Mobile apps have generated more than $180 billion of profit via downloads and advertisements. This kind of money has made it a very competitive landscape. Although it is not very difficult to make an app. It is essential to have a step-by-step development process around the app to make it successful and profitable, whether it is a basic food ordering app or any other app.
Talking about food ordering apps, the market saw a growth of more than $2.45 billion in last few years. So, here is a list of all the things you need to do right to build your food ordering app.

1. Admin App

The authorized staff at the restaurant uses this app. This app is used to accept customer orders, payment handling, order tracking, and other admin features. This service can also be utilized as web-based software instead of creating a specific app for it. As this will be the control panel of all the operations, significant attention is required to develop the app.

2. Customer App

This is the area that is going to be visible to the public. Hence, the UI needs to be smooth and bug-free. It should have all the latest and some unique features that set you apart from the competition.

3. Delivery App

This app is used by the delivery person. Using this app, the delivery person can accept or reject new orders. Moreover, the drop-off location and its respective map can also be accessed.

Required Features of Customer’s App to Build a Food Ordering App

With that being said, let’s talk about what does the customer’s app need to have:

1. User Login

With this feature, customers can create their profiles on the application. This feature opens up a new dimension for your connectivity with each customer. You can send updates for menu changes, various offers, etc. to every individual user.

2. Easy Search

It is crucial to make sure that the search feature is implemented well on your app, as hungry people don’t like to spend a lot of time searching for food. Moreover, customers will be able to search for their favorite restaurants and dishes and altogether, making the entire process smoother.

3. Homepage Preferences

Listing all the restaurants and dishes that the customers like is a nice feature to have. This will ease the customer’s pain from searching for their preferred restaurants and dishes every time they want to order food and keep them hooked to the app.

4. Track Order in the Food Ordering App

Ordering, cooking, and delivering food takes time and is essential to keep the customer hooked and entertained while the whole process takes place. Order tracking is an excellent way to ensure that customers don’t get bored as they can look at what is going on with their order in real-time. Also, they can know the estimated delivery time.

5. Reliable Payment Gateway Integration

Online payment methods are gaining popularity day by day. Hence, it is good to integrate debit/credit card payment options rather than using COD options.

6. Coupons and Rewards

When it comes to food, everybody likes discounts, offers and coupons. Thus, providing the feature of coupons and rewards can attract a lot of traffic, which would be beneficial for the success of your food ordering app.
These were some of the things that you should have in your customer’s app. Apart from these things, there is just as much tech involved as any other thing in developing a successful food app. Here are some of the tools that can provide an extra edge over the competition and helps in app creation venture:

  • Author can be used for the authorization and registration process. The Author provides all kinds of safe and secure processes such as email authorization, SMS authorization, classic authorization, etc.
  • Google Places API can be used for adding information about the restaurants.
  • Braintree or Stripe SDK can be used as a secure payment gateway.

Basic Requirement for Designing the Food Ordering App

One of the most important factors in developing any mobile app is its design. But, before you start designing your app, you need to ask yourself some fundamental questions about the specific food industry or niche you’re going to target. You can’t always compete with giants right away. To build your company and reputation, you need to target a specific set of people. 
For example, do you want to make a food app for students or workers? Or do they prefer fast food or restaurant-quality dishes? Are they vegetarian or non-vegetarian? After thinking about all this, you should come to the next part of your food app development. Let’s have a look at what you’ll need to keep in mind while designing your food ordering app:

1. Implementation of Right UI

Any mobile application in this day and age needs to have a spot-on user interface. And there is no exception when it comes to your food delivery app either. You must pay enough attention to the navigation, fonts, graphics and integrate them to look seamless. Also, it is essential to keep all the features and options in an organized manner.

2. Machine Learning- The New Normal

Every customer has their unique taste of restaurants. There are many factors, such as age, income, etc., that can give an insight into what a person can potentially order. Hence, Machine Learning in these situations can come in very handy to prioritize restaurants with every customer’s needs.

3. Good Logistics System

Your company should maintain a good business relationship with a logistic company as it plays a vital role in a company’s success.

Food Ordering App Development Company

Let’s be fair; not everyone can develop apps that compete in such a cutthroat market. You may need to seek the help of a professional development company. You must clear your objectives and other requirements to the developer. Now, there are two ways of doing it. One is by going to an agency with proper expertise in application development, and the other way is by going to freelancers. 
Though freelancers can do the job for less money than agencies. However, agencies generally tend to have more experience and a skilled set of developers that can deliver your app with perfection. Moreover, agencies will provide you with genuine licensing, commitment, and guarantee that is hard to find with freelancers.

The Cost of Developing Food Ordering App

You may have thought about everything related to a food ordering app development process; but you must know the potential cost of developing the app. It is relatively easy to calculate how much it is going to cost you. Just multiply the total number of hours that it will take to develop the app with the standard hourly rate for these types of apps. Keep in mind that this method will only roughly tell you about how much you’ll have to spend rather than the exact amount.
Finally, the last process in any app development is Testing. You must test your app before it goes into the market, as it will determine if your app is entirely free of any bugs or errors. It is advisable to use Automated App Testing features to perform testing quickly. It has several advantages. It can execute tests faster than manual methods, operate frequently, have a lesser chance of having a human error, run on multiple devices at once, and be scheduled to work as per your requirements. Moreover, automated testing methods can save money and time as well.

Conclusion

It is a no-brainer that this market has cutthroat competition, and neither are you the only one to have come up with this idea. But it should not stop you from heading on to your venture. Sure, it is a risky business but remember, you’ll have to risk it for the biscuit. By utilizing the right method and techniques, you can create a food app with what it takes to be the people’s favorite food delivery app. 
Just remember to follow all the phases of the app development cycle. Keep in mind the cost, select your preferred niche, design the app so that it is feature-packed but at the same time minimalist, make good choices about the development team that is going to work on the app. Test the app thoroughly and frequently, and hope for the best. In the end, you’ll come out on top even though it may take some time. Just share your ideas with Supersourcing and find the reliable development agencies in your budget.