Online food delivery has become a common trend among the Millennials and the Gen Z. This has made the lives of people easy. People can now get the food from their favourite restaurant delivered at their convenience with just a few clicks. Online food delivery has revolutionised the way people eat.
These are the most downloaded apps from the play store and apple store. All thanks to the changing lifestyle of the people. The busy work schedule brought about many changes in the eating habits of the people. Just when going to restaurants to dine in seemed far-fetched, online food delivery apps came in to provide users with food from their favourite restaurants.
Investing in a food delivery app is always a good option. Though there are many other food delivery apps out there, people are always experimental and stick to one which gives them maximum benefits. There are certain things that need to be considered while working on a food delivery app.
Table of Contents
Choosing a particular business model
There are two business models- restaurant to consumer, platform to consumer. Platform to consumer or aggregator business models are most commonly used by food delivery apps. In restaurant to consumer model, the restaurants directly connect with the customers and deliver the food with their own delivery boys.
On the other hand, in the aggregator business model, the consumer orders food on the platform and the platform confirms the order from the restaurant and deploys their delivery personnel. Before starting your online food delivery, you should decide upon the business model you are going to follow.
Accessibility
Customer experience should be the focused aspect while working on an app. All the strategies, marketing and hard work will go in vain if the customer uninstalls your app due to poor experience. So make sure that the functioning of the app is smooth and hassle free for the customer. From the login to the feedback, the customer shouldn’t face any issues. They should be able to find what they are looking for. There should be proper categorisation for everything ranging from promotional offers to restaurants. The app should be accessible even to those people who have little technical knowledge.
Payment options
Despite the advancement in technology, people are still skeptical about doing payments online fearing that their bank details will be revealed. Setting up a safe and secure payment gateway is very much necessary to get your customers trust. Apart from this, customers should be given options in payment mode like cash on delivery, payment through wallets, payment through cards etc.
In-app tracking system
Customers are very eager to know about their order status. Providing an in-app tracking system will help them to know if the delivery person was going in the wrong route.
Promotional offers and discounts
Offers and discounts have been an effective way to tap customers. Most of the food delivery apps run promotional offers to make their app users keep using the app. While working on your app, it would be advisable if you work on making the offers on your app easily discoverable.
Notifications
Notifications are the effective way to keep the customers informed about any new offers. They should be used wisely. Too many notifications might compel the customers to uninstall your app. So, it is always better to give an option to the customers on the number of notifications they would like to receive in a day.
Budget
App development is both time consuming and an expensive process. Building an app from scratch might burn a hole in your pocket. If you can afford, there are many app development companies that offer their services. You can hire one according to your budget. However, if you lack both time and money, you always have the option of a clone app.
Target audience
Always have a clear idea about the customers you are targeting. This helps in the further development of the app. Do your bit of research about the likes and dislikes of your customer and frame the app accordingly.
Website
Work on your website simultaneously while working for your app. Some customers might prefer using a website than an app. Also, websites enable people to order through their desktop or laptop. Create a website that would leave people craving for food and order it immediately.
Start locally
It is always better to start from little things and then expand them slowly. This would help you in focusing only on that particular area and give you a chance to rectify if you make any errors, which isn’t possible if you start big. The starting stage is always like an experimental phase. If your app is doing better after a certain period of time, you can expand your business to another place.
Social media Promotion and SEO
For people to know about your business, you should advertise it. Thanks to digitalisation, the whole market is on social media platforms. Marketing has become much easier. All you have to do is create pages about your business on social media and start posting about why people should start availing your services. Apart from this, work on SEO and let the search engines place your app at the top of the search list.
Work on Database of restaurants
Do extensive research on the most preferred restaurants by the customers. Reach out to these restaurants and try convincing them to deliver their food through your app. Have a detailed list of all the popular restaurants in the area where you are planning to work.
Know more about food delivery app and its working before starting your own one.
With so much competition out there, it is difficult to sustain in the market for a long time. However, if you have an app with all the needed features, proper business strategy, top notch services and good marketing strategy, you can be sure to sustain and taste success
