Introduction to Food Delivery Mobile App
UberEats, GrubHub, and Foodpanda- you must have used any or all of these apps for ordering scrumptious meals from your favorite restaurants.
The on-demand food delivery app has made ordering and delivery of delicacies super easy for all of us. As the scope for such apps is still wide open for startups and restaurant owners, we will talk about the top features and cost of the food delivery app that can help you bring speed and convenience for your customers.
The food delivery market is thriving at a rapid pace and the recent pandemic time has increased this pace significantly.
Globally, people prefer to give orders online and get the delivery of dishes at their doorstep. A statistic reveals that the online food delivery domain will grow to $55 billion by the year 2020 with online payments made through the on-demand food delivery apps will reach $210 billion.
If you want to make the most of the growing popularity of a food delivery app, then here are the key features and cost-determining factors for you. Let’s start with the types of food delivery apps.
Types of Food Delivery Mobile Apps
1.Food aggregator- This model connects customers and restaurants. Aggregators accept orders and pass them to restaurants.
However, they do not provide logistics or food delivery services. Restaurants associated with aggregators have to manage food delivery. Only big restaurants or restaurant chains prefer this model.
2.Logistic Support- Here, the third-party supports the food delivery system for restaurants. The third-party provider offers the delivery personnel to restaurants and they pick up prepared food orders from restaurants and deliver the same to app customers.
This logistic support model has a huge potential in the restaurant sector. The on-demand food delivery app is based on this model.
Though the apps for supporting these models have different features, here we make a list of common features that decide the cost of the food delivery app.
The on-demand food delivery app has four panels- customer, restaurant, admin, and delivery person. Every panel has the following features-
Customer Panel
Profile Creation- Customers can use social media account or email address for registration and profile creation.
Location- It tracks the customer’s location and shows nearby restaurants.
Restaurant List- It shows all the restaurants available for delivery along with nearby restaurants as per the customer’s location.
Search- Customers can find the restaurant using various filters like fast food, beverages, etc. using search/filter.
Food Order- It enables customers to give food orders.
Payment- Payment gateway integration facilitates customers to pay using any payment channel they like including credit card, debit card, and net banking.
Track Order- It enables the customers to track their orders and provide real-time information about the location of delivery persons and the estimated time of delivery.
Call or Chat- It enables customers to contact the delivery person or restaurants.
Rate & Review- Your customers can post reviews about your services or dishes along with suggestions and give ratings to delivery persons, food, and restaurant using this feature.
Order History- It shows the history of orders given by customers.
Reward Program- It shows points and coupons to loyal customers.
Restaurant Panel
Dashboard- It shows the number of received orders, pending orders, canceled orders, and other necessary information.
Menu- It has a list of items available for ordering from partner restaurants or restaurant chains.
Profile- It has a list of delivery persons and customer profiles.
Food Order Management- It enables the restaurant staff to manage all the orders.
Order Cancellation- Restaurants can cancel the order using this feature.
Chat- It enables restaurants to connect with the admin (third-party service provider) or delivery persons instantly.
Admin Panel
Dashboard- An interactive dashboard shows canceled orders, served orders, pending orders, and other information about delivery persons and restaurants.
Analytics- It enables the admin to see the number of orders, number of app users, user behavior, and other reports.
Payments- It shows payment information.
Menu and Order Management- It is possible to manage a menu of restaurants and orders through this feature. Other feature includes restaurant management.
Chat- It is possible to have a quick chat with delivery persons or restaurants.
Push Notification- It enables admin to send push notifications to customers about promotional offers and special discounts.
Reward program- It facilitates the admin to run a reward program of the app.
Delivery Person Panel
Registration- Delivery persons can easily register themselves using social media information or Gmail account.
Status- It shows the status of pending and completed orders.
Navigation- It shows the shortest route to deliver food items to the customers.
Instant Chat- Delivery persons can chat with the customers anytime while delivering them orders.
Apart from these features, you can consider adding advanced features like social media integration, reordering, multiple booking, CRM Integration, and customized packages to attract more customers toward your app and business. Here, it is fair to mention that adding these features can increase the cost of mobile app development significantly.
Food Delivery Mobile App Development Cost- Factors to Consider
It all starts with defining features and hiring a team of mobile app developers. The number of features will determine the food delivery app’s complexity and eventually the cost of app development.
Another important factor to consider is the team structure. Usually, the app development team consists of a project manager, app developers, QA expert, and UI/UX designers. Now, the hourly rate of developers comes into the picture.
There is a great variation in the hourly rate of developers worldwide. For example, the US-based developers charge around $150-$200 for developing a native app whereas Indian mobile app developers charge anywhere between $30 to $80 for the same. The hourly rate has a great impact on the cost of food delivery app.
Last but not the least factor is 3rd-party API integration. More API integration for developing a complex app needs more effort, which results in the high development cost.
Considering all the factors, the cost of a basic on-demand food delivery app starts from around $20000 and it can be stretched up to $45000 to $50000 depending on the complexity of the app and the number of features included.
Wrapping Up
The on-demand food delivery app development needs a lot of time, effort, and money. However, you can consider cost-effective options like MVP development and cross-platform app development in the beginning. Even startups can come up with a simple app with basic features and grow their restaurant business.
Author Bio
Name: Robert Jackson
Robert Jackson is a content cum digital marketer at Solution Analyst, a leading mobile app development company. He is an avid reader and likes to remain updated for technological advancements in the domains of web, mobility, IoT, and emerging technologies. His articles are informative and interesting at the same time as he expresses insightful thoughts clearly.
