How to Make a Food Delivery App

Building a food delivery service like Uber Eats is a complex undertaking that requires the coordination and collaboration of several components. To create a name for yourself in the online food market, you’ll need a clear plan for developing your food delivery software. Using Uber Eats as an example, we’ve outlined several key steps that restaurateurs must launch comparable online businesses. The following points will guide you through making your food delivery app.

1. Market Research

The first step is to conduct extensive research about your competitors and the food industry trends. We should also analyze the target audience. For example, if you want to target corporate, you should offer freshly prepared meals. If you’re going to appeal to college students, though, you must provide fast food choices.

2. Delivery Model

The two models from which you can choose are:

Order-only model

Food delivery applications link customers with restaurants and allow interactions between them under the order-only model. Companies are solely responsible for taking or managing orders in this instance, whereas restaurants handle the delivery themselves.

Order and delivery model

The Company is in charge of handling and delivering orders. The Uber Eats app serves as a restaurant aggregator as well as a delivery service. It operates based on a typical meal delivery business, with partners-restaurants listed in an app. At the same time, the firm distributes orders using its logistical network.

Let us now look at the Architecture and design principles of online food delivery apps.

From an architecture flow

From the design principles, the app has to be

• User-centric

• The app should be in such a way that it helps the users to navigate and to solve a problem that they have. The app design should also be suitable for a variety of age groups and locations of people.

• Simple to use
  • The app should be easy to learn and to use. Complex flow and screens will only put people off, and they will sign out and never return to the app.
• Fast loading
  • App users will not be waiting for the app to load. We should develop the app in such a way it loads fast enough.
• Frictionless Registration
  • The users need to feel that they are putting too much effort into signing into an unknown app. We have to make sure that we give the users some free trial and make them comfortable with the app. We should then gradually prod them into signing up. The forms should also not be very long and time-consuming for the people to sign up.

We should consider the features of the app based on the features that go into the three stakeholders in the app – Customer, Restaurant, and Driver.

1. Features for Customer App

•       Easy account creation and registration

You must have a simple account creation process. Otherwise, the user may abandon your app. The registration procedure should be quick, allowing people to sign up in a matter of seconds. Integrate your social media platforms with your app as well so that consumers can log in fast using their social media accounts. This essential functionality must be considered while building an app.

•        Locating Well-Known Restaurants and Cafes

To develop a food delivery service like Uber Eats, you’ll need to give various restaurant options. So, conduct thorough research on the region you’ve chosen and make a list of all the popular restaurants. People prefer to use GPS to find the top or local restaurants, so provide them with various search choices. They may also search for restaurants depending on special offers and discounts. Also, offer them a complete list of the restaurant’s details, including pricing, menus, pictures, addresses, and reviews. They should be able to pick items from menus and add them to their cart.

•       Ordering and Tracking

Anyone should be able to order from your online food management system. Food products should be able to be added and removed from users’ carts. The food ordering procedure as a whole should be quick. Users should also be able to track their food using GPS. This helps them to keep informed about their whereabouts.

•       Secured Payment

Provide your customers with a variety of secure, fast, and safe payment methods. Payment integrations such as Google Pay, Paytm, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, etc., are available.

•       Notifications

You may send push notifications to your clients to inform them of order progress and special offers.

•       Review and Ratings

When people order from a restaurant, they love to tell others about their experiences. Allow people to leave evaluations and ratings about their experience.

2. Features for Delivery Partner

•       Delivery Partner’s profile: A driver can use this function to maintain his profile up to date. His full name, address, email, phone number, photo, and other personal details are included.
•       Notification for orders: Drivers may receive regular updates and alerts for new orders via push notifications. It will aid in your restaurant’s accurate delivery service.
•       Map for the delivery route: Allow drivers to pick the quickest and fastest ways to the destination by integrating Google Maps or other sources.

3. Features of Food Partners/ Restaurants

•       Restaurant Profile/Menu: A restaurant owner may use this function to enter information about their restaurant, such as the menu and its availability, pricing, preparation hours, and so on.
•       Notification for orders: Restaurants may receive regular updates and alerts for new orders via push notifications. It will aid in your restaurant’s accurate delivery service.
•       Pickup Partner Notifications: They will receive notifications regarding delivery partners, their pickup location, and so on.
•       Payment Details: Information about the payment collected for their orders from the food delivery system

4. Features for Food Ordering System Admin

•       Restaurant management: From the admin interface, you can manage all of the restaurants by adding, editing, and deleting any restaurant from the list. He can also see if the establishment is still open.
•       Analytics & report generation: You can obtain real-time insights into reports and other accounting information using analysis and report tools, which helps you discover growth and possibilities to extend reach.
•       Monitoring every action: All food orders, delivery partners, deliveries, evaluations & ratings of delivery partners, canceled orders, and other vital data about the driver’s performance should be monitored.

High-Level Design

Why are food delivery apps on the rise nowadays?

The food delivery business is estimated to be around $90 Bn over the next few years. In multiple markets, the growth rates are over 40% year on year. The advantage of the food business is the repeat business nature of the customer. The lifetime value of the customer will be so high. The food app also lets the Company stay in touch with the customer, analyze the patterns and recommend the correct type of food to the customer to enhance regular consumption.

Common challenges when building a food delivery app:

Every day, a large number of new clients have been attracted to the food delivery app company. Many rivals have joined the market with increased thrust and drive as the market base, and prospects have grown. As a result, the market has become more competitive and challenging for firms to capture.

• The Major Setback is an unsteady customer base.
• The market’s prices are just as unstable.
• Food quality is inconsistent.
• Getting ready for the demand of customers.
• The bigger fish (successful apps like UberEats, Swiggy, Zomato) eats the smaller ones.

To conclude, we can begin with an app with minimalistic features to make a business go off the ground. The app can then be gradually customized according to the needs of the Company. The scalability can be built into the app based on the growing business.

https://www.valueappz.com/blog/scalable-architecture-build-high-volume-food-delivery-marketplace