Create A Food Delivery App: Its Cost, Features, Tech-Stack and Business Model

How to create a food delivery app and how much did it cost you? Many experienced app developers would answer this question with the estimation ranging from $20,000 to $35,000+! But what exactly you will get under these pricing and why there is a gap between these estimations…

If you are thinking about developing a food delivery app to compete with industry giants like Uber Eats or Deliveroo, then you are probably on the right track. 

Did you know that the average American spends around $152 on food delivery every month? At first, it might seem unimportant, but later you will be surprised to know that businesses are earning up to 15%-30% on each food order.

Moreover, during a pandemic, food delivery apps are one such domain that has witnessed a sky touching sales. In fact 86% of Amercians are using Food Delivery apps and it is expected that the total sales will generate over $1 trillion revenue by 2024. 

Other Key Statistics of Food Delivery Market

• In fact, market volume for grocery delivery is projected to be $0.79 trillion in 2024.
• In the meal delivery market, the number of users is expected to reach 2.5 billion users by 2024.
• The user penetration in the Meal Delivery market will be approximately 27.5% in 2024. 

These facts and figures are portraying the progressive demand for food delivery apps. However, whether you are a startup or a leading entrepreneur planning to venture into the food delivery business, its development cost will always be a central concern. 

So whether your aim is to develop a food delivery app for your restaurant, establish a grocery delivery store or a common platform like UberEats that handles everything in one app, you need expert advice that help you translate the app idea into a perfect solution. 

Feeling lost and unsure about which business model to choose for your food delivery app startup? Alcax, a leading food delivery app development company, has a core tech team with 300+ projects delivered in different niches, including food delivery apps. So don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for cost estimation within 48 hours!

Why There Is Still A Surging Demand For Food Delivery Apps?

The online or on-demand food ordering and delivery business has been flourishing for many years. And pandemic has given skyrocket the demand for online food delivery services surged. People use various mobile apps to search for foods and keep hoping for new food delivery apps that add more convenience and offer quick food delivery. At present, customers prefer using food delivery apps to order food online and the demand for such services continues to grow. 

Though the concept of food delivery is not new, restaurants are now using their own dedicated restaurant apps and leveraging the online food ordering system. However, today, food delivery services are not just limited to food deliveries.

Businesses planning to invest in Food Delivery apps can accommodate different categories into the app like groceries, raw food items, other food  varieties. In fact, using the concept of food delivery apps, Restaurant owners are upgrading their business to cloud kitchen models for food delivery services. 

Food tech-startups looking to multiple on-demand food ordering services, can hire Android app developers to kickstart their project, but still if you are in doubt, then you need to go through these facts and stats…

Global Food Delivery Market Revenue Statistics

• The global food delivery market revenue is projected to attain $1.45 Trillion by 2027 and expected to grow at the CAGR of 12.33%.

• According to the reports, 70.39% restaurants are using food delivery apps and gaining traction.

• The revenue in the online food delivery industry is expected to grow by $449,292 million worldwide and in the US alone it is predicted to make $45,332 million by 2025. 

Considering the recent scenario with these statistics, it is fair enough to say that food delivery apps will continue to grow. So if you are planning for a food delivery app development, you have landed at the right blog. Let’s understand how to create a food delivery app using the simple step-by-step guide.

How To Create A Food Delivery App Like UberEats In 2024?

Creating a custom food delivery app can be a simple process especially when you know how to start and what to include in the app development process. And the simple technique to get started with the food delivery app development process is to just map out your thought process and make a list of features you’d like to include in your app and then choose a programing language to code the app and then deploy it to the app store adhering to each store’s guidelines. 

But for many tech startups, this seems to be too complicated to follow. So the other way to go about this is to hire a react native app developer to create a cross-platform food delivery app.  

Still, here we are guiding the basic steps to build a food delivery app using the minimal steps:

Step 1: Make a Competitive Market Analysis

Before you dive into the app development process, just understand what exactly you are trying to get from this app solution. What does a successful food delivery app look like? What features will it include?

To get the answer to this question, just analyze your competitors and understand their strategies. Who are your potential customers and what exactly they have been looking into your app. 

Step 2: Understand Your Business Goals

Determine your business requirements and customize the app that matches the needs of the target audience. Basically there are two types of food delivery app models:

• Dedicated Food Delivery App
• Aggregator Food Delivery App 

Apart, if you wish, then you can opt to develop a clone of UberEats or Postmate app- which is a perfect order and delivery model and allows restaurants to work together with a delivery company and be able to target a large user segment. 

Step 3: Prioritize the Features and Functionalities

While various similar features do exist among all the top food delivery apps, some enterprises go beyond just normal features. They desire a customized food delivery app with distinctive features tailored to their business model and add the unique selling point (USP). But at the same time, the increasing number of features can lead to a higher budget.

This is where, stay focused on your primary purpose and business model, and identify the essential features that align with your goals. 

Step 4: Find the Development Team

To create an on-demand food delivery app, it is worth outsourcing the app development company that provides access to a complete app development team under one roof. Make you have a team of 5+ developers, project manager, UI/UX designer and app tester. 

Step 5: App Testing and Deployment

Once you develop an app, make sure the testing team conducts a quality analysis to eliminate all coding errors and bugs. After that, allow your tech team to upload it to the respective stores. 

Following all these simple steps, one such question that keeps hitting your mind is, what features and functionalities you need to include in your app…

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Important Features To Create A Food Delivery App

Developing a successful food delivery app involves all the essential features tailored to the needs of different users including restaurant owners, customers, drivers, and admin. And each panel is developed with a different set of features to make it work flawlessly. 

Customer Side Features

• Login: Make sure you offer an easy and secure user authentication process and allow them to login the app using email ID or Mobile.
• Search Menu: Let users efficiently browse restaurant menus using the search bar.
• Cart: Allow users to add, remove, and review items before checkout.
• Payment Integration: Make sure you provide support for multiple payment options (credit/debit cards, digital wallets, etc.) and allow users to make in-app payment.
• Order Tracking: Let users access these features for real-time updates on order status and delivery.
• Rating and Review: With these features, users can provide feedback or rating on food and delivery services.
• Customer Support: Access to help and support for any issues using the in-app chat/call system.

Restaurant Side Features

• Login: Let restaurant owners create their profile and have secure access for restaurant staff.
• Menu Management: Let restaurant owners update and manage menu items, prices, and availability on a regular basis.
• Push Notification: With these features, let them receive alerts for new orders and updates.
• Checking Rating and Review: Monitor customer feedback to improve service.

Delivery Side Features

• Registration: Offer easy signup and verification process for delivery personnel.
• Order Management: Let them view and manage assigned orders.
• Updating the Order Status: Let the receive real-time updates on order pick-up, in-transit, and delivery completion.

Admin Side Features

• Admin Login: Offer secure access for administrators.
• Restaurant Management: Admin has a right to add, remove, and manage restaurant partners.
• Application Management: Allow admin panel to oversee app functionality and performance and let them maintain transparency throughout the process.
• Payment Management: Monitor and manage transactions and payouts without any hassle and blunders.
• Discount Offers and Coupons: Create and manage promotional offers depending upon the events, occasions and days.
• Technical Assistance: Provide support and troubleshooting for all users for the smooth and hassle free app performance.

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Tack-Stack Required For Food Delivery App Development

Food delivery apps are a comprehensive app structure which requires you to choose appropriate technology that makes it work like a well-oiled machine. Secondly, selecting the right tech stack is critical for building scalable and robust food delivery apps. 

With the emerging technologies and trends, it becomes tough to make an appropriate choice as it also affects development cost, app performance and user experience. Therefore, here we have listed few top technologies used for food delivery app:

• Frontend Development: React Native, Flutter, Swift, Kotlin
• Backend Development: Node.Js, Django, Ruby On Rails
• Database Management: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MySQL
• Real-Time Features: Firebase, Socket.io
• Payment Gateways: Stripe, Paypal, Braintree
• Geolocation Services: Google Maps API, Mapbox

Rest of the tech choice is majorly depending upon the complexity of the app and what type of features you are considering incorporating in your app.

How To Make Money From A Food Delivery App?

No matter how complex your app structure is and what technologies you are trying to use to make a successful app, your ultimate goal is to make money from this app module. Though there are many ways to make money from your food delivery app, all you need is to use the right monetization strategy. 

If you are planning on creating an on-demand food delivery app like UberEats, DoorDash, Grubhub and more, then you need to choose a commission model. Here are the top monetization strategies they use to make money:

App	Monetization Model	Details
UberEats	Commission Fees	Charges restaurants a commission fee on each order (typically 15-30%).
	Delivery Fees	Customers pay a delivery fee for each order, which can vary based on distance.
	Subscription (UberEats Pass)	Offers a monthly subscription for free delivery on orders over a certain amount.
DoorDash	Commission Fees	Takes a percentage of each order from restaurant partners.
	Delivery Fees	Customers pay a fee for each delivery, which varies based on location and demand.
	Subscription (DashPass)	Monthly subscription providing free delivery on orders over a specific amount.
GrubHub	Commission Fees	Restaurants pay a commission on each order.
	Delivery Fees	Customers are charged a delivery fee per order.
	Promotional Listings	Restaurants can pay for higher visibility in search results.
Postmates	Commission Fees	Charges a commission on orders from partnered restaurants.
	Delivery Fees	Delivery fee charged to customers, which may include surge pricing during peak times.
	Subscription (Postmates Unlimited)	Monthly subscription for free delivery on orders over a certain amount.

How Much Does It Cost To Create A Food Delivery App?

The cost to develop a food delivery app actually varies significantly based on the app’s features, complexity and scale. On an average, developing a small-scale food delivery app can cost between $15,000 to $20,000+ whereas the advanced app version with modern functionalities can range between $35,000 to $50,000+. 

The entire process can take up to 3 months from start to finish. The process of creating a food delivery app would include conceptualization of the app, creating a team of app developers (that includes backend/frontend developer, UI/UX designer, Project Manager and Quality Assurance Analyst), developing the UX, building prototypes; wireframing; designing graphics and icons of the app, and then lastly app coding. 

These are the basic team requirements to create a food delivery app, rest it can be scaleup up depending upon complexity of the app. With this team structure, the basic food delivery app will cost between $12,000 to $15,000+. However, larger enterprises with more resources and funding flexibility can hire mobile app developers with better skills and experience to create custom food delivery apps. 

All in all, if you are a startup and looking to get started with food delivery services with a minimal investment, then opt for MVP food delivery solutions. It will be starting from $5000 to $10,000+ depending upon the requirements and later it can scale up with advanced features. 

Conclusion 

With this blog guide, you must have gained the idea about developing an on-demand food delivery app and how this industry is growing. If you are looking for ways to become a part of this progressive industry, then you can consider this blog guide and get answers to all your questions. 

Alcax is a leading top mobile app development company that help in customizing food delivery apps using the modern strategy and agile development method that perfectly aligns with your business goals. Our tech-expert at Alcax has an in-house app development team that evaluates your business goals and accordingly customize the features and technologies to add edge. 

If you have any specific queries or requirements, then you can drop a query below or contact us.

FAQs

If you still have any doubt about developing a food delivery app, then consider our Frequently asked question and answer section covering all the important questions here.