How Much Does It Cost To Create An App Like UberEats?

Are you planning to jump into the app business by introducing another app like UberEats? In this article, we discuss everything that must be kept in mind while building an on-demand food delivery app. Whether you own a food business or want to jump into the delivery business, this article covers all the key topics to be kept in mind to give a tough competition to big names like UberEats, Grubhub, and DoorDash by creating an app that allows the customers to easily browse through menus of restaurants, place orders, and get the food delivered to their doorstep.

Common Challenges Faced While Creating A Food Delivery App

Amid the massive competition in the food delivery app business, with the market being dominated by the big brands, it is crucial to deliver an app that meets the needs & requests of your target audience. The app has to be stable and functional; else it could be lethal for the business’ reputation. 

Here we have discussed the significant app challenges that might come your way while developing the app:

Competition

As mentioned above, the biggest challenge is the competition from biggies like Swiggy, UberEats, DoorDash, who are leading the food delivery market. However, to overcome this challenge, you need to set your app apart from everyone else, offering something extraordinary that others aren’t. It could be in terms of features, UI/UX, or anything that, after in-depth market research, you find can benefit your target audience. 

Partnering With Restaurants

Since you are new, finding restaurants willing to partner with you could be challenging. Hence, initially focus on the low-level restaurants that require promotion instead of targeting big names. Initially, the focus must be to increase partner could and not have names most popular app among millennials.

Stable UX/UI

This is a critical aspect of on-demand food ordering apps; however, this can often pose trouble during the app development as all of the four screens are different and specific to the users’ demands. However, your chosen mobile app development company will be your savior by creating an experience that mixes both movement and design and is constant along with the different screens and answering to entirely different intents.

Finalizing MVP Functionalities

Deciding on MVP features can be difficult, where one has to decide which features to add and which ones to leave out. MVP significantly impacts the app development cost, and as you are just starting in this domain, it is advised to test waters before going in a full-fledged manner. And this is why MVP should be your choice with minimal cost and lesser effort. 

Finding A Good App Development Partner

It is again very challenging to find an app development firm that can convert your app idea into a fully-functional app. Many factors need to be considered and many questions to be answered before taking the final call on your app development partner. After all, the intent is to find the right team that can ably convert your app idea into a reality. 

Once you overcome these challenges, it is time to consider the cost incurred in creating a mobile app. 

How Much Will It Cost To Get A Food Delivery App Developed?

Various factors affect the overall cost of developing an app, as it depends on the features you are planning to add and the resources required to transform your app idea into a reality. If you are looking to create a high-performing food delivery app, it should cost somewhere around $30000-$40000. The app development agency will charge for the mobile app development for iOS and Android app versions, mobile app design, app testing, and app launch. However, if there is a requirement for a web application for the restaurants, it could cost between $50000 and $60000.

Panels For Food Delivery Mobile App

When it comes to developing an online food delivery app, whether it works with the restaurant-to-user business model or you are solely into the delivery business. Still, it requires to development of not one but four mobile apps. There are four panels that food delivery mobile apps are built on, they are:

1. Customer Panel
2. Courier Panel
3. Merchant App
4. Admin Panel

Here we mention the features that are usually included in all four app panels:

Customer Panel

• Sign-up/Log-in
• Search Menu
• Shopping Cart
• Payment Integration
• Track Order
• Rating & Review
• Customer Support

Restaurant Panel

• Sign-up/Log-in
• Manage Menu
• Alerts/Push Notifications
• Check Ratings & Reviews

Delivery Panel

• Registration
• Order Management
• Update Order Status 

Admin Side

• Log-in
• Manage Restaurants
• Manage App
• Manage Payment
• Discount offers & Coupons
• Technical Assistance

As we have considered the features to be added to the app, it is time to focus on the technologies necessary to make this app.

What Technology Stacks Are Needed?

• FourSquare API or GrubHub API for a restaurant listing
• PayPal, Braintree, Square API, Stripe for payment
• Google Places API, Core Location Framework to find user location
• MapKit, Google Maps to find directions
• AWS, Azure for Cloud
• Facebook SDK Login for Registration
• Amazon Cloud Storage for Storage
• Google Analytics for Analytics 

Types Of Food Delivery Apps

Aggregator

In this app model, an app can be launched that acts as a platform for meeting between users and restaurants. A food delivery app that follows this business model gives options to its app users to order food and allows restaurants to view & complete their orders without any delivery support from the app’s parent company.

Platform With Logistic Support

In this business model, the restaurants are provided support for delivering food to app users in real-time. Here, you are responsible for completing the order as the restaurants execute the food preparation part. In this app, the end users can choose food items from the app menu, place an order, and track their food. Here, the restaurants are responsible for handing over food to the delivery person and getting paid for the order. They can easily follow the food to see how long it will take to deliver it. The restaurants associated with this app model are only responsible for preparing the food, and their duty is over. 

Here we explain the types of on-demand food delivery apps, and now let’s look at the brands leading this domain. 

Other Players – The Best Food Delivery Apps

Countless businesses have entered the food delivery app industry, however, there are only a few that succeeded in reaching the top, they are:

1. UberEats

2. DoorDash

3. GrubHub

4. Postmates

5. Zomato

6. Chow Now

7. InstaCart

What Is The Process To Estimate The Cost To Develop A Food Delivery App?

To determine the cost to develop an UberEats-like app, we have to study the processes involved. The app development process starts with the Discovery Stage, the pre-development phase that defines the scope and is all about the right product for the right users. Here the discovery helps in clarifying and defining the user requirements. Your chosen app development partner will gather all your business needs, understand them, listen to your targeted audience, find and understand their requirements and pain points. Then, they use the collected data to suggest a solution that will perfectly fit your users’ expectations. This stage is the main data-driven procedure of product modeling. 

Once the discovery stage is over, the development team focuses on designing the app’s user interface (UI). And just within the short-time frame, you get a good idea about how the different app panels, customer, merchant, courier, and admin will look like. After all, visuals are essential for the on-demand food delivery app business. Once you have conveyed yourself through the visuals, the team works on crafting the underlying codes & backend of your app. This process will involve writing codes and using the involved technology stacks. It is crucial to focus on the agile app development techniques and get quick feedback for fine-tuning your app. Lastly, the team prepares the app for the big launch and offers support and iterations of bug-fixing, updates, and improvisations. 

What Is The Future Of Online Food Order Apps Like UberEats?

Looking at the currency food delivery trends, we can say that this industry is all set to be modified by the time we hit 2025. Here we have described the food delivery trends that can be expected in the future for apps like UberEats:

Expanding Business Model

The food delivery apps are looking at more advanced ways to deliver food. Currently, businesses like Postmates are giving tough competition to brands solely focused on getting the food delivered from the restaurants to the customers. On the contrary, the working of Postmates is entirely different where it allows its users to place food orders, food preparation materials, and alcohol in real-time. Hence, we suggest that in-depth analysis must to conducted to study the working of postmates, its business model and look into the development methods. This can be done by sitting together with your chosen app development partner and discussing the same. 

More And More Online Food Delivery Channels

So far, users are placing food orders via websites and mobile apps; however, soon, the users will find newer platforms for placing orders with a good internet connection. We will quickly see users using channels like virtual assistants, social media, intelligent objects – Wearables, TV, etc., and even via Car Dashboard. 

Innovative Ways For Food Delivery

Other than new options to place orders, the on-demand food delivery system will also be seen coming up with recent trends in the future. Today, online delivery systems are moving towards a direction where food is delivered via parachutes, robots, and drones. Hence, it is crucial to ensure that the delivery app you are developing is integrated to adjust to these upcoming modes. 

AR/VR

We have already seen smart homes, and innovative offices, and now is time for smart restaurant apps using AR and VR technology. Initially, the focus will be on the marketing front of the app; however, eventually, it will be used as a significant user engagement mode keeping the users hooked to their screens, keeping an eye on everything in real-time. 

Big Data

In the present time, Big Data might come across as a niche category. However, the future will be different, where we will be several adaptations of this innovative and robust technology in the food industry. When Big Data is employed in the right way, it will start giving several benefits to the food delivery apps, such as enhanced delivery time estimate, personalized marketing through a better understanding of the consumer sentiments, and better demand prediction. 

Placing Food Orders Using Cryptocurrency

The growing blockchain technology market for app development has also invited a new service, i.e., crypto food ordering. Here the customers across the globe can pay for online delivery/takeaway services using cryptocurrencies. Many companies like Levy Restaurants, Feastly, and PizzaforCoins accept more than 50 cryptocurrencies. Hence, consider this Technology before it becomes a norm and might make your app business idea appear outdated. 

Lesser-Explored Service Diversifications

In the coming time, we will see the apps which presently work on a business model that is focused on making customers meet many restaurants under one platform, will be soon expanding to newer business types, like Food categories specific to health conditions, Pet food section, Recycle food space, etc. 

Conclusion

In the food delivery app business, UberEats and DoorDash are already quite successful, however, there are still abundant opportunities for new businesses to make a mark by offering something unique and useful. Build a food delivery app like uber eats, Simply aim to find a good app development partner who can help you transform your app idea into reality, and then everything will be smooth-sailing.