Last Updated: 1st February, 2023
Food delivery apps are becoming tremendously popular because of the convenience, flexibility, and affordability they offer to restaurants and food enthusiasts to seamlessly connect with each other. The industry is rapidly evolving with numerous new players entering the market and existing players expanding their offerings.
Uber Eats, a popular name in the food delivery industry, is a leading platform that works to effortlessly connect restaurants and customers. Since its launch in 2014, Uber Eats has grown tremendously, expanding into the industry and increasing its global reach. With over 81 million users and 90,000 restaurants on the platform, Uber Eats has become a major player in the online food ordering and delivery industry.
Considering the growth numbers mentioned above we can anticipate that the online food delivery industry is offering lucrative opportunities for budding food entrepreneurs and will continue to do so. However, building an app like Uber Eats may not be an easy task, to begin with.
Hence, in this article, we aim to provide an idea of what it takes for entrepreneurs to build an app similar to Uber Eats.
Since its inception, the technology-driven business model of Uber Eats has inspired budding entrepreneurs to start their online food delivery business. The Uber Eats app plays dual roles: it works as a restaurant aggregator as well as a delivery agent.
Uber Eats is a three-way marketplace that connects restaurants, customers, and delivery agents. Multiple restaurants list their brand and menu on the app. The customers search for the restaurants located in their area, browse their menus, and place orders. The delivery boy picks up the order from the restaurant and delivers it to the customer’s doorstep.
Restaurants: Restaurants manage food orders and update menus on the app by marking food items available/unavailable. They can change the restaurant name, contact information and opening & closing hours as per their availability. They can also decide the price of each item displayed on the menu.
Customers: Uber Eats provides the following ordering options to its customers:
Delivery Agents: Uber Eats delivery partners are independent individuals who pick up food from the restaurants and deliver it to the customers’ addresses. They can accept/reject the order request and fulfill multiple deliveries at a time. They get the delivery requests on the basis of their location and proximity to the customer as well as the restaurant.
Uber Eats generates revenue through the following monetization methods:
Delivery Fees from Customers
The delivery charges are divided into three categories:
Optional Subscription Fees from Customers
Uber Eats has a subscription model to earn additional income. Customers can pay a monthly subscription fee of $9.99 to avail the “Eats Pass”. It allows subscribers to get 5% off on orders over $15, with no delivery fee
Commission Fees from Restaurants
Uber Eats cuts 15 to 40% of the total value on each order fulfilled from the restaurant partners. The cutoff percentage is decided based on maturity and hold of the restaurant in the market.
Advertising Fees from Restaurants
The restaurant pays an advertisement fee to the company to come up at top searches on the app and to get more traction & sales.
Now that you’ve got a deep understanding of Uber Eats’ statistics, business model, and how does the food delivery company generates revenue, let’s gain insights into how you can develop a food delivery app that can surpass Uber Eats.
Building a food delivery app like Uber Eats is a challenging task that involves putting together a lot of components. Therefore, having a clear roadmap on coming up with your food delivery app is necessary to make a mark in the online food industry. Taking Uber Eats as an example, we have explained some vital steps that restaurateurs must follow to start similar online ventures.
The first step when creating a food delivery app is to research deeply about your competitors, target audience and the latest food industry trends. To get a solid grasp of the current market situation, you must find answers to the following questions:
After conducting thorough market research, the next step is to choose a food delivery model that can meet your business goals as well as customer’s demands. There are two types of food delivery model:
Order-only model | Order & Delivery Model | |
---|---|---|
Functionality | Food delivery platforms are responsible for accepting and managing the order. | Delivery platforms are responsible for managing and delivering orders. |
Logistics Support | No logistics support as the delivery is handled by the restaurant itself. | Comes with logistics support. The delivery is handled by the food delivery platform. |
Monetization Methods | Order-only platforms generate revenue by charging commission fees from the partnered restaurants. | The order and delivery model earn money by charging commission fees from the restaurants and delivery fee from the customers. |
Examples | Deivery.com, Just Eat | Deliveroo, DoorDash |
Here are some must-have features you should include in your food delivery app to get an edge over your competitors:
Admin Panel | Restaurant app | Customer app | Delivery boy app |
---|---|---|---|
Restaurant Management | Order Management | User Registration | Secure Login |
Delivery management | Menu Management | Restaurant Listing | Push Notifications |
Multilingual Capabilities | Push Notification | Order Tracking | Delivery Management |
Multi-Store | Tracking Payments | Multiple Payment Options | Real-Time Tracking |
Multi-Payment Option | Ratings & Reviews Management | Takeaway Options | Multiple Deliveries Management |
Statistical Report | Support and Assistance | Discounts & Offers | |
Notifications | Track Delivery | Advanced Search | |
Reviews & Ratings | |||
Reward Points |
When it comes to building an app like Uber Eats, selecting the right technology stack is very crucial as it forms the foundation for providing seamless user experience. You might need different technologies depending on the business model of your food delivery startup. Below listed are some essential technologies to build a food delivery app similar to Uber Eats:
Web App Development
AngularJS or React
Mobile App Development|
Kotlin (Android) and Swift (iOS)
Back-End Development
PHP
Databases
MySQL
Third-Party Services
Once you decide the features and powerful technology stack, you must finalize the viable option to build your food delivery app as per your requirements. There are two options:
Hire an App Development Team
You might need the following members to build a successful food delivery solution:
Use a Ready-Made Solution
If you want to build your food delivery app in a short time, then picking a ready-made solution can turn out to be the best option to get your food delivery business started. One such readymade white label food delivery solution is Yo!Yumm which can cater to the requirements of building a food delivery platform.
The solution is fully customizable and can be customized to build an app like Uber Eats.
Here are some unique features that make Uber Eats an interesting variant of online food delivery businesses:
Shorter Delivery Time
The ability to provide quicker deliveries is something that sets apart Uber Eats from its competitors. The company keeps a track on the preparation time taken by the restaurant which helps them provide faster delivery service.
Location Agnostics
A general concern that many customers face while placing an order is location eligibility. Uber Eats has taken care of it. The company delivers at places like hospitals, parks, homes, offices, etc. where a consumer may face delivery issues.
Customized Pick-Ups
Uber Eats has an in-built feature of Self-Pickup. The company allows users to place an order and schedule an in-store pick-up as per their comfort.
Scheduled Orders
This Uber Eats feature enables users to schedule an order in advance. Customers can also track their orders throughout the delivery process to get it delivered at their preferred location and time.
The final cost of developing a food delivery app like Uber Eats may vary depending on the following factors:
App Size
It is one of the major factors that play a crucial role in depicting the cost of your food delivery app. The size of an app depends on app complexity and the number of features you want to incorporate your app. The more the features you will include, the higher the price will be.
App Design
Another factor that influences the development cost is app design. Your food delivery app will not garner enough eyeballs without an attractive user interface. Therefore, the cost will highly depend on the app theme and eye-catchy graphics.
App Platforms
The choice of platform for building a food delivery app also decides the development time and cost. Android and iOS are two major platforms available in the app development market. The price could vary based on the platform you select to create your app.
App Development Team
Be it a freelancer, mobile app development agency or in-house developers, your app development cost will rely heavily on your app development team you hire to develop your food delivery app.
The Coronavirus outbreak has skyrocketed the demand for Uber Eats like food delivery services. This is a crunch time for restaurateurs to make a mark in the online food industry. Building a food delivery app considering the business model, revenue model, features, tech stack and other essential factors in this blog post will definitely give you a perfect start in the online food industry.
Building the app from scratch is a long process and requires a lot of investment in terms of money and effort. Using a readymade solution like Yo!Yumm can cut short the time-to-market and help in launching a feature-rich food ordering and delivery platform in no time.
Being white-label, the solution also has the ability to build a customized platform as per the business requirements and stall tall to give fierce competition in the market.
If you have any queries regarding the information shared in this blog post or need expert advice to build a food delivery app, please feel free to drop a message in the comments section below.
Delivery staff are individuals who are responsible for delivering orders from restaurants to customers’ addresses. Every delivery personnel has a personal account in the app.
All the orders that are broadcasted and are still not accepted or rejected by any delivery staff are displayed here. Delivery staff can accept any of the broadcaster orders as per his condition.
Deliveries in Uber Eats are being handled by their driver-partners.
Uber Eats uses effective and fitting market strategies to build a strong customer base for its restaurants.
Pre-made content
Uber Eats provides pre-made content for their restaurants to give them an upper hand while enticing their customers.
Uber Eats Badge
The unique strategy of providing badges to their restaurants acts as a loyalty mark. It enhances the visibility of the restaurants, attracting more customers.
Assistance in marketing
Uber Eats leds its restaurants a helping hand in designing the campaigns for marketing. It provides unique and exclusive ideas to its partner restaurants to build a strong customer base.
Lighthouse customer advocacy
Uber does a brilliant job in leveraging early adopter advocacy. Dual marketing attracts customers and restaurants.
Uber Eats makes it easy for a restaurant to come on board.
Starter kit
Uber Eats provides its restaurants with a starter kit. It includes:
Uber Eats Restaurant manager
Uber Eats provides an all-in-one restaurant management system. It allows restaurants to:
Menu maker
Uber Eats provides menu maker software to help smoothen the onboarding process.
Photoshoot
Every restaurant is provided with a free photoshoot as a part of its kick-in process. Professional photography helps restaurants stand out in the app.
Yes, a white label solution is best for building an app like Uber Eats. Yo!Yumm is a market-ready white label online food delivery app solution to launch a food delivery business.
Uber Eats has been a game-changer when it comes to online ordering and delivery. Now, if you are planning to start a food delivery business. Uber Eats is a great motivation. But the uniqueness of a business is what makes it stand out. Yo!Yumm provides you with the ease to customise your business as per your choice and create a name in the food industry.
A few on-demand food delivery apps similar to Uber Eats are listed below:
All innovation starts with an idea to solve real-world problems. At FATbit Technologies we are passionate about driving digital transformation to prepare businesses for a digital-first tomorrow. Let’s discuss your BIG idea NOW.
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Comments (3)
veronica gilbert
FATbit Chef
Georgedavid
Hey there, very useful article…Thanks for sharing!!
Hello Veronica,
Thank you so much for your appreciation. Stay tuned for more insights.
Best Regards,
Team FATbit
Hi, This is George from SpotnEats.
Thanks for sharing wonderful information.