It is no secret that people will always choose what is most convenient for them. This holds true for almost everything we do in life, including the movies we watch, the music we listen to, the games we play, and, yes, the food we eat. This is perhaps the most important reason why food delivery apps like Deliveroo Glovo and Uber Eats have become so popular.
For instance, when was the last time you saw a thriving video rental store in your neighborhood? Following the introduction of video streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, the vast majority of those businesses have gone out of business. As harsh as it may sound, if you choose to ignore the arrival of mobile food delivery solutions, the same could happen to your food business.
A Successful Food Delivery App’s Key Elements
Before we get into the specifics of how to make an on-demand food delivery app, it’s important to understand the various components that go into making one. The following three components make up an UberEats Cone app (or any other functional food delivery app):
The Client’s Perspective
- New users can create an account using their email address or through third-party apps like Google and Facebook.
- The option of selecting a restaurant or cafe from a list of vendors near your location.
- The ability to place orders from a menu quickly.
- Processing payments and validating promo codes through a payment gate system. Customers should have the ability to pay for their orders as quickly as possible. You should try to include as many payment options as possible, such as credit cards, PayPal, COD, Apple/Google Pay, and so on.
- Order status, estimated delivery time, and courier location can all be tracked.
- The ability to bookmark restaurants, cafes, and favorite foods for future use.
- The ability to communicate with both the restaurant and the courier about their order for updates and concerns.
The Side of the Restaurant
A restaurant registration page that allows restaurants to join the food delivery platform. This type of page collects all relevant information about the restaurant, such as its name, address, hours of operation, and contact information.
- A content management system that allows restaurants to publish their menus and photos on the food delivery platform.
- The ability to run promotions and provide customers with discount codes
- An order tracking feature that allows restaurants to see incoming orders and keep customers updated on their orders’ status. Both parties should be able to see the exact status of orders at any given time, including whether they are canceled, completed, or ready for delivery.
- The ability to locate the nearest available courier to deliver orders. The app should be able to track the courier’s location from the time the order is picked up until it is delivered successfully.
- A feature that allows the restaurant to communicate with both the customer and the courier through a single interface.
The Courier’s Perspective:
- A signup page for your food delivery app that allows couriers to sign up.
- A page for couriers to manage their orders and schedule deliveries in real time. This feature should include all order details, such as pick-up and delivery locations, order size, and customer contact information.
- Before picking up your order, you have the option of estimating the delivery time.
- Cross-interface communication features that would allow couriers to communicate with both the courier and the restaurant, as well as send delivery updates.
- An account history page allows couriers to keep track of their deliveries to a specific customer.
As you may have guessed, the three elements listed above work together to ensure that information can be sent and shared with all parties involved.
How To Create An UberEats-Style App
Unfortunately, few restaurants can afford to create their own mobile food delivery app from the ground up, similar to Uber Eats. The average cost of app development is around $25,000 per project. Should you give up on developing a food delivery app if you don’t have that kind of cash?
Not necessarily, and even small businesses can create a service similar to Uber Eats for a fraction of the price. Using existing APIs to speed up the app development process and save money is a more cost-effective option for food ordering companies. Many popular APIs include all of the components needed to build a food delivery app.
API for Google Places
Places API is a Google service that responds to HTTP requests for information about places, such as geographic locations, points of interest in specific regions, and business establishments. To use the Google Places API, you’ll need a valid key and a Google Cloud Platform billing account.
API for Foursquare
The Foursquare API is a toolkit that allows developers to communicate with Foursquare, a social networking search-and-discovery app that gives users personalized recommendations on what to do and where to go.
Small and medium-sized businesses can get access to the Foursquare API for $599. To begin sending queries to the API, new users must create an account on the Foursquare website and obtain the necessary credentials (Client ID and Secret key).
While the cost of the Foursquare API can be prohibitive for most small businesses, it’s an investment that will more than likely pay off, especially if you’ve discovered that many of your customers found you through the Foursquare app
API for Uber Eats
The Uber Eats API is probably the simplest way for restaurants to get into the mobile food delivery business. The latter can be directly integrated with your business’s POS (Point of Sale) system, making it easier to manage menus and take orders from customers on the go. Uber Eats also has its own courier network, so business owners won’t have to worry about logistics.
API for GrubHub
The GrubHub developer API has data on over 115,000 restaurants across the United States. They give vendors programmatic access to a limited extent (semi-open) in order to update business information such as the menu, operating hours, and address.
GrubHub uses a revenue-sharing model similar to Uber Eats (10 to 30 percent). It’s worth noting that, while the commission fees are lower, GrubHub does not provide logistics, so businesses will have to rely on a third-party courier.
Matrix of Google
The Google Matrix API allows developers to precisely calculate the distance and time between a starting point and a specified destination. It works in tandem with the Google Maps API, which provides it with route suggestions.
Pricing for Google Matrix is tier-based, similar to Google Places API, and is determined by app activity. Users do, however, receive $200 in free credit each month, which is plenty for small and medium-sized businesses.
API for Freshchat
The Freshchat API is a toolkit that allows developers to use Javascript code to add a live chat feature to a website. Freshchat, a live messaging service designed for small businesses by Freshworks (a Software-as-a-Service customer engagement company), powers the feature.
API for Onesignal
Developers can use the Onesignal API to add push notifications to their apps. Users can use these notifications to be notified of any updates or news that they’ve subscribed to through the app.
Onesignal API is available for $99 per month, but there is a free version with limited support and subscriber count (up to 30,000). Still, for most small businesses looking to add push notifications to their first food delivery app, that’s more than enough.
API for Waze navigation
Waze Navigational API is a free toolkit that gives developers access to Waze. A mobile app that provides turn-by-turn directions based on real-time road conditions. Waze, unlike Google Maps, is dedicated to automobiles and relies on a community of users for information.
The Waze API might be the answer if you’re looking for a viable and free alternative. Google Places and the Matrix API, as long as you’re aware of its limitations. Will logistics be an issue, as they were with the UberEats API?
The NavApp and MapLibrary APIs from TomTom
The TomTom API (NavAPP and MapLibrary) is a web-based toolkit. That allows developers to integrate custom mapping functionality into their apps.
In comparison to Google Maps, MapBox, and the UberEats API. These maps are in raster graphics format (jpeg or PNG), which means they’re of a higher quality.
Summary
Indeed, the mobile food ordering industry is a fast-growing trend that no restaurant or cafe can afford to ignore. The strategic value of food delivery apps like UberEats is sure to rise as the technology behind them. That said, every aspect of developing such an app must be considered. As well as the needs of all parties involved.
If you’re not sure how to do the latter, talk to experts who specialize in custom mobile app development.
