in NYC 
When the hunger pangs hard – you order a pizza.
Or a burger. Hotdog maybe?
Whatever be it, an app like UberEats, GrubHub, in USA and Zomato or Swiggy in India can be your savior.
But they are not the only ones – a lot of startups are coming up to experiment the market and take advantage of the ‘need’.
If you are also wondering how to make a food delivery app, this guide is curated for you. It will take you through the steps, idea validation and everything else that you need to make your food ordering app – that is unique, has a market need and obviously rakes high in revenue.
So How to Make A Food Delivery App?
Let’s break down what we’re about to discuss in simple steps:
- Validate your Food delivery app idea
- Fix a food delivery model
- Requirements of Aggregator model
- Finalize the major features
- The tech stack to a robust app base
- UI UX Design And Tech Factors to consider
- Choose the right development partner
- Determine the cost of food delivery app development
Your on-demand food app development guide starts now!
1. Why Create A Food Delivery App? Is Your Idea Worth it?
Before we launch into the nitty-gritty details of how to create a food delivery app like Swiggy or UberEats, let’s asses the market and why on demand food apps are getting so popular.
The Rising Market Value
The worldwide market for food delivery is around $108 billion, which is 1% of the food market and 4% of the food sold through restaurants and its markets. The market experts also expect the market to reach a staggering amount of $300 billion by 2030.
Along with the improvements in smartphone technology and an increase in the number of apps on the market, apps for food on demand are going to see around 16% more growth in the next five years. Check these reasons for popularity out before you create a delivery app for food.
They are Time Saver for Your Customers
So do you know how much time does it take to make a delicious pizza?
Not a lot, but, why are you going to try when you can just order it? They save the time you’d have spent to prep and cook. In that time, you can do something better, like read a book, or watch a movie, or maybe take a nap?
Food Delivery App is a Quick And Easy Way to Order Food
Say you have guests coming over, and you decided that you want to cook a lovely dinner for them, only to burn that chicken.
There is nothing to worry about though, you can quickly just order food from the app and save the day. Your guests won’t mind, cause, you did try to make that chicken, right?
From low-key date nights to dinner with in-laws, on demand food delivery apps are the quick and easy solution to every problem.
Good for Expanding Your Business
The restaurants and eateries, that deliver their food through these apps are greatly benefiting from these apps. You can have a wider reach among your customers because of these apps. And a wider reach means more customers, and more customers mean more business. And more business translates into more revenue!
You Get More ROI
As you expand your market base, the amount of return on investment increases. No wonder Swiggy, Ubereats, and Zomato have a lot of competitors growing up every day. Now that you are well aware of the market and popularity of food delivery app, let’s learn about how to make your own food delivery app and what are the types of food delivery apps you can make.
2. What Are The Types Of Food Delivery Apps You Can Go For?
Let’s see the two major types of on-demand food app models that exist in the market.
a. Third-Party App a.k.a The Aggregator Model
The aggregator model, or the third party food delivery apps have been in the market for more than a decade. They are the perfect mediators between you and your favorite restaurant.
This model enables customers to browse through a wide variety of restaurants and their menus. The user first creates an account, goes through the list of restaurants and their reviews by other customers and makes their choice.
After making their choice, they will place an order, and the order information is processed for delivery. the main function of this third-party app is to connect the two parties. Apps like Zomato uses this model.
Since the delivery part of the order is taken care of by the restaurant, this is perfect for the big restaurants. But when it comes to the newer and smaller restaurants, it is harder to be featured on these apps. And that is where the next type comes in.
b. Logistics/Delivery Service Type:
This is a fairly new kind of delivery service that only emerged around 2013. This is a similar platform like the aggregator model only with one added facility.
The order delivery is handled by the application itself.
Unlike the aggregator model, this is highly profitable to startups, since they don’t have to maintain a separate delivery system for the orders. And this cuts down the expenses significantly.
As for already established restaurants, it only adds to the profit, since they can now cut down on manpower spending and focus more on the main processing part.
While the former involves only two parties – the restaurant and the users, for the latter, you need to develop an additional platform for delivery services. Apps like UberEats use this model.
3. Food Ordering App Model and Its Requirements
Here we are going to talk about the Aggregator model in details.
When you make an on demand food delivery app development partnership for the Aggregator model, you’ll need to develop three different sides of the app.
- The customer app
- The admin app
- The delivery person app
Let’s talk about them in details.
The Customer App
The customer app is obviously the key to it all. This is the app that is going to be installed into the device of the customer. They are going to use this app to order from the restaurants listed.
Since this app is the key app, you have to make sure that this is made perfectly. If you want to know how smooth the UI of your food delivery application needs to be, then you can check out our Dribble or Behance portfolio.
The user experience needs to be smooth and without bugs. The app needs to have features that make the ordering experience better for the user. We will talk about the feature a little later.
Now let’s talk about the admin app.
The Admin App
The admin app is obviously going to be used by the authorized personnel of the food delivery service or of the restaurant. This is the app that is used to accept customer orders, dispatch the said orders, handle payments, track orders through the integration of real-time GPS tracking technology, and keep up with the logistics of it all.
Rather than creating it as a mobile app, you can make it a web-based software. Since this is going to be the brain of the entire operation, you need to pay significant attention to the development and maintenance of this app.
Any problems or crashes can mean loss of business, revenue and reputation for your service.
The Delivery Person App
This food on demand app is for the ones who are making the delivery. With this app, they can know if there are any new orders, they can also accept and reject the order. Along with that, they can find out what is the drop-off location of the order, and how to get there. In brief, this app is going to help them in every way to smoothly deliver the food to the user.
4. What Features Does Your Food Delivery App Need?
It is important to have amazing features in your app that helps in retaining customers if you want to make apps like Postmates. But what features do you need?
Whether you create an on demand food delivery app for restaurants, or a third party apps, having the relevant features are extremely important.
So as you research about how to make a food delivery app, make sure to plan out the features for your On demand app development. And before you implement those features, make sure to create your food delivery app MVP first. This way you will have a better grasp at the features your app needs.
Once you have figured out the features for your custom food delivery app, you can make sure that your app appears different and unique when compared to all the apps out there.
A. Registration
When you make a food delivery app, make sure it has a registration feature.
With this, the users can make a profile on the app. And with a proper profile, they can make the most of the app and everything it offers. Not only for customer apps, but you also need this feature for both the admin and the delivery person app. You can also get this feature in any restaurant delivery app builder.
B. Profile Management
With this feature, your users can optimize their profile with the right information, which is important for order placement and delivery.
For the admin app, profile management is even more important. The restaurants need to have a proper profile and be able to update it to make the best business for them.
And as for the delivery person app, they need to register and manage their profile with the right credentials. As employees of the food delivery platform, they need to provide you with the right details through their profiles.
C. Easy Search Option
Make sure to implement the feature of easy searching in your app. Because no one likes to spend hours searching for food when they are hungry.
Food delivery designs by Unified Infotech
With the easy search option, the users can search for the right restaurant on your app easily, making the order placement easy and quick, saving the time of the users and saving them from hunger as well.
D. Easy List For Easy Order
This is going to be a nifty little feature that can distinguish your app.
You can create a list of restaurants based on moods and weather and cuisine, basically all the different variables. So that the user can easily find a list of the restaurant fit for their cravings easily.
E. Preferences On The Homepage
Showing the customer preferred restaurants and cuisines on the homepage is a nice feature that will keep the users hooked to your app. This is not only going to make it easy for them to make their choice but save their time as well
F. How to Make a Food Delivery App With Order Tracking
Once that order is placed, it’s a matter of waiting. But of course, customers should not be kept waiting too long, especially when they are hungry.
Order tracking feature we designed
It is normal for any custom food app to have the feature of order tracking feature. With this, the customer will be able to see when their order is being dispatched and its progress towards them. They can also get an estimated time on when the order will be delivered.
After all, tracking the food while waiting is better than blindly waiting.
G. Easy Payment Gateway Integration
This can be done in two different ways. Apart from COD or cash on delivery, you can keep credit/debit card option as online payment mode. This is the easiest and faster way of receiving payment and safe too.
Many customers today prefer the online payment method, so make sure while you make a food delivery app, you have multiple online payment options. Achieve it with options like Braintree, Stripe, CCAvenue, etc. This is an important feature, so don’t skip over it.
H. Ratings And Reviews
You need to know before you make a food delivery app, that customer ratings and reviews are important and need to be displayed on the app.
With the ratings and reviews feature, customers can leave reviews on the restaurants listed on the website, the different food they have ordered and the delivery services. This feature not only helps the other users to choose the right place to get their food from, but also the restaurants and the food delivery platform itself, to know where they can improve more.
I. Offers, Coupons, Rewards and Loyalty Benefits
Who doesn’t like offers and coupons? Especially when it comes to food?
Make sure you have plenty of offers and coupons for the users. These special offers are going to retain your users and bring in more users. With special collaboration with the restaurants you can offer attractive offers to the users, who in turn will become loyal customers to the restaurants, and your app.
J. Push Notifications
Of course, you can not skip over this feature when you make a food delivery app. The push notification is absolutely important, because without this, how can the users know when there are any special offers going on, or that their food is almost there?
But you have to make sure not to bombard the users with annoying notifications all the time. Let them choose what notifications they want to see and when they want to see it. This will add another layer of user satisfaction on your app experience.
There are other features you need to consider for all your other models of apps like the admin app and the delivery person’s app. For example, you need a dashboard for the admin app, just like GrubHub dashboard.
5. The Tech Stack Of The On-Demand Food App You Wanna Make
We have now told you all about the features you need to make a food delivery app. Now we are going to tell you about the tech stack needed to build those features into your app.
Tech Stack | Details |
|---|---|
| 1. Payments | Braintree, Stripe, |
| 2. Registration | Autho, Facebook & Gmail SDK |
| 3. Locations | Google Places API |
| 4. Directions | Routific, Google Maps |
| 5. Storage | Google Cloud Storage, AWS |
| 6. Analytics | Google Analytics |
6. Design and Tech Factors To Consider Before You Make A Food Delivery App
Before we start talking about how to create a food ordering app, we are going to tell you about some important factors you need to consider.
These factors can make or break the success of your app. These are the tech stack used by the expert food delivery app development company in the market, so take notes.
A. Identifying The Right Niche
Everyone loves food. So everyone is going to use your food delivery app once it’s in the market. Right?
Now, you are not exactly wrong when you think this. Food delivery apps are liked by everyone, but there is still a slight point of preference you have to consider before you make a restaurant app.
To set up your niche, you need to determine your customers first. Who are you making the app for? Students or workers?
Do they prefer fast food, or better restaurant quality dishes?
Are they vegetarians or hard-core meat lovers?
Only after analyzing all the data you can make your app more distinguished than all the other apps out there.
B. Implementing The Correct UX
You can’t ignore the importance of right UX design when you make a food delivery app.
And your food delivery app is no exception either. A good UX design is a driving force behind your app’s success. You need to ensure that your app is easy to navigate by the user. They also need to be able to find the information they need easily.
So when you are thinking about how to create a food delivery app, you need to know that the interface needs to be both detailed and minimalist at the same time. Keep it clean and smooth with only important information on the screen. And don’t forget to keep the information in an organized manner.
C. Use Machine Learning To Display The Right Kind Of Restaurant
A student is not going to order from a Michelin star restaurant. And a top-notch banker is not going to order food from a local pizza place.
It is important that the customers can find the right place quickly on their homepage. And that is why you can use machine learning to display a list of restaurants on the homepage based on the user’s preferences.
D. Coming Up With Proper Logistics System
When thinking about how to develop a food delivery app, you need to come up with a proper logistics system.
Plan your logistics keeping these things in mind. Also, you have to consider the city routes and how long it takes when availing each. In time delivery is what should be in your mind while planning your logistics. It goes without saying that with the right logistics you can scale your business pretty fast when you make a food delivery app
7. How To Create A Food Delivery App? By Choosing The Right Development company
It is essential to select the right on-demand food app maker who will help you to make an on demand food delivery app like Postamtes. The developer should understand your objective and implement updated software and agile techniques to bring out the best of your idea.
Finding the right on demand app developers is important for you to make your food delivery app a success. While there are two broad categories of developers: Freelancers, Agencies, you’re always advised to go for the latter. Agencies have the proper expertise and latest development tools at their disposal, which freelancers mostly lack. The right food ordering app development company will deliver the app to the stipulated deadlines and never play around with your budget.
Plus getting an app developed by an agency comes with proper product licensing, guarantee and commitment that freelancers often fail to offer. Thus, it is always advised that you go for an agency if you want quality service delivered within minimum time and budget.
8. How Much Will A Food Delivery App Development Cost?
After learning all about how to develop a food delivery app, you must be thinking about how much is it going to cost?
No matter the type of app you’re developing, it always comes with its respective price tag. So how much will your on-demand food app cost? Simple. You have to just multiply the number of hours with the hourly rate.
[App Development Cost = Total Number Of Hours * Hourly Rate]
The cost of a food development app depends on the features you include in it. Of course, the more features you have the more your app is going to cost.
All your expenses would go down the drain if your users don’t like your app. Their feedback would help to iterate the process and make necessary betterment with every user review.
When you make a food delivery app, you also need to determine the nature of your app. Whether it’ll be a Native, Web or Hybrid app- everything will eventually determine the pricing. And yes, don’t forget to choose the right developer for your app.
Take A Look At Your Competition
Now that we have talked all about the makings of an on-demand food app, let’s take a look at the market, and what your competitors are doing, before choosing the on demand delivery app developers for your food delivery app.
The two major competitors in the food delivery market are GrubHub and Ubereats. Let’s take a look at these two.
GrubHub
Founded in 2004, GrubHub has been in business for a long time. It has partnered with over 95k restaurants in both the US and the UK.
Definitely one of the most popular food delivery app in NYC, their app UX is seamless and the app is full of amazing features that make it easy and amazing to use. GrubHub is an app that receives more than 400 thousand orders on a daily basis.
UberEats
If you are thinking of making a food delivery app then you must know about Uber Eats.
It is one of the most popular apps in the food delivery market. When it was launched in 2015, Uber was already a well-established brand. It wasted no time in leveraging its huge driver base to embark on a food delivery business. And it worked. Uber already has a recognized brand, for which customers found it much easier to cultivate trust in its new food delivery business. Like Grubhub, it includes all the fundamental features. So if you want to apps like Uber Eats, then make sure you have familiarized yourself with their features.
End Words on How to Make a Food Delivery App
The market is saturated with on demand food delivery apps. You’re not the first to come up with the idea. The competition is cutthroat, but you can deal with it in two ways.
You can let the competition discourage you into turning back and drop the idea altogether.
Or you can just go on ahead and take your chances.
If you believe in your idea enough, then with the right technique and right strategy, you can create a food ordering app that will make sure to become a crowd favorite in no time at all. Or, tell us your idea about food delivery app. We will first secure it with a secured NDA and then move on to give you the best development guidance, talent, and support.
