Technology has made our lives easier than we could have imagined. Online Food Delivery is a result of advanced technology in our lives. It is something most of us can’t live without. Ordering food and have them at our doorsteps has become the smartest way to eat. This made the demand of food delivery app development like Swiggy, UberEats, Grubhub, Grab (Southeast Asia) has risen in the last two years. COVID-19 has been highly influential to the world and people aren’t allowed to eat in restaurants and diners due to the lockdown and rules, making Online Food Delivery Apps the go-to food hub.

If you are one of the optimistic tech food entrepreneurs with high approach and consider developing an app like UberEats or Grubhub, this article is for you. To build an advanced app like UberEats, you need to know it’s business model, procedure to develop and expected development cost.

We’re here to guide you on how Food Delivery Platforms like UberEats operate and how much will it cost to build and develop an On-demand Food Delivery App. 

Why to Invest in Food Delivery Mobile App Development?

People don’t eat food from the restaurants traditionally anymore. This is exactly why the food delivery industry is growing rapidly. This is possible only because of On-Demand Delivery Apps that deliver food right at the customer’s door. People today, don’t need to dress up and travel to find and explore restaurants and cuisines, when they can do it in the comfort of their homes or elsewhere. Apart from this, here are reasons for you to invest in an delivery app development:

  • In the year 2020, restaurants that do not provide online food delivery have lost most of their clients.
  • According to Statista’s census, Online Food Delivery segment made an estimated revenue of US $151,526 million in 2021.
  • Experts say, this is expected to show an annual hike rate of 9.9% per year, leading to a market volume upto US $182,327 million by 2024
  • Of the total online food delivery industry revenue, the Platform-to-Consumer Delivery segment covers the largest part with a market volume of US$79,608 million in 2019. This is expected to increase to US$96,864 million by 2024.
  • The Restaurant-to-Consumer Delivery segment amounts to US$71,918 million in 2021, which is expected to rise upto US$85,463 million by 2024.

These records clearly show how profitable it will be to invest a food ordering app. This is definitely get you a larger customer base.

How Does On-Demand Food Delivery App Work? 

An On-Demand Food Delivery system involves 3 applications, each with it’s own set of features and functions. They are all crafted for the fluent functioning of food delivery service. Here’s what to need to know about these applications:

1. The Customer App: This app should be designed for your customers to use. It needs to be easy to use and allow users to explore and compare various restuarants and offers.

  • The user logs in and adds a drop-off point to their customer profile.
  • App user checks out the app, meal menu, restaurants and reviews.
  • User can now place an order after choosing the food item from available restaurants.
  • After the order is confirmed, the user makes the final payment. Cash on delivery can also be selected as a mode of payment, it it is available.
  • User can now track their order’s location and check time left for the delivery to arrive.
  • After receiving the order,you user also gets to rate and review the food and restaurant.

2. The Restaurant App/Admin Panel: This is designed for the restaurant owners to control and manage deliveries. Restaurants can also update their customers with new offers and coupons on the customer app, using the admin application. 

  • The restaurant provides the menu along with the costs on the app, which is visible to the customers on the user app.
  • They receive an order and either accept or reject it. Once the order is confirmed, the staff prepares the order.
  • While preparing the food, the restaurant looks for delivery drivers available in their area and assigns one of them to deliver the order.
  • The restaurant can also track and view a the record of successful deliveries.
  • Now, they can pay the delivery person and continue the process.

3. The Delivery Driver App: Delivery drivers manage order pick-up and drop-off via this app.

  • The delivery driver creates a profile on the app.
  • After receiving an order, the driver decides whether or not to accept the order depending on the  location and convenience.
  • When the order is accepted, he will receive details of the delivery task on the app.
  •  The app also offers routes to the exact delivery location.
  • Now he can deliver the order and collect the payment (in case the customer chose cash-on-delivery as a payment mode) after which he will collect his tip from the restaurant.
  • Driver will have to check the box next to ‘complete order’ on the app.

Key Features of Food Delivery App Development:

 

While developing an On-Demand Food Delivery App, you need to add all the essential features. The feature list for the customer app, restaurant app and courier app is given below.

1. The Customer App:

  • User Registration options
  • Select Restauran
  • Easy Order Tracking
  • Multiple Payment Options Available
  • Takeaway Option given
  • Discounts and Offers provided
  • Customers can Manage Profile
  • Customised list categories based on preferences and past orders
  • Users can review and rate
  • Help & Support given on the app

2. The Driver App:

  • Easy Registration
  • Manage Deliveries smoothly
  • Drives can view exact delivery routes
  • Notifications on receiving orders
  • Manage orders, accept or reject new orders
  • Drivers can give order status updates
  • In-app Chat to contact the customer directly
  • Earning reports to keep a track of deliveries and payment in a specific time

3. The Restaurant App & Admin Panel

  • Managing and classify cuisines and products
  • Managing Restaurant vendors and updating their area of service for more orders
  • Menu Management
  • Categorising restaurants based on cuisines, locations, pricing and offers
  • Notification Management to support communication with customers and partners
  • Control commissions rates with partnered restaurants and effect payments as scheduled
  • Reports for business analysis
  • Promos and announcements to get to the customers excited
  • Help & Support Services to provide all the information to users when needed while placing orders.

How Does an On-Demand Food Delivery app generate revenue?

Food Delivery apps can make revenue in various ways. These including:

  • Providing fixed commission rates
  • Promoting restaurants
  • Charging Delivery fee

UberEats uses these methods to get revenue:

  • Charging flexible delivery fees ranging from $2 to $8 per order based on the  distance between customers and restaurants.
  • The orders accepted through UberEats charge the restaurants a service fee ranging from 15% to 40% depending on various factors.
  • The app also offers paid promotions to restaurants for getting ranked at the top in a search, helping restaurants attract more customers.

Development Cost of an On-Demand Food Delivery App 

The Development Cost includes labor(Developer’s expenses), equipment cost, tests and verification test charges, launching charges and much more.

Click here to understand the cost needed to meet every need in developing an On-Demand Food Delivery App.

Out of these, labor cost highly influences the final development cost while developing an On-Demand Food Delivery App. But it can vary in different countries and areas.

Considering all the factors, the total development cost of an online food delivery app would probably estimate around $18,000-$35,000.

If you’re looking for an advanced Online Food Delivery Software to build and develop your Online Delivery App, then check out eDeliveryapp to get started.