As one famous American author jokes, «All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.» A bottle of good wine and a good piece of cheese doesn’t hurt too, we can add. And everyone who reads these lines can put into the list of purchases something he truly likes. The good thing is that you don’t have to go to the shop or to the cafe if you feel hungry. Just several clicks, and the food you thought of is on the threshold of the house or flat.
Delving in business reports and analytics, you’ll find a plethora of numbers that testify that the number of delivery app’s users will be increasing. If the trend continues, the researchers predict $42 billion of revenue in this niche to be reached by 2025.
We had no doubt: everyone wants to have a magic tablecloth in his pocket. So, if the puzzle of how to create a delivery app is buzzing in your head, join us to explore the alchemy of the development process.
How delivery app works
To create a delivery app, you need to go through three stages. But let’s not get ahead of our skis and first define what a delivery app is. When we’re talking about it, we mean a platform that lets customers find food they actually like, book it and get as was promised. At the same time restaurants can use the app to get more orders for take away food. And the courier service can use it for tracking the orders for delivery. As you see, in order to create a delivery app, you might need three apps for the participants of the whole process. But don’t be upset with complexity. There’s a leak to make it cheaper without sacrificing functionality. We’ll share the secret further.
Create a delivery app: where to start?
What makes people use the existing solutions? What is cute in them and what can be performed better? How to make the process of ordering more simple and the service more delightful for customers? Ask yourself these questions and digg into research of the core features of real delivery apps. Make a list of those features you’re excited about. This will be a guideline for the development team to understand and create a delivery app exactly which you imagine.
Who are the main players?
Though the food delivery market in the US is overcrowded, there’s always a privileged place for those who aren’t afraid of experiments and innovative solutions. To compete with DoorDash, Grubhub and UberEats, you need to be inventive and passionate about user experience. Try to figure out their shortcomings and turn them into your strong sides. More amazing design, faster service, larger choice, lazer-like focused filters, new system of bonus awarding … There’s always a door to success for those who are trained to think out of the box.
So, first define the main idea of your project and key features it requires. As this part of work is done, look for an appropriate contractor. Through mutual brainstorming, you can get over to the second step in order to create a delivery app and check how its features feel in practice. We’re talking about making a clickable prototype as a working visualization of your idea. And all the functions are actual and the «appearance» of the app is cute, you can invest into development of full functionality.
How to select business niche and monetization strategies
What will determine the uniqueness of your project idea? To create a delivery app that can be noticed by users, try to focus your efforts on something essential and obtainable. Amazon now offers all kinds of goods but they started delivering books. You can choose a narrow niche specializing in baby food, vegetarian menu or halal. But also, it can be a cool idea to organize a wide choice of food determined locally: all groceries, cafes, restaurants, pastry shops and farmer’s shops. As far as people like to make pleasant gifts, the cooperation with flower shops and jewelry shops can be beneficial. Think wider and you can figure out the type of service customers dreamt of.
Targeting to create a delivery app that is profitable, think through the diversity of ways of how you can charge money. The foresight approach is to combine different sources of monetization. We systemized them in order from the most efficient to the least.
Ads
The app can promote some offerings from cafes, restaurants or grocery shops in order to increase their sales.
Passes
Customers are ready to buy special opportunities on definite periods: access to bonuses and special prices, better customer support and free delivery.
Delivery fee
To charge money from users for every delivered piece is an out of date practice, as for us. But there are many companies which still increase their revenue through it.
Commissions
To ask payment from every sale is another way to create a delivery app that can generate income. In this case the financial burden is set on restaurants and shops.
If you’re able to think out of the box, you can invent your own paid features. For example, let people buy subscriptions on food delivery or in partnership with other companies offer auctions for specific goods.
Which technology fits better
If you have a strong intention to create a delivery app within a decent budget and deliver it to the market as fast as it’s possible, React Native is worth considering. As there’s a big part of coinciding coding for various platforms, it feels as a rewarding choice due to the possibility of creating 1, 2 or 3 versions of the app instead of the 3 to 6 in native coding for iOS and android. As a result, it decreases the time required for app development. So, if your task is to get a valuable product within several months and on an affordable budget, React Native is definitely worth attention.
For example, at Purrweb the developers are able to create a delivery app with complex functionality in just half a year. It’s a very good timeline for a serious solution.
«If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world,» J.R.R. Tolkien noticed. And the guys at Purrweb are always ready to help you make this world a more convenient, cozier and merrier place.
