Freshly prepared meal delivery services are very popular nowadays. A healthy meal delivery service will ensure that you have a meal of the best quality in nutrients as well as a lack of impurities that may cause disease. This will save you from incurring costs in hospital bills arising from consuming unhealthy food. Creating your own food delivery app is considered a great move for every restaurant owner. The growth for online food delivery service is continuously growing and the demand for food delivery apps is also increasing along with this. And it is seen that the revenue for the online food delivery segment is projected to reach $151,526M this year, 2021.
China, the US, and the UK are the three largest countries for food delivery, that’s why it is not surprising that they also lead the innovation for food delivery apps. Though there are great food delivery apps available in the market, there are also huge benefits in creating and developing your own food delivery app.
And since there’s a great demand for online food delivery, app developers and online takeaway ordering system companies have come up with ways on how to make a food delivery app in a simple and easy way. They offer to restaurateurs simple steps on how to create their own food delivery app, it could be as simple as choosing a template for your own app, customizing it according to your brand, uploading your menu from the platform, and launching your own food delivery app.
This article aims to discuss everything that a restaurant owner needs to know about online food delivery service and online food delivery app.
Types Of Food Delivery Business Models
Order-Only Model
Apps like JustEat and Grubhub are under this type of business model. The food delivery app will act as the middle-man between customers and restaurants. The customers will order through the app, then the information will be passed to the restaurant by the aggregator and lastly, the food will be out for delivery. Delivery of food would be under the responsibility of the restaurant.
Order And Delivery Model
In this business model, the maintenance for managing and monitoring deliveries, delivery personnel, and vehicles will not be under the restaurant owner. A restaurant business can just register their business with this food delivery business model and not to worry about the delivery part.
This type of business model needs three associates – the delivery service provider, the restaurant, and the customers. Food delivery apps such as UberEats and Doordash are under this business model.
Benefits Of Making Your Own Food Delivery APP
Third party apps such as Ubereats, Grubhub, and Postmates offer technology that makes life easier for restaurateurs, especially those who are just starting to offer online ordering service. But making your own food delivery app is far more advantageous than depending on these third party food delivery apps. Here are the benefits your restaurant business can enjoy once they decided to create their own food delivery app.
Increased Check Size
Creating your own food delivery app may sound like an expensive investment for a restaurateur but it will end up contributing to the growth of your income. This is mainly because all of the income from your online food delivery service will be yours. No commission to pay to third party apps, and you control your own service and delivery charge.
And with the new safety protocols, outdoor and dine-in restaurants suffered due to lack of customers. Launching your own food delivery app and facilitating your own food delivery service, would make up for the reduced foot traffic on your restaurant business.
Control Over Your Service
If you decide to partner up with a third party app, they will provide everything you’ll need for an online ordering service. And though it looks like the easiest way to commence your online food delivery service, it takes so much from your restaurant business.
Having your own food delivery app enables you to market your restaurant with your own discretion, no need to pay for extra charges just to have your restaurant’s name placed at the top of the choices. You can also choose your delivery service provider, should you opt to hire an in-house delivery fleet or hire from a gig economy, the authority would be yours. Even for the merchant account, you’ll be free to use your own.
Lastly, you’ll own your customers’ data. Keep in mind that third party apps such as Grubhub, Ubereats, and Postmates own the data of those who book through them. Therefore, you won’t be able to build a customer’s database and use it for your benefit.
Reduced Expenses
Aside from the commission that you’ll be able to save, you can still lessen your restaurant’s overhead by creating your own food delivery app. If you decided to downsize and focus more with online ordering and food delivery, the rent cost and labor cost would reduce as well.
The commission charged by third party apps are usually ranging from 20% to 35%, some of them are charging extra fees such as service fee and admin charge per order. Imagine the amount you’ll save if you don’t have to think about paying out commissions.
Tip: Look for an online ordering solution that offers 0% commission as an alternative for just Ubereats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat UK , and keep your takeaway and online food delivery money.
Wider Customer Reach
There would be less restriction for your food delivery service. As long as you can service the area, you can cover it with your own food delivery app. And since you control your data and service, you’ll have an easier way to tailor your operations to improve your online food delivery service.
Increased Customer Loyalty
You can tailor your food delivery app to capture customer’s details. And with this, you can build your own database and use it for your marketing and to tailor your operations that would fit your customers’ preference more.
A Step-By-Step Guide In Making A Food Delivery APP
- Conduct a proper market analysis and identify the trends of the current market. Observe the changes that have happened and what are the factors that affect the behavior of the current market.
- Select a food delivery business model that would work for your concept and budget. Make sure that the business model you’ll choose will help you meet your goals and will benefit your restaurant in the long run.
- Be firm and choose what features are you looking for in a food delivery app. Don’t get swayed by the competition and just go with the flow. Talk to your app developer and tell them exactly how you want your food delivery app to work. You should know what type of customer experience you want to deliver with your own food delivery app. Here are some basic features and functions found in a food delivery app :
- Registration and Sign In
- Search
- Order Placing
- Order Confirmation and Check Out
- Payment Processing
- Order tracking and monitoring Page
- Notifications (SMS, Email, or Push)
- Review and Rating Page.
- Customer Care Page
- Choose the right food delivery app developer. These experts know which technology stack suits your business model and concept properly. Seek help for experts and let them identify the essential tech needed by your food delivery app.
Essential Features Of An Outstanding Food Delivery APP
The importance of different features depends on who’s using the platform. For food delivery apps, it will be divided into three:
- Customers
- Restaurant
- Courier / Delivery Service
For Customers
Customers have different demands compared to the restaurant and delivery service. Here are the key features of a food delivery app according to customers.
- Easy sign in function. Enables customers to sign up using their accounts on Facebook, Google, and even their email address.
- Accessible menu for customers.
- Easy placing of orders and completing the transaction.
- Accepts most of the payment options such as credit card, debit card, cash, PayPal, and other mobile wallets available. Promotions and discounts should be easily validated as well.
- Tracking and monitoring of order should be available.
- Option to communicate to the restaurant and delivery courier should be present.
For Restaurants
It is important for restaurants to maximize their own food delivery app. Features that help improve their operations are needed to be present in their own food delivery app.
- It should capture the customer’s information and save it in a database.
- Editing the menu and content should be easy and simple.
- Order tracking features should be available. Real-time updates regarding the status of the orders should be communicated well.
- Ability to communicate with the delivery service provider and customers should be present.
For Delivery Service Providers
Whether you’ve decided to hire your own delivery service or takeaway website design from a gig economy, couriers or delivery service providers seek these important features from a food delivery app.
- Uncomplicated order management system. Receiving and confirming a book real-time with all the details provided is a must.
- It should have an option to estimate the delivery time.
- Option to communicate with the customers and the restaurant should be available.
- Accessible history page that contains the past transaction should be present.
Factors Of The Right Food Delivery APP Development Partner
Make sure to choose the right development partner for your restaurant business. Here are the factors you need to look out for a food delivery app development partner.
- It should have a great portfolio in handling food delivery app development.
- It should have an excellent app development process.
- It should have a standard coding process.
- It should follow the latest and bug-free technology.
- It should offer 0% or at least less commission charged compared to the leading third party app.
- It should provide marketing support such as SMS Marketing and Email Marketing.
- It should at least extend its support through your social media and provide branded Facebook and Twitter pages for your restaurant brand.
Tips To Successfully Market Your New Food Delivery APP
- Conduct a proper market analysis for your target location and demographic. This is for easier integration in the market. Learn what are the trending market trends in your location, what are the technologies utilized by your competitor, and find your niche in your market.
- Focus on growing your user base. Learn on which social media platforms your customer base is hanging out and start advertising on the said platform. Join or organize local networking events for your restaurant business. And before doing all these, conduct a dry run with a small community in your area to test your concept and your food delivery app.
- Keep your users and customers. Make sure that you have established a reliable customer service team to provide support for your customers should they have concerns with your food delivery app. Offer promotions and special discounts to your users, and incorporate a rating system to let your users express their opinion about your food delivery app.
- Take care of your delivery service provider. Even though you don’t hire them directly, they still represent your restaurant business. Food delivery apps are mainly used because customers expect a fast and convenient service from your restaurant, and if they fail to deliver such service, users tend to favor other food delivery services. Keep them motivated by providing them a reasonable salary, flexible working hours, and morale support.
Final Thoughts
Anything that deals with technology seems complicated for restaurateurs. Though it is progressive, it is presumed that the process would not be easy. But given how fast the Restaurant Industry is advancing with technology, the process is not much easier and simpler to understand.
Provided the right support, supplier, and developer, making your own food delivery app would be just a piece of cake. Have you already started planning for your own food delivery app? Let us know your thoughts!