The coronavirus pandemic has gradually boosted the use of mobile apps for food delivery and internet sales. The mobile food delivery business is one of the fast-paced industries in 2020 and is projected to grow rapidly in the upcoming years. If you have a food business and you are not catering to the cravings of millions of people at their doorstep through a foodtech app, then you lack behind your competitors.
Customers in today’s era prefer to have variants when it comes to food, and they do not want to move out of their comfort zone to grab a bite. They want their cravings to be satisfied whenever they want and wherever they want. This consumer behavior has been a significant reason behind the billion dollars added to the food delivery businesses’ revenue. As the world went into lockdown, the market experienced a massive acceleration in orders, thereby boosting their potential revenue.
By now, you must have realized that this is the high time to enter into the food delivery market if you are in a food business. Suppose you think that you could easily venture into this industry. In that case, you must know that there are many strong competitors already giving a record-breaking performance in this industry, and you will be competing with them. To help you build a successful foodtech app, we have created an in-depth guide for developing it so that you can grow your business and achieve success.

How Does a FoodTech App Work?

The foodtech app neither cooks the food nor operates the restaurants that do. They simply collaborate with the food outlets and to deliver and sell their food right at the consumer’s doorstep. The major benefit of a food delivery app is that it directly communicates with the consumers and integrates with the restaurants.
Here is a step-by-step process on how a food delivery app works:

Step 1: A user has to login with their credentials to the food delivery app. Here, they will select their desired food from a particular restaurant and add it to the cart.

Step 2: The user will review the items added and proceed to the payment section.

Step 3: The restaurant starts preparing the food once the order is confirmed, and the app will let the customer communicate directly with the restaurant and the delivery person.

Step 4: The order is sent right to the doorstep of the customer within a specified period.

How to Build a FoodTech App?

Before you learn how to build a food delivery app, you need to choose your business model. There are two types of business models in a food delivery business:

1- The Order Only Model

In this model, the business’s motive is to bring orders to the restaurants by replacing their phone-ordering system with an integrated app platform. The app connects the restaurants directly with the customers and provides easy functionality to interact with each other. The restaurants are responsible for taking care of the transportation and delivery at the customer’s doorstep. These businesses generate revenue by charging a percentage of commission from the restaurants to provide their services.

How does it work?

Step 1: The user logs in to the food order business’s app and places the desired order that the restaurant receives.

Step 2: The restaurant prepares the food, and the same is notified to the user through the app.

Step 3: Food is delivered by the person employed by the restaurant at the customer’s doorstep.

2- The Order and Delivery Model

Companies like Zomato and Uber follow this business model where the company is responsible for taking orders through the app and delivering the prepared order from the restaurant to the customer’s convenience. The companies hire delivery guys and train them accordingly. The revenue proportion is generated through the commission and the delivery charges, which may vary as per the distance.

How does it work?

Step 1: The user, after logging into the app, places an order which is notified to the restaurant.

Step 2: The restaurant confirms whether they will be proceeding with the order or not, and the same is notified to the user.

Step 3: The same notification is sent to the delivery guy, who too confirms whether he/she will be available for the delivery or not.

Step 4: The prepared food is picked up by the delivery guy from the respective restaurant, and the same is delivered at the doorstep of the consumer.

Build a FoodTech App

Before building the application, you must know what features your app will need from the User, the Restaurants, and the Courier’s perspectives.

A. The User Side

1. Sign Up Functionality

To enable the users to easily create an account on the app using their receptive email addresses.

2. Restaurant List

A list of restaurants and their ratings and reviews must be visible to the users to select their desired outlet and place the order. A geolocation feature has to be added along with the restaurants, enabling users to locate their nearby restaurants.

3. Payment Mode

Multiple safe and secure payment modes need to be integrated. This may include eWallets, Debit Cards, Credit Cards, Rewards Points, and Cash on Delivery. This will enable the users to choose a mode at their convenience. Ensure that you include an “Add to Cart” option when a user selects an item.

4. Real-Time Order Tracking

Users generally do not like to wait, and if there is a way they can see their order’s status, their patience level is maintained. This is a great opportunity to develop a live order monitoring function for the users.

5. Customer Assistance

You need to ensure that your customers should be able to reach the support team whenever they face any issues related to an order.

6. Extra Functions

Several extra functions can be added to make the order process smooth for the users. These include viewing order history, push notifications (like seasonal discounts, best offers, etc.), promos, and customer retention coupons.

B. The Restaurant Side

1. Sign Up Functionality

This feature will enable the restaurants to safely sign up for the app to collect information about the restaurant, including its name, locations, contact information, working hours, etc.

2. Integrated CMS

A content management system will enable the restaurants to upload a menu and their photos to attract customers.

3. Optimized Dashboard

This feature will show the new order status, orders under preparation, cancelled orders, completed orders, the total amount collected, etc.

4. Order Tracking Feature

This feature will allow the restaurants to manage orders they receive and their delivery. They can also update the order’s status so that the users will know when the order will be delivered.

5. Courier Tracking

Restaurants should be able to track when the delivery guy comes to pick up the order for a smooth working process.

6. Customer Support

Restaurants need to communicate with the customers directly and solve their issues related to the restaurant services.

C. The Courier Side

1. Sign Up Page

This will enable the admin to record all the necessary information about the courier service and its delivery guys.

2. Order Management

This feature will give the delivery guy access to orders, their pick-up and delivery location, customer’s contact information, etc.

3. Status Update

The delivery guy will need to update the order’s status and an estimated time when the order will be delivered.

4. Communication Platform

This feature will enable the delivery guy to communicate with the customer through call/chat if there is an issue in finding the address.

Cost Factors to Consider While Developing a FoodTech App

There are many factors to consider while calculating an estimated cost that will be incurred in building a great food tech app. We have listed some major factors that you must consider when it comes to determining the cost of the online food delivery app.

1. Development Agency

You might need to hire an agency that will take care of installing different features in your application. The cost of hiring an agency might vary with location and different agencies, and you will need to make a wise decision while selecting the best agency that will suit your business.

2. UI Design

UI will be the part of your application where the customers will interact, and it needs to be attractive and subtle. You need to make sure you are investing properly in your app’s UI Design as it will represent your business in the customers’ minds.

3. App Platform

The cost of application development depends on various factors like whether it is designed for iOS, Android, or both, which will decide whether you will have to pay for hosting in Google Play Store or the Apple Store. The cost of development will highly depend on platform choice.

Looking to Create a FoodTech App?

The mobile food delivery app market is a fast-growing domain that is valuable to every restaurant and consumer. If you are looking to develop a food delivery app and unsure how to do that, you have landed on the right page. With tons of experience in the field, Supersourcing can help you to find the right agency and create a food delivery app by channelizing the appropriate resources. Feel free to reach out to us if you want to scrum development practices for your application.