Building A Social Food Ordering App like Snackpass?

While most food delivery brands are attempting to stay ahead of the curve, offering a plethora of offers, like faster discount codes, a startup came to the surface with a social concept, turning the face of dark stores and ghost kitchens. It lets people watch their friends munching on and order drinks and food for their group. A unique fact about this startup is that the buyers need to pick up their orders as this app doesn’t follow a standard mode of the food business where home delivery is offered.  

What is Snackpass?

Available on: Android & iOS

Describing itself as “food meets friends,” Snackpass is a social commerce platform for ordering snacks. Moreover, it’s a food app focusing on takeout, not delivery. 

A student at Yale University, Kevin Tan started working on his idea of making such an app in 2017. For the same, he recruited co-founders Thiel Fellow Jamie Marshall and Jonathan Cameron to get helping hands building the company. 

If we let its success come into the limelight, we will know that the company converted 80% of students into its customers. Later, after two years of its release, Snackpass raised $23 billion as funding, and around 11 campuses started using this app, producing $10+ million in gross merchandise volume. 

What Makes Snackpass Unique?

Various features included in Snackpass make it exceptional.

1. Gifting Changed Their Game!

Acknowledged as a game changer, Snackpass allows people to send reward points and even food to their friends on Snackpass. In turn, the buyers also get a portion of the points when they gift food or reward points to their friends. 

This app feature appeared uniquely as no app has emerged emphasizing such social behavior until now. A funny fact behind this gifting feature is that one of its founders always wanted to gift a smoothie to his crush. 

Snackpass has bestowed a special definition to such gifts that people can use to strengthen their bonds with family and friends. Most restaurants also found this trait amazing as it appeared as a remarkable way of marketing. 

Through gifting and the other features, Snackpass crafted a network effect that let it stand uniquely in the crowd. 

2. Snackpass Merges Takeout with Social Media

When focusing on social aspects of Snackpass, it actually glows in the dark. Its chicken feature makes it quite entertaining. It says you will get reward points from some specific restaurants using which you can hatch an egg and let the virtual chicken come out with your pals on Snackpass. 

You can gift these points to your friends or use them to get free food. The app will record your point exchanges between two by loading chicken eggs. You will see your baby chicken hatch when you both gift sufficiently to each other. 

3. Typical Features of SnackPass

Besides, like other apps, Snackpass arrives with some common features also. It saves your credit card details, recent orders, and post-orders; it starts a countdown that lets the buyer know the pick-up time from the Snackpass pickup station.

Besides, this high-tech takeout platform has introduced digital menus and contactless payment solutions that prove useful during COVID-19.

How Much Funding Did Snackpass Got?

In 2021, Snackpass secured a super-sized Series B, $70 million, that helped it expand its roots in the US market. Major venture investors and celebrities contributed to this brand, like David Grutman, hospitality entrepreneur, AirAngels, the Airbnb alumni investor syndicate, Jonas Brothers, Musicians, and more.

Snackpass Acquired Sleek, a Food Line Skipping App

Last year, in Nov’2021, SnackPass acquired a service that permits customers to skip long food lines, Sleek. 

Sleek is a San Francisco-based brand that started at festivals and is used by bakeries, stadiums, and food trucks. 

Snackpass decided to become an online ordering platform at various festivals and other businesses that choose Sleek for food ordering. Snackpass chose to include a part of Sleek’s technology, which provides customers with an estimate of when they can pick up their food. But, it skipped implementing its “priority lane” feature that people use at restaurants. 

Future of Social Food Ordering App Snackpass

Pandemic days were quite challenging for Snackpass, but it’s the largest social eCommerce platform in the US, with 500K+ clients and $60+ sales volume.

Until now, Snackpass has approximately raised approximately $92 million from top institutional investors. We can expect more funds for this brand from industries and people with deep pockets. 

As Snackpass is expanding ahead, besides the college market into more cities, it may expect the path to be complicated. Its team may need to put some more effort into retaining its college-aged customers post they complete their graduation. At the moment, we can’t predict the soon-to-be position of Snackpass, but we can say, yes, shortly, we will see it at the heights.  

How Can You Come Up With Fresh Concepts And Establish Yourself In The Food Sector?

Earlier, UberEats and DoorDash, and now, Snackpass is approaching with a new and not-so-common idea of food pickup. There are around 750 micro and metropolitan markets in the US, including universities or colleges. According to the CEO of Snackpass, this app holds about 80% of students as customers in its current 13 markets, with an average customer ordering four times more a month. So, we can predict the bright future of this company. 

If you hold such an exceptional notion, then no need to sit and wait for your turn as the food market is constantly growing. You need to emerge with a unique idea and present it to this world to grab a good chunk of this food app market. 

How Can We Help You?

We have an applauding portfolio, including food app development, eCommerce apps, on-demand apps, dating apps, grocery delivery apps, and a lot more that are expanding in no time. 

We have teams of professional and expert developers with years of experience developing such projects. You can connect with our consultants, who will guide you on a path towards a successful business. Call us for Free Consultation today!