The Ultimate Roadmap For Food Delivery App Development: Features, Costs, And Industry Trends

Are you considering developing your own food delivery application? Don’t worry—you are not the only one indulging in this industry, which is more popular than ever. Apps like DoorDash and Deliveroo have changed the game, and there’s still plenty of room for innovative ideas to shine.

With more and more people craving convenience and quick meal solutions, food delivery apps are now quite popular. But building a good app for food delivery is not only about the features, it is about convenience and trust, which definitely brings more users.

The global food delivery market’s value is projected to soar to $1.79 trillion by 2028, making it a key growth sector. To make an impact, businesses need to equip their apps with features that exceed expectations. It is all about secure payments, delivery, and further additional options that concern safe food choices and compliance with high health requirements.

In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at what your app should include, calculate the cost of your app development, and discuss tendencies in the sphere of food delivery app development. 

Key Statistics Shaping the Food Delivery Landscape

Global Market Size: The global food delivery application market size is predicted to reach $2.5 billion in 2029 with rapid growth.

Most Used Application: Uber Eats stands as the most-used food delivery application worldwide, and the leader in user base is held by Delivery Hero.

Market leader: In the United States, the market is dominated by DoorDash, which maintains a market share of over 50%, making it the most popular meal delivery application.

Revenue Insights: Online food delivery alone generated more than $302.8 billion in revenue in 2021 and is still growing, reflecting increasing worldwide demand.

Features for Crafting a High-Impact Food Delivery App

The development of a successful food delivery app involves adding features that help make the work easier and more effective and make the customers happy with the app. Here’s a rundown of the essential food delivery mobile application features: 

1. Real-Time Order Tracking

Every successful firm offering food delivery services must incorporate order tracking into their application. This updates users on the status of their order, from preparation to delivery, increasing accountability and, thus, trust. Real-time updates enhance the usability of apps and services and have a positive effect on a brand.

2. Multiple and Secure Payment Options

Accepted payment options should be versatile, but at the same time, they must be safe and secure. Customers should be able to complete payment through credit or debit cards, wallets, or any relevant services. For the safety of the transaction, more advanced techniques of encryption, therefore, should be incorporated. 

As per Statista, electronic wallet transactions are expected to surpass $25 trillion worldwide by 2027, emphasizing the importance of this feature in app development.

3. Ratings and Reviews System

When a website contains active rating and review sections, the users have confidence in the products they are buying. It enables users to give feedback regarding the food or delivery service offered and this can help companies address problems they are facing in terms of quality. 

Based on the statistics presented earlier where 87% of consumers rely on the reviews before they make any decisions, this feature helps enhance credibility.

4. Push Notifications

With the help of Internet notifications, users can be engaged even outside the application. They can help in notifying the customers about their orders’ progress as well as special deals, and promotions. Push notifications have been proven to increase application usage rates by 88%, and for this reason, the feature is crucial to retention.

5. User Profile Management

Convenience is another parameter best improved by a well-optimized account management system, which includes preferences, favorite orders, and payment methods. Other useful features include the ability to place recurring orders and track them. 

Notably, 66% of users demand that businesses make adjustments to services based on their preferences which makes such functionality essential.

6. Loyalty and Rewards Programs

Rewarding the customers is another way of ensuring they give you repeated orders this can be achieved 

by using functions such as loyalty programs. Giving users a small form of saving, points, or a special offer builds customer trust and bond. 

According to research, 79% of consumers will remain loyal to brands that provide loyalty programs — proving the worth of the strategy.

Additional Key Functionalities to Include in Your Food Delivery App

To create a food delivery application it is crucial to define a proper set of features for each of them. The app should cater to four primary sections: the Admin Panel, Restaurant Panel, Delivery Partner Panel, or the User Panel. 

They improve the experience of all stakeholders, optimize performance, and offer appropriate control. Let’s evaluate the main characteristics of each section:

Food Delivery Business Models: Choosing the Right Approach

Choosing the appropriate business model is one of the most important strategic considerations an entrepreneur must make when developing a food delivery app. It specifies not only how your program works inside, but also how well it can sell and flourish in the market.  Here’s a look at the main models and their advantages and disadvantages.

1. Order-Only Model

This model brings the customers closer to restaurants by easing their access to each other. The platform handles order management, but restaurants are accountable for preparing and delivering the meals.

How It Works: Customers make their orders within the app and the restaurant takes care of the delivery. You get paid commissions which range between 7% – 15% of the total worth of order.

Advantages:

• Flexible which does not require a massive capital investment to begin.
• Enables restaurants to improve service delivery progressively.

Challenges:

• Lack of control over food choices and delivery provisions.
• Delivery planning is one of the most challenging processes in restaurants.

2. Order and Delivery Model

In this approach, your platform deals with the placement of the order and delivery, which is usually made through other companies. Companies such as DoorDash and Uber Eats are clear examples of this model.

How It Works: While the restaurants cook the food, your platform is in charge of delivering it. The delivery charges are embodied by the courier service whereby your app will earn commissions.

Advantages:

• No need to own and operate a delivery fleet to transport your goods.
• The ability to determine delivery fees independently.

Challenges:

• Customers pay fees to deliver products and services, which can discourage some users.
• There is intense competition in this area from well-established companies or players.

3. Fully Integrated Model

This model makes it possible for you to organize the food delivery right from preparation, packing, and delivery to the customer’s doorstep. This is best suited for organizations that operate in certain geographical regions with enclosed kitchen sections.

How It Works: You outsource everything, right from cooking, even packaging and delivering the food. This approach is usually useful to brands that wish to retain quality and gradually develop their image.

Advantages:

• The ability to monitor food quality and the freedom to choose the appropriate delivery time.
• There will be no dependence on external restaurants for meals.

Challenges:

• Significantly high initial costs for staffing in the kitchen and equipment.
• Restricted geographical network reach as it operates in a specific geographical area.

4. Aggregator Model

This model is an intermediary model where your platform works as a connector between restaurants and third-party delivery services. Unlike the order-only structure, the aggregator does not use its delivery network but rather, utilizes access to third-party delivery services.

How It Works: Your app mediates the orders and engages the delivery services to come and pick up the food.

Advantages:

• Involves less risk in the aspect of investment capital outlay.
• Multiple affiliations with various restaurants and delivery companies.

Challenges:

• Lack of ability to control operations of deliveries.
• Partnership and customer satisfaction play a vital role in success.

Building a Food Delivery App: Key Technologies to Consider

Among various factors, technology is critical in determining the success of a food delivery application. The choice of technologies and tools varies depending upon such things as scalability, user experience, and the platform whether to go for native or cross-platform or hybrid. 

Here’s an overview of the most important tools and technologies commonly used for developing food delivery apps.

How to Build a Mobile Food Delivery App: A Step-by-Step Guide

To create a unique concept for a mobile food delivery app, a certain plan is needed. Here’s a breakdown food delivery app development process, designed to ensure your app meets user expectations.

1. Understanding the Market

Market research is therefore the first step before venturing into the development of the business. Study your audience, and their interests, and evaluate the needs of the customer and competitors from your target segment. 

This stage is useful for identifying market gaps and ensuring that the app will satisfy the unique requirements of users. In this manner, a useful food delivery app can be created while standing out in a crowded market.

2. Strategic Planning

After gathering information, it is time to strategize. Identify the app’s goals, plan the development process, and select a logical resource distribution. This phase ensures that your project stays on track, and adheres to the appropriate timetables, and budget. Choosing the right frameworks and technologies during this phase is critical to a smooth development platform.

3. Crafting an Engaging User Experience (UX)

An attractive interface and app structure are the essential factors that define its success and popularity. Primarily, pay attention to a clear structure with easily operable navigation, beautiful graphics, a nice appearance of buttons and icons, and other interface features, including menus and forms for ordering. 

To enhance user satisfaction, incorporating feedback from potential users during the design of the app will prove useful in making the app satisfy the users’ expectations.

4. Development

This is where the technical work starts. Developers design the user interface and write the code on the app’s server, linking functionalities such as placing orders, payment types, and live order tracking. This facilitates the smooth running of the app since dependability guarantees security and the ability to address user load. 

For platforms like on-demand food delivery apps, features such as recommendations or well-structured administration can improve the services.

5. Ensuring Quality and Reliability

Testing is an important factor that should not be ignored in the development of any application. Perform quality assurance tests such as unit testing, integration testing, and this test from the user’s perspective. This step pinpoints any possible bugs within the application to give the consumers a perfect interface. To start with, a high-quality app designs user trust and lays down the foundation for the long run.

6. Launching and Maintaining the App

Once testing is complete, release the app for download from platforms like the Google Play Store and Apple Store. However, there is still more work to be done; in fact, regular follow-ups are necessary. To make the app functional, evaluate performance, reply to user reviews, and release updates. For your app to meet user expectations and market trends, updates and modifications must be made often.

Smart Ways to Monetize Your Food Delivery App

Food delivery apps aren’t only about great features they also should have a good revenue model. One of the necessary steps in the process of creating a successful app is to decide in advance how the app is going to make money in the future. Here are some tried-and-tested methods to generate income through your food delivery app:

1. Commission-Based Earnings

The most popular business model that can be used by food delivery apps is taking a commission from restaurants for every order made through your application. This model encourages restaurants to embrace your app and, at the same time, offer you a guaranteed stream of income.

2. Subscription Plans for Restaurants

If you wish to have a steady stream of income, then you can offer annual services to restaurants. This means that the restaurants who want to be listed in your app’s services pay some amount of monthly or annual fee to you. It also makes it possible to have a predictable revenue stream whilst at the same time offering value to restaurant owners.

3. Paid Advertising Opportunities

Advertising is actually quite profitable if you have a large base of users who would be subscribing to your app. A restaurant can post its menu items or get its brand placed as a banner ad or as a sponsored link. This not only creates revenues but also allows businesses to become familiar to users.

4. Delivery and Service Charges

Making customers pay for delivery is one of the simplest forms of revenue generation. If you are in charge of delivering your application, then you can include the cost of delivery in the fee. Also, providing extra services—like a choice of quicker delivery—may also be profitable.

5. Surge Pricing During Peak Hours

The concept of surge pricing is to capture the high-demand periods. Restaurants pay more for higher-priority orders during peak times or can pay an upgrade fee for faster service. This maximizes earnings at peak order volumes.

Emerging Trends in Food Delivery App Development

The food delivery app market is very dynamic, and there are always new trends that define business relationships and consumer behavior. Let’s explore some of the food delivery app trends that are expected to shape the future of food delivery app development:

1. AI and ML Integration for Personalization

The aspects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are gradually accumulating importance in the food delivery field. These technologies are helping customers through timely recommendations, efficient supply chain management, and the right delivery schedules. 

With the AI market expected to reach a CAGR of 36.6% between 2024 and 2030, the incorporation of such technologies will help optimize food delivery services.

2. Contactless Delivery for Safety and Convenience

After going through the pandemic, many are concerned with the safety of employees, companies, and customers. This is why contactless delivery has become an essential feature in food delivery apps to ensure that the customers are comfortable with the fact that their food is delivered to them without coming into direct contact with anyone.

The global online food delivery market is expected to grow by 42% to $1.92 trillion by 2029, with most of it being general deliveries.

3. Sustainability and Eco-Friendly Practices

Consumers are now more aware than ever of the ecological footprint associated with their buying choices. Hence, there is increased adoption of sustainability measures in food delivery apps, including recyclable packaging, and minimizing the carbon footprint on delivery. 

As 73% of the population is ready to switch products to environmentally friendly ones, the business world is adapting to environmental changes to offer consumers a sustainable service.

4. Subscription-Based Models for Convenience

In the food delivery business, more and more companies are turning towards subscription-based strategies. These models take orders for meal delivery on a daily or weekly basis, so buying food from such services is less expensive.

However, subscription-based e-commerce was $ 10 billion in 2019 and it is estimated to rise to $478 billion by 2025. This growth trend suggests that food delivery services could appeal to a vast customer base of those willing to pay for their monthly subscription.

5. Cloud Kitchen Revolution

Cloud or virtual kitchens are becoming increasingly popular in the food delivery market. These are packed kitchens that do not accommodate customers directly, thereby avoiding socially incurred overhead charges like ambiance. 

The cloud kitchen market is projected to continue its growth and become worth $154.9 billion in the year 2035. This trend is a perfect opportunity for businesses to concentrate on preparing top-notch meals and getting them to customers’ homes at a reduced cost of doing business.

Estimated Cost and Timeline for Food Delivery App Development

The price of developing a food delivery app can be quite different depending on the functionality, the complexity of an app, and the platform you want to release it on. Below is an estimated breakdown of the costs and development timelines based on different app complexities:

Build a Cutting-Edge Food Delivery App with TekRevol

Everyone loves good food, and the market for food delivery is constantly growing, with the CAGR expected at 10.3% for the global market up to $505.50 billion in 2030. This is the right time to enter and exploit the already existing market opportunity.

For anyone in the food delivery industry, ranging from restaurants, entrepreneurs, or even a business intending to start your own online food delivery service, having the right players is crucial.

As the leading On-demand app development company, TekRevol offers food delivery app development with the best user interface and all the features essential for success in today’s market.

With over 100+  successful projects under our belt, we’ve developed a deep understanding of the industry.  If you are interested in precisely understanding how we work and what we can do for you, you can check our portfolio.