Food delivery apps are one of the highest-growing markets in the industry. It took a pandemic for us to realize the benefit of online food delivery companies that provide instant food, right at our doorsteps. In this growing market, businesses are opting for their own food delivery app to help their customers with better and faster services. However, the cost to build a food delivery app may vary depending on certain conditions and features. Let’s check the essential features of the food delivery app to understand the cost structure.
Essential Features of Food Delivery App
1. User Registration and Login
Every food delivery app must have login and registration features to accommodate their customer. With user registration, we can get important information like location, phone number, address, email address and more. Also, they can build their profile to create their own favorite restaurant list and food.
2. Menu and Ordering
Every restaurant and food business has a menu for their customers, similarly, we also need to add a menu and ordering feature to the app. Customers can browse through the menu to select items and add them to the cart. Once they add food items to the cart, they can place and order with added details like address, preferences and others.
3. Payment Gateway
Once the user orders the food and completes all the necessary details, they need to pay for it. That’s why we also need to add a payment gateway. We need to add options like a credit card, debit card, mobile wallet, net banking or cash on delivery. We also need to make sure to acquire a security certificate for a payment gateway to keep user’s data safe.
4. Real-time Order Tracking
Once the order is complete and payment is made, we need to offer order tracking to the customer. This will allow customers to track their food orders in real time. We need to integrate this with the delivery partner dashboard in order to provide this service.
5. Push Notifications
Push notifications have several purposes in food delivery apps. It provides notifications to users regarding their orders, delivery status, promotional offers and other relevant information. Customers can use push notifications to get better information without using the app. While companies can use push notifications for marketing and promotions.
6. Reviews and Ratings
Just like any regular restaurant, we need to add reviews and ratings to the app. It will allow customers to provide their views on the food. They can add praise or complain about the restaurant and food. It will also help other customers to choose food and restaurant based on the review. Restaurants can use this review to promote their food or take complaints into consideration. Reviews and ratings are also applied to delivery partners, so restaurants can make informed decisions.
7. In-app Chat and Support
Adding support and in app chat will help customers and restaurants to resolve issues and conflicts. Customers can directly reach out to the restaurant or complain about it in the app. They can also use the support option, where we can add content regarding FAQs and other common issues.
8. Restaurant Dashboard
Food delivery apps are combinations of multiple dashboards as separate apps. The original food delivery app is for the customer, one for the restaurant and one for the delivery personnel. In the restaurant dashboard, they can add a menu, images, prices and other details. They can also update their menu based on the availability of the food and change the prices as well. This dashboard will help restaurants to view and manage orders for the customer.
9. Delivery Partner Dashboard
The delivery partner dashboard allows a delivery partner to accept or reject orders, maps, locations, earnings and profiles. This will help the delivery partner to manage food delivery.
10. Analytics and Reporting
We need to add analytics and reporting features to the admin dashboard in order to find details about sales, user engagement and feedback. This will help businesses to make data-driven decisions based on analytics.
These are some of the most common features of a food delivery app. We can add more features to the app to make it unique and engaging. The cost of building a food delivery app depends upon these basic features. We can add better features that can enhance the user experience and provide more value to the customers. While considering the cost, we also need to understand the challenges we face during the development of the app.
Challenges in Food Delivery App Development
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Technical Complexity
One of the main challenges in food delivery app development is the complexity of the app. Without any extra features, there are several other factors that we need to implement. Such as integration with third-party APIs for payment gateway, map, location and more. This requires experience and technical expertise to develop an app.
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User Interface and Experience
We need to build user-friendly UI and UX in order to succeed in food delivery apps. If the app is complex and the learning curve is hard, customers will find an alternative for their needs. Creating a user-friendly and intuitive interface that provides a seamless experience to the users can be challenging.
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Managing Multiple Dashboards
A food delivery app is not a standalone app, but rather a group of apps that work together to fulfill a customer’s needs. Developing a food delivery app involves managing multiple stakeholders such as restaurants, customers, and delivery partners, which can be complex and challenging to handle.
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Scalability
Food delivery app needs a robust and high-performing function that helps them scale. It needs to handle a higher number of users and transactions any day. Without a good backend, app framework and performance, the app won’t scale. It can be challenging to achieve without compromising performance and user experience.
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Security
In any mobile app that deals with user’s data and payment information, we need better security. Food delivery apps handle sensitive data such as user details, payment information, and order history, which makes them vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
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Cost
Food delivery app development is not cheap, and it can be expensive based on the requirements. The cost of building a food delivery app like UberEATS and Grubhub can vary widely depending on various factors. Such as the complexity of the app, features and functionalities included, development platform, development team’s experience and location, and the timeline for development. It’s also worth noting that ongoing maintenance and updates can add to the overall cost of the app.
Every project has its challenges and issues, it’s an uphill battle for every start-up and business. However, with the right development partner, we can complete the project on time and within budget. We also need to consider adding emerging and future trends of food delivery app during development, to make the app future-proof.
Future Trends of Food Delivery Apps
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AI
Artificial intelligence is already making waves by helping people with chatbots. The future of food delivery apps must have AI integration within the app to make customer’s experiences better. We can use it in chatbots, suggest customers food items based on their past purchases, provide the best deal based on their location and more. We are already seeing companies using AI to change the way they operate and manage. With AI integration in the Food delivery app, we can achieve better results.
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Big Data
Big data is just the collection of large amounts of data that provide valuable information to make an accurate prediction based on various data sets. The food delivery app caters to thousands of users and has a large data set to use big data. Grubhub used millions of data sets to help their customers find the best restaurant for them. It helps them increase their revenue by double.
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AR
Augmented reality and virtual reality are one of the most popular emerging trends in the food delivery market. AR can offer virtual foods, dishes and menus to the users to understand what they are ordering.
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Omnichannel Ordering
We are constantly connected to the internet through our phones, TV, laptop, watches and other devices. We can leverage this by building an eco-system through a food delivery app that allows customers to order from any device.
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New Delivery Services
Online food ordering was successful because it provides faster delivery right to our couches. By improving the delivery services, we can scale higher and faster. Currently, many restaurants are already using food delivery robots that will provide services to nearby customers. In the future, we can expect drone food delivery too.
New and emerging trends like this will dictate the future of food delivery apps. We can add some of the features in our food delivery app to make it advanced and future-proof. This will also affect the overall cost of the app development, but it will help the business expand exponentially.
How Much Does It Cost To Develop A Food Delivery App in 2023?
One of the simplest formulas for calculating cost of food delivery app development is to multiply total hours with hourly rate. However, there are multiple stages of development and costs are vary based on the features and complexity.
– Planning and discovery
The first step in every app development is planning and discovery. In this stage, the agency will research thoroughly into the targeted audience and competitors. They will also create initial designs and feature outlines. This stage takes about 3 to 5 weeks and cost $5000 to $25000.
– Design
Mobile app designs include UI and UX and it’s one of the most important steps in development. We need to build an attractive and responsive design that allows users to work through smoothly and lower the learning curve. It takes approximately 2 to 6 weeks and costs can reach around $5000 to $50,000.
– Testing and Launch
Every app needs to be tested rigorously in order to find any issues or bugs within the system. Based on the app size, it might take 6 weeks to 15 weeks of testing. Quality assurance and testing could cost around $5000 to $10,000 for the app.
The cost of developing a basic food delivery app can range from $10,000 to $50,000. However, if you want to build a more complex app with advanced features, such as real-time order tracking, social media integration, AI-powered recommendations, and multiple payment options, the cost can go up to $100,000 or more.
Conclusion
According to Statista, the online food delivery market is expected to reach around $0.91 trillion by this year. After the pandemic, the business quickly adapted to the concept of online food delivery and invest in mobile app development companies. However, if we talk about the cost of building a food delivery app, it still varies for many factors. Ultimately, the best way to get an accurate estimate of the cost of building a food delivery app like Zomato and Grubhub is to consult with experienced developers or development agencies who can assess your specific needs and provide you with a detailed cost breakdown.
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