Are you looking for food delivery app development? yes! Just check how much does food delivery app development costs like the popular app Uber Eats and GrubHub. On-demand food delivery apps are one of the best new-age solutions that increase the joy of users when they comfortably get their food at their respective location instead of waiting for the order at some restaurant.

It is okay if you want to go with this app idea, but you must note that there are several factors associated with it, so you need to focus on that. The cost factor is the most vital thing that every business owner keeps in mind.

 

What Stats Say About Food Delivery App Development?

Food delivery expands worldwide where some app is popular in a specific area, and some are global brands such as UberEats, Just Eat, Grubhub, and Doordash. If we specifically talk about the USA, it is one of the biggest food delivery markets.

In 2020, US food delivery app revenue was $26.52 billion, projected to reach nearly $50 billion. Covid-19 lockdown took the food delivery industry forward, where millions of people ordered food from their homes without going outside for fear of infection.

 

 

In 2020, the US food delivery app users were 45.6 million, and in 2023 the expectation is 53.9 million users on food delivery platforms. In 2016, Grubhub was on the top with 70% of users onboarded; It was only 18% in 2020, whereas Doordash is on the top with 45% of users. So, it proves the number of users is proportional to the revenue.

Therefore, while opting for the on-demand food delivery app development services, it would be best to focus on having an interactive app that can retain customers for a long time.

 

What is Food Delivery App Development Cost?

There are several factors that affect the cost of building food delivery mobile app such as-

• The tech stack and programming language
• App development platform
• of features and functionality
• Integration of 3rd Party APIs
• Backend or server-side development
• UI/UX designing

Although the average development cost to build a food delivery apps like Grubhub or Uber Eats stays in between $8,000- $15,000 in some cases where features remain high, then it can go up to $20K- $30K.

Here targeting mobile platforms also plays a crucial role such as iOS app development remains more costly than android food delivery app. So it would also be best if you enquire about cost estimation from the mobile application development company.

 

Process of Food delivery App Development

 

The Working Model of Online Food Ordering System

As a food delivery platform owner, it is necessary to coordinate with cafes, restaurants, and food service providers to cater to the customers’ demands. But, on the other hand, you need to apply marketing tactics to reach the target audience for having a great business.

If you think about restaurant app development, it would be great to note that it works from three sides: customer, restaurant, and delivery team. Therefore, every online food delivery system has four panels in simple language, i.e., User Panel, Restaurant Panel, Delivery Panel, and Admin Panel.

For using the app, a user needs to download it from the app store such as Google Play Store for an android food delivery app and Apple App Store for iOS app. It applies to all food industry solutions that deal directly with customers.

 

 

Whenever a user orders the food, the first notification goes to the restaurant owner. That particular customer with user id and name booked an order for certain dishes available with them. The restaurant staff will pack the food and clear the queue, then the notification goes to the delivery boy, including the user’s respective location.

After getting the okay status from the delivery boy, again customer will get notified that some X delivery boy is assigned to deliver the food at his location.

In between the delivery time, the user can track their order. It seems easy but developing this functionality is quite complex that tests the skills and patience of a food delivery app developer.

 

The Types of Food Delivery Apps

Majorly there are two types of food delivery application business model exists that commonly works worldwide.

 

1. Aggregator

It works as a common platform where users meet restaurants or vice versa. These aggregator apps have a common interface that can be used by the restaurants and users where the platform owner works as the mediator.

It showcases the list of local restaurants where users can order as per their choice. If the restaurant has its own delivery team, then it is okay, but if not, the user has to collect their own, and there will be no delivery support from the app’s parent company.

 

2. Food Delivery Platform with Logistic Support

Most of the food ordering apps or apps like Grubhub are working on this model. That gives delivery support to the restaurants and delivers food at the user’s location. While using these kinds of apps, a user can choose the desired food item from the online menu of any listed restaurant.

It provides comfort to the person that they can get their favorite food at their home without making efforts such as visiting the restaurants or exploring the menus or exploring the restaurant’s websites. If you plan to develop an Uber Eats clone, you need to take care of all these things, including listing restaurants, connecting users, and delivering services.

 

The Top 10 Players in The Food Delivery Industry

 

 

It is a global industry and one of the biggest revenue generation models. China has a large user base, and the US is the second-largest market for food delivery apps.

If you are interested in launching an online food ordering platform, then it would be best to look at the list of top 10 Players of the food delivery industry for informational purposes.

1. Uber Eats: It is a top-notch food delivery brand with having presence onn six continents.
2. Just Eat: It is a leading food delivery service provider in the UK and has a presence in Europe and Australia.
3. Grubhub: One of the leading online food ordering aggregators in the US, and till 2018, it was on the top with a 50% market share.
4. Doordash: The current leader holds significant US food ordering apps market share than other brands in the USA.
5. Postmates: It is a subsidiary of Uber Eats and covers 10% of the USA’s overall online food delivery market.
6. Deliveroo: It has a presence in 13 countries and has a major hold in the UK. Deliveroo is one of the top competitors of Uber and Just Eat.
7. Delivery Hero: It is expanded up to 40 countries as a promising food delivery platform.
8. me: It is powered by Alibaba Group and counted as one of the two major brands in China.
9. Meituan Dianping: it is another top online food ordering service provider in China.
10. Zomato: The top-notch food delivery app in India that acquired Uber Eats India in the year 2020.

 

Cost to Develop a Food Ordering App like Doordash

The Essential Features of Online Food Ordering System

 

When it comes to the food ordering app, you should note that it must have four segments: user panel, restaurant panel, executive delivery panel, and admin panel.

While developing projects, each mobile app development company focuses on these features to ensure the fine working of an app. Here the developers make four apps and combine them into one to produce the solution.

 

Let’s check out the features-

 

User Panel:

• Sign Up/Login
• Search Bar
• Cart
• Payment Options
• Google Map Enabled Order Tracking
• Feedback/ User Review
• Customer Support

 

Restaurant Panel:

• Login
• Menu/ Catalog Management
• Push Notification
• Checking & Replying to Reviews
• Delivery Status
• Payment Management

 

Delivery Panel:

• Registration
• Order Management
• Location Tracking
• Order Status
• Delivery Status

 

Admin Panel:

• Admin Login
• Data Analytics
• Report Generation
• Application Management
• Restaurant Management
• Payment Management
• Discount Offers Generation
• Technical Assistance to The User and Restaurant

These are the required features for apps like Uber Eats and almost suits all business model regarding ordering food online.

 

Why Do You Need An Online Food Ordering Application Or Solution?

 

Although it requires a cost without using appropriate technology, it is impossible to build a good solution that caters to restaurant food supply and ordering. So, let’s find out what kind of tech stack would be best.

 

Technology Stack Required For Food Delivery App Development

 

1. For Restaurant Listing Management

Grubhub API, FourSquare API. The GrubHub API is a web-based app that allows users to search about the food ordering from local restaurants or cafes. In addition, it allows admins to update restaurants’ information such as location, menu and working hours, etc. Information from 10 K+ restaurants can be retrieved.

2. For Payment Options

Stripe, Braintree, PayPal, and Square API. All these mentioned APIs represent the new age payment solutions received, and payment of the amount is quite easy, fast, and secure.

3. Location Tracking

Core Location Framework for Apple devices and Google Places API for Android devices. A user and a food delivery boy can both track the location with the help of these APIs. For finding the delivery location, Google Maps features are used.

4. Cloud Technology

For developing Cloud-based apps, most app development companies use Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.

5. Registration

Facebook SDK Login facilitates the users to register or sign up on the app smoothly.

6. For Storage

For storage of user’s data and other information, cloud storage is a great technology where some of the popular and best cloud storage services are Amazon Drive, Microsoft One Drive, MEGA, Autosync, etc.

 

The Challenges & Solutions While Developing Food App Clone

 

 

To develop a food app clone, you need to focus on many things, including cost, technology, features, and challenges. So, here we will focus on what kind of challenges can occur while developing meal delivery solutions.

 

1. Competition

Several apps like Uber Eats already exist in the market. There is already cutthroat competition, so it would be best to prepare a strategy for overcoming the existing market challenges. Here you need to promise and deliver the app having unique features that others do not have.

2. Tie-Up With Restaurants

for the success of an app and business growth, it is much needed that you must tie-up with multiple restaurants so the end-user can find the variety for ordering the food online. Here you can become a savior for the newly launched restaurants that have less advertising budget. It also helps you to generate trust, among others.

3. Interactive UI/UX

Interactive User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) are one of the most crucial things in providing the best experience to the user. For having the same, you need to hire dedicated app developers who have years of experience in developing the solutions for the food delivery and ordering industry like this.

4. MVP Features

Minimum Viable Product allows you to have honest feedback from the users to eliminate all the flaws before launching an app. Here the challenge is what features should include in MVP? It is advised that you should launch the MVP with all features and functionalities that end-users will use after installing the final version of an app. It will help obtain real feedback about the app.

5. The Technology Partner

Finding the right technology partner becomes complex, when there are multiple options, are available. To find the perfect software development company for food app solutions, you should check how many years of experience they have? What will be their team size? What kind of tech stack will they use to develop a food ordering app? And so forth.

 

The Conclusion

The global market for food delivery services was $100 billion in 2020, and it is projected to grow with a CAGR of 15.4%, 2020-2025. For the year 2025, the expected revenue forecast is USD 230 billion. That is perfect data for predicting that there are multiple chances for the success of a food delivery app.

The app owner needs to take care of the uniqueness of an app, including the best features & functionality, and marketing strategy to overcome the competitive challenges. The food delivery app development cost is depends on the number of features, tech stack, and platform, so before launching an app, it would be best to do some prior research before hiring the app developers.