Technology has changed the way we live by making our daily tasks easy & more convenient, like ordering food online. Using food delivery apps, people can easily order meals, helping save cooking time & trouble of going out.
According to Statista, around three billion people used food delivery apps in 2024, a number expected to double in just a few years. This growing shift offers an opportunity for businesses to go digital & attract more customers. If you are planning to start a new food delivery venture or upgrade an existing food delivery service to digital, now is the right time.
In this guide, we will explain how a food delivery app works, its key benefits, how it makes money, & how to create a food delivery app from scratch. Let’s dive into the details.
Market Overview and Opportunity
Over the past few years, the online food delivery market has doubled in size as a large number of people shifted online, and other factors like rapid urbanization and busy lifestyles have contributed.
The growth is going to rise, which has created a space for new startups and businesses to enter this market. Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub, and Zomato are the top giants in the online food delivery industry across the world.
Types of Food Delivery Models
Before creating a food ordering app, explore the types of business models in the food delivery industry. Each model has specific objectives and is designed for a distinct niche and needs, such as:
- Food Delivery App for Single Restaurants
- Multi-Outlet Food Ordering App for Restaurant Chains
- Cloud Kitchen and Home Delivery App Solution
- Food Truck Pre-Order and Delivery App
- Fast-Food Restaurant Delivery App
- Food Aggregator Platform or On-Demand Food Delivery Startup
How to Create a Food Delivery App: A Step-by-Step Guide
The demand for food ordering online is increasing rapidly. If you want to know how to create a food delivery app, follow this comprehensive guide.
1. Define Your Business Model
To create food delivery app, first you need to identify the niche of your business, which means the type of business model you should choose to run the business. You have two types of business models:
- Order-Only Model The platform facilitates orders, but the restaurant or vendor handles the delivery.
- Order-and-Delivery Model The platform handles both the ordering process and delivery logistics.
2. Research and Competitor Analysis
Conduct a deep research on your top competitors and analyze their features, UI/UX, strengths, & weaknesses. Also, focus on your audience's needs & pain points, and keep updated with latest mobile app development trends.
This approach will help you fill the gap in the industry and learn how to create online food delivery app that redefines user experience.
3. List the Core Features of the App
When it comes to creating a food ordering app, the features are the core element of the platform that help grab the audience's attention, improve user experience, and retain them. A food delivery app typically has 4 interfaces, including features:
- For Customers: This interface has registration, search, menu, payment, and tracking features.
- For Restaurants: This interface has menu management, order tracking, and analytics features.
- For Delivery Partners: This interface shows order alerts, navigation, earnings, and other features.
- Admin Panel: This is a dynamic dashboard that allows admins to control user profiles, payments, reports, etc.
4. Design the User Experience
Choosing the right mobile app development frameworks is important to create a food delivery app with a user friendly & responsive UI. This ensures that your platform runs smoothly on all types of devices.
5. Choose the Right Teck Stack
With right tech stack, you can create your own delivery app that fulfills your specific needs & customer demand as well. The technology you choose defines the overall performance of your app. Platform compatibility, front-end and back-end technologies, third-party tools, & other technical factors also play a crucial role in it.
6. Develop the App
There are various methods to learn how to create a food delivery app, but building an app is not as easy as it sounds. If you're stuck anywhere and need help, then hire a reputed mobile app development team for guidance.
7. Testing and QA
Once the development (process of creating a food ordering app) is completed, test the application to examine the quality, performance, functionality, security, and UX. You must try beta testing with real users to get feedback, find issues, and optimize for optimal performance.
8. Launch and Deployment
After completing the testing, compliance with Google Play & App Store submission guidelines is required to get the app live. To promote your platform, create meaningful marketing campaigns using social media or a press announcement through email. Planning a successful launch and using App Store Optimization best practices will help your app create a buzz in the competitive online food delivery industry.
9. Post Launch Support and Updates
To create a food delivery app that keeps working smoothly at all times, regularly updating it and improving the features are necessary. Analyze the app performance and user feedback to improve the experience. Along with it, you must provide customer support so your customers can reach out to you and send feedback & suggestions.
How Does a Food Delivery App Work?
Before moving on to how to create an online food delivery app, we will understand how a food delivery app works.
1. Customer Places the Order
A customer downloads a food delivery app/platform/portal and signs up. Then, he/she browses the restaurant menus to pick the items and adds them to the cart. Now, apply for any discount coupon if available and proceed with the payment. By sharing the location & contact details, a user allows delivery personnel to reach their doorstep conveniently.
2. Restaurant Receives the Order
After placing the order, the restaurant gets the order notification. If the vendor accepts the order, the notification of acceptance is also sent to the customer.
3. Order Preparation
Next, the restaurant starts preparing the ordered food, and the dashboard of the platform displays to users that the food is getting ready. Once the order is prepared, it is packed and assigned to a delivery partner.
4. The Delivery Agent is Assigned
The message of food ordering reaches the nearby delivery agent, and he/she come to the restaurant to pick up the order and deliver.
5. The Order is Picked Up
The portal notifies the customer that the food has been taken by the delivery partner from the restaurant and is now on the way. The delivery partner has access to the customer's location to reach the destination, and customers also track the real-time location details of the delivery.
6. Order Gets Delivered
When the delivery agent arrives at the destination, a message pops up on the phone screen, “Order has arrived.” Then, the delivery partner contacts the customer and hands over the food package. The app also sends a notification that says delivery is confirmed.
7. Order Completion and Review
Once customers receive their order, they can share their feedback or experience about the restaurant service, food quality, and also give ratings to the delivery person.
How Food Delivery App Makes Money
Want to create your own delivery app to expand your customer base and generate revenue? There are 5 major ways for a food delivery business to make money, listed below.
1. Commission From Restaurants
Admin charges a commission on each order placed through the platform. The customer pays the amount for the order received by the admin. And the admin credits the amount to the restaurant’s account after deducting the commission.
2. On-site Restaurant Promotions
Admin charges an additional fee from registered merchants who want to promote their food service through ads on the platform.
3. Subscription Model for the Merchants
Admin may create various subscription packages for individuals, multiple restaurants, and corporations. When a merchant registers on the platform, selecting a subscription model as per the business needs is required. With the subscription, admins earn pre-decided fees from the merchants.
4. Third-Party Advertisements
Admins can run third-party advertisements on the platform/app to promote brands & earn extra money.
5. Delivery Fee
The amount of delivery charge is decided by the admin. By increasing the delivery charges or adding some other service to extend the amount, the admin can make more money.
Cost of Developing a Food Delivery App
The cost of creating a food ordering app depends on a vast number of factors. Whether you want to create your own delivery app from scratch or upgrade an existing one, the features, platform compatibility, & specific demands play a crucial role in deciding the cost of development.
Key Cost Factors
1. Features: A basic app with essential features costs less, while a complex food delivery app with more advanced features increases the cost of development.
2. Platform: It is less costly to create food delivery app with a single platform like iOS and Android, while developing a cross-platform app costs more.
3. Specific Demand: If you want to add any specific feature to your platform, then it may increase the cost of development based on the demand.
Conclusion
This guide explained how to create a food delivery app from the ground up, whether you're a restaurant owner looking to expand your reach or a startup founder entering the digital food space. If you want to create your own delivery app, but are not sure where to start, then hire a recognized food delivery app development company like Invoidea.
With a team of skilled developers who specialize in building a food ordering app, we have earned a strong reputation for excellence in our work. We do not just share tips on how to create an online food delivery app, but also deliver a personalized one that brings your vision to life and fulfills the needs of your targeted audience.
