If you live in an urban area then a food delivery app does not need an introduction. If you are not aware of them, this is also fine. By the end of this article, you will understand the complete food delivery app ecosystem. First of all we will understand this from a customer perspective. After this, we will talk about selling food online and then we will talk about the software. If you want to make food delivery software then also this article is helpful. If you are running a business or a hotel or a restaurant, you can create your own software. Read till the end to know everything about the food delivery companies, food delivery networks and a lot more.
What is a food delivery app ecosystem?
Let us start with the basic question. Many people only see one side where you just order something using a mobile application. But it is much more than this. Only the basics do not change. For example: if you are using a vegetable delivery software application, the process will be the same. Or in the case of Uber eats, you order food the same way. But there are sellers who ensure the products remain in stock and you get good quality. There are field executive jobs where the food delivery person is at the end of the supply chain network. This person is responsible for delivering fresh food at your doorstep. Restaurant staff who cooks food as and when the order comes. Technical team ensures the application remains bug free and the server is capable of handling additional traffic. And there is a company who is responsible to ensure the ecosystem keeps working uninterrupted.
Key stakeholders in a food delivery network
Same as an online education platform, you need to do a lot of homework. It can become a good start up business idea or a disaster. Everything depends on how clearly you understand the basics. Let us start with the important roles before getting into the technical details. There are three main stakeholders or user types in any food delivery software. All of them work together to make it a success. Even if one fails, the entire ecosystem will fail.
Customer or end user
This is probably the most important stakeholder in the entire food delivery app ecosystem. Because any product is useless if there are no takers. Therefore, if customers do not use the application, nothing else makes sense. Software companies do enough research about the user interface to ensure convenience. Not only this, the algorithm works as per customer eating habits. Companies do not want to leave even a single stone unturned to make the best food delivery app in the market.
Seller
Platform owner
The owner of the platform or the food delivery app is the one who develops the software. The whole responsibility of managing a food delivery app is with the platform owner. The platform owner connects the customer with the seller. For this service they charge some fee. You can call this platform fee or usage fee whatever suits better. Some people call it a commission or margin, food delivery companies keep with them. Normally, a food delivery software company keeps anywhere between 2 percent to 30 percent. The number depends on total sale, seller profile and customer location.
Create food delivery app
If you want to start a food delivery business then you can associate yourself with any of the famous apps. These existing apps are already famous. You do have to pay some commission but on the flip side they have an existing user base. If you want to increase the scale of business then you should consider many things. As per my experience to develop a food delivery software then you must think about the following things.
Food delivery app design
User interface is important for a good user experience and retention. If your application is complicated to use then it will be difficult to retain users for a long time. Once a bad experience is enough to lose potential customers. Use simple colors and easy to use designs. Use icons (images) to make it more attractive.
Performance
Your food delivery software should work fast. You cannot run business on a slow server. Make sure you are doing load testing before launching the software. This applies to any software application. Remember, your customers should spend more and more time using the app. But this time should not involve waiting for the page load.
Admin Section
This section is the most important part. From pending orders to monthly sales numbers, there are many important reports. You can download a list of admin features in a food delivery software from downloadfort.com. This will give you a fair idea about what should be done.
Seller Interface
If you want to add other restaurants to the application then you need a seller interface. If you want to be in the role of platform owner where you add restaurants then also you need a seller interface. All these sellers will be your vendors and part of the delivery network. This way you can expand your reach to more places. Same as the user interface, the seller interface should also be simple to use because most people are not too tech savvy. Due to this, make sure you do not create complicated software.
User Interface for Field Sales Executive
In any supply chain, a field sales executive is connected to the end customer. In a food delivery app, a field sales person will deliver the food at the customer’s doorstep. From delivery address to the location map, you must equip this person with every possible thing that ensures fast and safe delivery. Make sure you connect with some existing delivery personals, take feedback about the existing applications. You can also ask them about things to improve and then include in your system.
Who manages the food delivery software?
Most large companies like Uber eating App have inhouse software development teams. Smaller players outsource the technical part to some software company.
Cost of making a food delivery mobile application?
The cost of making a food delivery software depends on what you need. The more features you want, the more you need to pay. In addition the skill and experience of the software development team makes a lot of difference. For example: an experienced software developer will charge more than a freelance developer who just graduated from college.
How can I make food delivery software?
If you want to make food delivery software, you need to do research on all these things. Before spending your first dollar be sure. First of all, you need to analyze what you want. For example: you want food delivery software for your restaurant. The requirement will be individual. If you want to add another restaurant in the area, the requirements will be different. On the other hand, if you want to make it large, you will need a bigger team. These people will work to do research on customer requirements, design a good user interface and write the backend code. This collective effort will bring the solution.
How is food delivery software different from an online store?
Technically, the difference between an ecommerce website and a food delivery website is very small. But if you go into the details, you will find a significant difference. First of all, the deliveries are fast in comparison with a regular shopping website. The business model is completely different if you want to sell digital products. One more difference is the product itself. You cannot keep cooked food in warehouses. It has to be delivered fresh otherwise the customer would reject the delivery. Therefore, If you want to start an ecommerce website it is different from a food delivery website in many ways.