Tips for Developing A Mobile App for Food Delivery Brands.

So you claim to have a website. But as a food or restaurant business in this era, just a website will hardly be suitable. You need to invest in an on-demand mobile app for food delivery if you want to be there for your customers when they need you. Samuel Johnson was right when he said, “he who does not mind his belly, will hardly mind anything else.” There’s hardly much a hungry man can do properly. But there’s so much more for your business to gain if you are right there to serve a hungry customer. Well, not just a hungry customer; it could also be anyone who simply wants to eat a nice dish you sell. Here, you do these individuals the favour of cutting the distance, saving time, and helping them eat just what they feel like.  

If you have followed through until this point, we’ll assume that you are ready to help customers easily patronise your food business and even get your meals delivered to several locations. Let’s take you through a few tips to carry out when you want to develop a mobile app for food delivery for your business. 

Get A Trusted App Developer 

You truly can’t work this journey alone; you need all the help/expert knowledge you can get. The app developer is the individual or agency that will be involved in the technical development of the mobile app. Choosing a trusted one could be quite a task. You need to do so carefully and be sure of who they are before sharing your thoughts or money with them. Make sure you check out their past projects (view case studies if they have any) or let someone trusted refer them to you. Before there’s so much excitement about the project, it is important for the app developer to sign an NDA. Without this, a third-party can hear about your project and launch it before you do.

Rather than choosing a freelancer, it is very advisable to go with a full-service digital agency. This is so because they are more likely to have all the expertise you need to develop and even market your mobile application. However, if you are a small business with a low budget, you can get some investors on board to raise money for top-notch project delivery. 

Determine The App’s Features

Now that you’ve decided on which developer(s) to work with. You need to let them know about your specific requirements for your mobile app for food delivery. Discuss the business model, how you intend to monetise it or not. It is at this point you’ll determine if you want to run an aggregator model (e.g Byt Out, Jumia Food) or go solo (Domino Pizzas). Determining this will help you know the features and interfaces on the app. You will be able to know what interfaces the app needs, whether admin and users only or admin, restaurants/outlets, and users interface. All of these things need to be properly thought out. Other features you can consider are live order tracking, reviews/ratings for meals or restaurants (for the aggregator model). 

Discuss The UI/UX Design 

Simplicity is golden. Your mobile should have a smooth and beautiful UI with a delightful UX. No customer has the patience to use a complicated app; remember, they are hungry people. They should get on your app and be able to use it without a user manual. If you work with a full-service agency, they should have an in-house UI/UX Developer who will come up with mock-up designs for you. Feel free to share your thoughts with them and make adjustments where necessary. However, if you decide to work with a freelancer, you’ll need to hire someone else to create your mockup design. 

Tech Stack and ML/AI Integration 

Developing some features might require specific tech stack. If you are unfamiliar with this terrain, speak with your developers to find out what stack they intend to use for the front-end, back-end, and other interfaces. If you are working with a freelancer, they might lure you into using the stack they are comfortable with instead of one that is best for your project. However, app development or full-service agencies are guaranteed to have more expertise you can choose from. Furthermore, technology has made it possible for apps to understand user behaviour and preferences using Machine Models and Artificial Intelligence. Including these functionalities in your app gives users a better experience on the platform. 

Determine The Operating System(s) 

For mobile phones, the most popular operating systems are Android and iOS. Be sure to launch your mobile app on one your target audience is likely to use. If you have enough budget, we advise you to make the app available on both app stores. However, with a limited budget, you need to properly carry out your market analysis to make an informed decision. 

We expect that before setting out to develop the app you have created a document containing your business plan. You should determine your coverage, delivery system and process, as well as other information when creating your business plan. On a final note, customers can’t help themselves when they find a business or brand that provides services to ease their journey. They immediately switch to such brands without having a second thought. With COVID-19’s presence in the world, people can no longer walk into your restaurant at will. They try not to physically contact others as no one can be too sure who has the virus. It’s only thoughtful of you to provide them with an on-demand app to order meals and get it delivered to them swiftly.