By Jerry smith 
1. Introduction
Food ordering apps have transformed the F&B industry forever, with more customers preferring to get food at their doorsteps instead of visiting the restaurant. Undoubtedly, hygiene is a concern, but what matters more for consumers is the convenience. All they have to do is choose their favorite dish, place an order, and enjoy their meal. However, this changed behavior of consumers has also opened significant entrepreneurship opportunities for everyone.
If you are also the one looking to build a food ordering app and earn a great return on investment, you have landed at the right place. This blog will tell you all about how to develop a food ordering app, what the process should be, what the things to take care of and much more. Let’s get started-
2. Market Statistics for Food Ordering Apps
Before you create a food ordering app, it is important to have a glance of the market you are planning to enter. So, here is some data that portrays the growth opportunities and vastness of industry.
- According to Statista, the online food delivery market size is all set to achieve a valuation of $1.39 trillion by the end of 2025.
- With a compound annual growth rate of 7.64%, the same market is expected to achieve a valuation of $2.02 trillion by 2030.
- Gen Z seems to be the biggest user base of these platforms with 69% of them opt for food delivery than any other option.
- Moreover, it is estimated that more than 2.5 billion people around the world will be ordering their food online by 2027.
3. Why Your Business Needs a Food Ordering App
If you are a restaurant business owner, online food ordering app development is a necessity rather than an option. Not only will it help you to reach a wider audience, the customer loyalty will also increase. Let’s explore some of the reasons why you should build an online food ordering app.
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Expand customer base
When you create a food ordering app, the restaurant expansion becomes very easy. With online food ordering, you allow the customer beyond the geographical boundaries of your area to know about your menu and order food. Thus, the customer base gets multiplied in less time.
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Improve order management
The online food ordering app also comes with a separate panel that help you to manage multiple orders with accuracy. Whether it is prioritizing the orders, entertaining the request from customers, or managing the quantity, everything can be controlled in real time.
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Enhance customer experience
When you build an online food ordering app, customers can access the menu, make table reservations, rest for special services like celebrations or gatherings, opt for discounts and offers, and much more. All of these things contribute towards a marvelous customer experience.
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Build brand loyalty
Food ordering app development helps strengthen the brand presence in the market. If you are serving the taste with convenience, there is no doubt that the customer will be placing more frequent orders from your restaurant. Also, it is easier to share menu and food on social media that further increases your customer base.
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Stay competitive in a digital-first market.
Opting for food ordering app development brings the first-mover advantages to your business. If your competitors have not moved online, this decision can play a significant role to establish your brand on the online marketplace and bring competitive advantages.
4. Step-by-Step Process to Create a Food Ordering App
The approach to creating a food ordering app might differ from one development partner to another. However, the phases are mostly the same. Here is an ideal process to build a food ordering app.
4.1 Define Your Business Objective
The first thing that you need to ensure is a clear business objective. You must have a vision of business goals that you want to achieve in order to create a food ordering app. The vision will help you create a personalized development roadmap.
4.2 Choose the Right App Model
There are different types of models that you can choose from and build a food ordering app. For example, there is an order-only model, an order and delivery model, a vendor model, etc.
4.3 List the Core Features and Functionalities
It is important that you have a clear list of features and functionalities that you want to see in your solution. It will allow you to curate a practical and more optimal budget for the project.
4.4 Conduct Target Market Research
Know your target audience and what they are expecting. Understanding your audience is going to help in designing, marketing, and deploying the right monetization model.
4.5 Set a Realistic Budget
You must have a realistic budget to build a food ordering app. The right budget will help you partner with the right food delivery app development company.
4.6 Partner with an Experienced App Development Company
This step is the answer to how to develop a food ordering app. Now you have to partner with a good company that can help you with designing the solution, providing the prototype, crafting the frontend & backend, integrating the right APIs, performing quality tests, and deploying the solution.
5. How Does a Food Ordering App Work?
During the online food ordering app development, it is ensured that the workflow of a food ordering app is kept simple. Here is the ideal working mechanism of a food delivery app-
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The user browses the menu.
The process begins with the customer opening the app and surfing through the menu to choose the dishes.
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Places order
The customers add the dishes, quantity, and special requests into the cart, select the right address, choose the payment methods, and place the order.
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The restaurant confirms and prepares
The restaurant instantly receives the orders and either confirms or rejects the order. When confirmed, the restaurant begins preparing the order.
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The delivery partner picks up.
As soon as food is about to get ready, the delivery partner is informed with a pickup notification. Within minutes, the delivery partners pick up the food from the restaurant.
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The user tracks the order.
The complete process is shared with the customers through the app interface. The customer can track the order at any point in real time.
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Payment and feedback
The customer receives the order, makes the payment, and is allowed to provide feedback for the restaurant, food, or even the delivery partner.
6. Build Your Food Ordering App with A3Logics
A3Logics is a leading online food ordering app development company with experience of more than decade in this industry. Along with the technical expertise, our soft skills offer a satisfied answer to “how to develop a food ordering app” by deploying a seamless development process. Here are our core competencies that make us the best development company.
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End-to-end development
From ideation to deployment and maintenance, A3Logics offers end-to-end development support to its clients.
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Custom solutions for restaurants or startups
We build custom solutions from scratch while imparting each feature according to the personalized client’s preference. Our cost-efficient offering makes services accessible to startups as well as enterprises.
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Scalable architecture and latest tech stacks
Our team ensures a scalable technical stack that offers a seamless experience to an increasing customer base.
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Dedicated support and maintenance
We offer ample maintenance and support after the deployment that promises feature integration, periodic maintenance, and updates.
7. Conclusion / Let’s Wrap Up
Restaurants planning to build a food ordering app can leverage huge advantages and expand their business without a brick-and-mortar infrastructure. However, it is important that they know how to develop a food ordering app to make sure that their development partner is following the right approach. There are multiple app models, monetization strategies, and features that have to be chosen. As a leading food ordering app development company, A3Logics offers consultation sessions that help relevant businesses craft a tailored strategy and make informed decisions.
8. FAQ
- How much does it cost to build a food ordering app?
Answer- Cost to create a food ordering app can range from $40,000 to $ 300,000, depending on the factors like project complexity, timeline, developers locations, third party integrations, and more.
- Which features should I include in my food ordering app?
Answer: Here are the must-have features to build a food ordering app-
- User registration
- Push notification
- Geofencing
- In-app menu
- Real-time tracking
- Payment gateway
- Feedback and reviews
- How long does it take to develop a food delivery app?
It takes anywhere between 6-8 months for food ordering app development. The exact timeline depends on team size, hiring model, app complexity, API integration, platform of development, client collaboration, and more.
- Which technologies are best for food ordering app development?
The choice of technologies depends on the types and platform of app development. The best technologies include React Native, Flutter, Node.js, Django, Stripe, PayPal, MySQL, etc.
- Can I create a food app for my restaurant without coding?
You can build a basic app without coding using a no-code app builder. However, it will allow only limited customization and interfere with scalability. If you are a business owner and looking for long term software development services, it is advisable to build a fully-functioning customized and scalable food delivery app.