Whether you own a local grocery store or operate a dry cleaner, an on-demand delivery app can boost your business. The pandemic has incentivized numerous entrepreneurs to incorporate new online solutions into their business models. On-demand delivery app development is becoming their crucial element and for good reasons.
Why Should You Consider Getting an On-Demand Delivery App?
The rise of online delivery
Consumers can now order virtually everything online and get it delivered within one to two business days. At this point, having a delivery system in place has become a basic necessity, without which the business can lose current customers.
Social distancing guidelines
With the pandemic raging, people have become increasingly wary of visiting public places. Even essentials that they could previously pick up on their way home from work are now more often ordered online. One more reason for this is that many have started working from home.
Extended marketing opportunities
With the customers’ permission, you can track and analyze their buying habits to offer better service. This will enable you to create highly personalized promotional offers for every client. The app users can even set up recurring weekly or monthly delivery lists. This way, they will unlikely run out of groceries in their fridge. For you, as a business owner, this will go a long way to retaining your customers and keeping them loyal and satisfied. A subscription-based business model is highly profitable and brings the needed stability.
Industries reaping the benefits of on-demand delivery apps
Food industry
The sheer number of people use it daily. Whether you have a grocery shop, a restaurant, or a cafe, you can benefit from offering delivery services.
Logistics and personal transportation
If you operate a fleet of trucks, an on-demand delivery app can make your life easier. Receiving instructions from your clients will be more efficient and less prone to errors. Car rentals and taxi companies can also thrive with the help of such apps.
Healthcare industry
You can connect healthcare professionals with people who need their help. There are many scenarios where a home visit from a doctor is necessary, and the app will make it easier to arrange. An app can also be synchronized with your telehealth system or CRM.
Home services
These include cleaning, plumbing, gardening, electrical services, furniture assembly, all sorts of repairs, and general handyperson services. Cleaning and gardening services will likely benefit from a recurring-appointment feature in the app.
Flowers and gift delivery services
Regularly, numerous people around the world congratulate their close ones on special days — be it a birthday, an anniversary, or a holiday. Because of busy schedules, buying gifts in person is not always an option. You can help bring your customers and their loved ones closer together, by delivering on-demand gifts and flowers to the requested person.
B2B, B2C, and C2C business models
On-demand delivery apps can be business-to-business (B2B), business-to-client (B2C), and client-to-client (C2C).
The company operating a fleet of trucks is a classic example of a B2B model. The food industry tends to work according to the B2C approach, with the exception of some catering companies that focus on the business sector. Home services are usually either B2C or C2C. In the former case, a company provides services of hired workers. In the latter case, there’s a platform where professionals and their potential clients find each other.
Whatever your business model is, you should consider how you can incorporate it into your industry. For example, Uber is arguably a C2C company, connecting drivers with clients. It started providing a new type of service in the taxi industry, which previously was mostly B2C.
The Costs of Creating an On-Demand Delivery App
The costs vary greatly depending on a number of factors. These include the peculiarities of each project, the programming language used, and the outsourcing company you hire.
For example, you can save money and time if you choose to develop an app using React Native. To serve customers with iOS and Android phones, you will need two versions of your app. React Native is a cross-platform framework, which allows sharing 65-90% of code across both platforms. Numerous prominent companies use it, including Facebook (the creator of the framework), Instagram, and Skype, among others. A basic MVP model of an app written on React Native can take about three months to create and can cost $40,000+.
Besides, the geographical location of the development team can also influence the price. Apps developed by American and Western European companies can be ten times more expensive than those developed by Eastern European and Asian companies. However, this tendency has little to do with the quality of the product. The living expenses in the USA and Western Europe are higher than those in other countries, hence the price tag. Meanwhile, Ukrainian, Russian, and Romanian developers are renowned for the high quality of their code. Developers from India should be chosen more carefully. Social and cultural pressure in India forces many people to pursue a career in programming, even when they have little interest in the process itself.
Basic and Additional Features
Basic features
On the customer side, basic (MVP) features of an on-demand delivery app should include:
- registration/login
- user profile
- search bar
- order placement
- payment methods
- geolocation
- real-time tracking
- in-app messaging
On the admin side, an app should include content and order management features, customer support, and accounting modules. Couriers should have access to GPS support, in-app messaging, and an order management page.
Additional features
Additional features can include whatever your heart desires. They are fully customizable. One of the most useful features for delivery companies is the synchronization of the app with their CRM system. This saves their staff a lot of time they would otherwise spend on copy-pasting.
Depending on the type of business you operate, you might also benefit from the function that allows your clients to set up recurring appointments or deliveries. Another feature that is gaining popularity is the voice interface. Also, if you offer goods or services in more than one location, you might want a system to be able to calculate the closest location to your client.
On-demand delivery apps are a worthy investment for many businesses. Their cost depends on the choice of functions, the tech stack, and the development team you are looking to hire. Anyway, the costs are more likely to be covered by the increase in revenue that the app will bring.
