they spend more on off-premise orders compared to regular dine-in experience.

• Digital ordering and delivery have grown 300% faster than dine-in traffic since 2014.

• 70% of consumers say they’d rather order directly from a restaurant, preferring that their money goes straight to the restaurant and not a third party.

• 57% of millennials say that they have restaurant food delivered so they can watch movies and TV shows at home.

• 59% of restaurant orders from millennials are takeout or delivery.

• 33% of consumers say they would be willing to pay a higher fee for faster delivery service.

• 87% of Americans who use third-party food delivery services agree that it makes their lives easier.

• 45% of consumers say that offering mobile ordering or loyalty programs would encourage them to use online ordering services more often.

• 63% of consumers agree that it is more convenient to get delivery

It's clear from figures and statistics that the online food delivery industry has great earning and growth opportunities for restaurant owners, delivery boys, and the owner of the food delivery app of course. So take a plunge into the sea of opportunities and grow by leaps and bounds.

Players around the world

As you read the article, a restaurant owner is making a food delivery app. And hence the market is full of big players all over the world. As you go towards North and South America, the market is divided into Just Eat, Uber Eats, and Delivery Hero. Moving towards the European market you will find players like Glovo, Deliveroo, Take away. African countries have likes of Just Eat, Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and many others. Moving ahead comes the Asian market which is divided by players like Zomato, Swiggy, and food panda. Seeing this every entrepreneur will want to make a food delivery app.

Build a Food delivery app

Only Making a food delivery app is not enough. You should know that you need a complete grip on the whole ecosystem. So you should have all the solutions tied together.

To make a food delivery app, the following things need to be noted:

• Customer App: The customer side of the App. Where all the nearby eatery joints will be displayed for the customer and the customer will place the order in the nearby eatery joints.

• Restaurant App: The restaurant side of the app. The restaurant owner will be able to see all the orders and will be able to process the orders sequentially.

• Courier App: Your courier partner or your couriers will get notified about the order. They will also be able to see the location to deliver. And also the time when the order will be ready.

• Admin Panel: The App owner or the product owner who can manage the whole platform. For instance, they can add or ban restaurants and users as well.

Not yet clear how the newly built food delivery app will work. Let us dig deep and find the answer.

Customer App

This side of the app is the most important of all the 4 parts. Because this is the part visible to the customers and all the orders will be placed from this site. So a very attractive UI and pleasant customer experience are necessary as you make a food delivery app.

The features added to the app should be convenient as well. Like the search box can be given using predefined keyword options like nearby restaurants or dish names. Ease of placing the order and further ahead ease of making a payment is a must.

With these basic features let us talk about the more important features. That is a must for the app.

Login Facility

Giving your customers an easy way to log in without making them confirm the mail address is a big relief. Provide as many login facilities to the users.

For a back up give the users an option of password change and password recovery. Because users tend to forget their passwords a lot. The best way to avoid such a thing is by providing other login methods like Facebook, Google, and apple.

Restaurant Search

Giving your users the opportunity to search the nearby restaurants and the eatery options and giving them geolocation is a very wise decision. Adding more filters like location or the genre of the food gives you an additional advantage. Also providing detailed information about the eatery is positive for the users and your app as well.

Location Tracking

Giving this liberty to your users to track their orders is a big positive. Glovo, an app working successfully in Europe, has implemented this feature.

Placing order and Payment option

When everything is done and the user is all set to check out of the app. Then suddenly they remember to add more things to the cart. This privilege should also be given. Make the check out option as easy as possible.

Various payment options should be added. You don’t know which payment method your user will use to make the payment. As the payment choices such as Paypal, Braintree, etc charge fees. So giving an option of cash on delivery should also be given.

Reviews

Feedback is essential for any business to flourish. Taking reviews will give you an opportunity to always keep on moving towards improvement.

A tip option can also be added. Adding a tip will encourage the courier to deliver more accurately and precisely.

Restaurant App

This side of the app is all about accepting the orders, managing them. This will look like a website to the restaurant owner. Just like a normal Dashboard, this will be an order book in the kitchen. Where they can see when the order is placed. What is the sequence and also let the courier know when the order is ready.

The main features of the restaurant app are different from the customer app as you make a food delivery app

Login

The login facility will let the employees make a login and see the orders come in continuously with time.

Managing Menu

This will take care of the menu of the eatery. The restaurant will make the adjustments in their menus and keep them updated as the customers make an order. Otherwise, it will put a bad impact on the service and the restaurant.

Managing Order

Managing orders is a bit tedious. The restaurant needs to know all their incoming orders and should work on them in a proper way sequentially. BY having this feature this will give them more clarity to operate and perform better.

Reviews

The reviews given in the customer section will reflect here. And the restaurant should be able to see all the reviews and ratings and should be able to revert the user as well. Giving better service and customer satisfaction.

Courier App

This part of the app should be simple and the order list and other features should be available on the go.

Login

As on the customer side of the app, Making the login should be fast and simple. Different login methods like Facebook, Google, and Apple apps can be used to make the login.

Navigation

This is the only thing that will make deliveries easier and much faster. As the courier will have a clear delivery route, they will be able to deliver the order on time. Using google maps can be a good option.

Order Status

As you make a food delivery app, it is necessary to give all order information like precise location and delivery time. Also always keep the courier updated about the order status whether to let the courier accept or reject the order.

Admin Panel

This is the main command center of the app. This is the place where all the information and the business strategy is built and maintained.

Login

The login of the admin panel will be different from all others. A new login screen is created so the concerned person can operate the app easily.

Removing/Adding restaurants

This feature will give you the advantage to delete the non-performing restaurants or those restaurants which don’t want to involve themselves with you anymore. Moreover, you can add new restaurants to the platform.

Business Analytics

This feature will give you an idea about the most popular restaurants and can easily sort them by the profits they make. This feature will give you an advantage of the business and how the business can be developed in less profit making restaurants.

Payment Management

With this feature, the managers can at any time change the delivery charges. And can add any amount that they want to. For instance, you want to reconsider the fee for any eatery that brings you a lot of business which will encourage them to use only your platform.

Discounts

Giving discounts is the main feature with which you can attract the users. Making a food delivery app is not enough but giving various lucrative discounts and offers is also a must.

How to earn after you make a food delivery app

• Restaurant Fee: The most common way of making money is through restaurant fees. The policy is very simple. The restaurant pays a fixed price to be featured on your app. So they get orders. Sometimes it is the commission. But most commonly it is the fixed price module. Restaurants can spend more if they want to be in the recommended list

• User Fee: This is the fee that a user pays to get the food delivered at the doorsteps. Although the user is unaware of the fee. But still, every food delivery app charges this fee from the users.

• Advertising: Let the advertisers run to you and you can publish the ads accordingly. The whole process depends only on you. You can charge higher on the pages that generate more traffic and so on.

Cost and time to make a food delivery app

The cost of developing a food delivery app can come somewhere near $30,000 to $40,000

The budget can further shoot up to $50,000 if there is app development for the restaurant

Different factors which sum up to decide your cost of developing a food delivery app like uber eats:

• Firstly, the density of the features in your food delivery app will decide the cost. There is a directly proportional relationship between the features and the cost. More the features, the higher the cost.

• Secondly, the hired experts of on-demand food delivery app development will also determine the cost. The availability of the experts and the size or number of experts in the team will totally constitute the cost.

• Thirdly, the platform you chose to build the food ordering software will also play a determining factor in the cost. Generally, today the food delivery app is built so as to be compatible both in android and IOS.

Additionally, let me give you insights based upon the location of developing the food delivery app. However, these are the approximate figures

• India: $10 to $ 80 per hour

• Europe: $30 to $150 per hour

• Us: $50 to $250 per hour.

Some Basic calculations of app development

• UI/UX design (60 Hours — $1500 to $3000)

• Front-end and Back-end development (400 Hours — $7,000 to $ 15,000)

• Technical documentation (40 hours — $1000 to $1500)

• MVP testing (80 Hours — $2000 to $4000)

• Polishing and bug fixing (40 hours — $1000 to $2000)

So, the cost range will constitute the charges charged by the food delivery app development company for mobile app design, both for android and ios version of the app, app testing, and launching of your food delivery app.

Conclusion

So all the points have been discussed in detail. How You can utilize the Customer app, Restaurant app, Courier App, Admin Panel. How you can earn through the app and what business prospects you get. Cost and time have also been discussed to make a food delivery app

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