How to Develop On-Demand Delivery App For Your Business

Since the explosion of the COVID-19, we’ve been told to stay at home and decrease human connection. Governments of majorly affected nations have required social distancing to be followed stringently. The quarantine time has transformed the way we operate our day-to-day actions. Whether it is education or work, everything has altered drastically.

As the merchants have shut down their offices and shops for a while, the business is changing online. During the lockdown time, there has been huge demand and popularity for particular apps. Because of an unexpected boost in demand for everyday services and essentials, on-demand delivery apps have seen notable growth amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

how to develop on-demand delivery app for your business

Many famous food delivery chains like Zomato and Uber Eats, have begun grocery delivery since the delivery of essentials is the necessity of the hour.

Knowing the demands of people, many retail companies are shifting online and choosing the on-demand delivery business design.

In this article, we are highlighting:

• What are the ways to Implement On-Demand Delivery App Model?
• What are the types of On-Demand Delivery Apps?
• What are the use cases and examples of On-Demand Delivery Apps?
• What are the KPIs you should consider before building an On-Demand Delivery App?
• How to develop an On-Demand Delivery App?
• What are the key features that can be added to the On-Demand Delivery Apps?
• What is the execution flow of the app?
• How to minimize the Cost of Development of On-Demand Delivery Apps?

Before falling far into the on-demand app delivery model, let’s talk about the techniques a business can work to introduce it:

Collaboration with the third-party delivery provider

If you don’t require to spend in developing an app, you can club with any current on-demand delivery app service provider to take your goods in the market. But recognize that people who will purchase your assistance or goods will be the other company’s user bottom.

Also, the cost of collaboration with the third-party delivery provider will differ from business to business. Therefore, it is necessary to consider your decisions actively before diving into them.

Developing a Dedicated App

If you desire to raise your closeness in the market without helping with delivery providers, you can consider developing a dedicated app for your goods or services.

With a dedicated app, you will be capable of having charge over all the operations. These types of apps can be the best fit for companies that are in constant demand.

types of on-demand delivery apps demand in the market 2016 to 2017

What are the types of On-Demand Delivery Apps?

Depending on what class of users is interested in giving the service, on-demand applications can be classified into the following three types:

Enterprise to Person (E2P)/Business to Consumer (B2C)

Business to Consumer Applications enable transactions of assistance or goods between providers and consumers. Companies that have the delivery ability to deliver goods from their shops or offices to the customers can use this model. For instance, Starbucks, McDelivery, Dominos, and more.

Enterprise to Enterprise (E2E)/Business to Business (B2B)

Enterprise to enterprise on-demand apps is extended to unite businesses with businesses. In this model, service providers and takers are not the end-users of the assistance or goods.

B2B apps can both assist a single industry area or multiple industry areas.

Consumer to Consumer (C2C)/Person to Person

Person to Person On-Demand Apps relate end-users with end-users. In the C2C app model, users themselves generate offers for goods or services for other users to utilize or purchase. For instance, eBay, Etsy, and BlaBlaCar.

Let’s review some usage cases and models of on-demand delivery applications.

What are the use cases and examples of On-Demand Delivery Apps?

Various industries have testified to the development of their businesses in the on-demand delivery app model.

Chasing are some of the fields and sectors where the development of on-demand delivery apps can choose place and industries where it has been utilized extensively:

Delivery of Food and Grocery

Possessing groceries and essentials delivered anytime and anywhere is the demand of the world these days. As people cannot go out and are bound to stay home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they order food and groceries from on-demand food and grocery delivery apps.

Models of on-demand food and grocery delivery apps are Uber Eats, Big Basket, and Instacart.

Healthcare

On-demand doctor and medical apps are too in huge demand as it keeps time for both doctors and patients. These applications enable users to unite with doctors one-on-one on mobile devices anytime and anywhere. Just like a physical consultation, a doctor can observe patients through an online consultation and give a direction.

The best piece about on-demand medical apps is that their assistance can be accessed 24/7.

On-demand taxi services applications

Taxi Services

On-demand taxi assistance applications have observed huge growth as it enables users to discover and reserve a nearby taxi using GPS and Map Navigation. Also, customers can interact with drivers in real-time using chat or phone call to get the rank of taxi arrival.

It can also have a feedback system so that both clients and drivers can give studies and ratings. Models of on-demand taxi service apps are Uber, Juno, and Lyft.

on-demand home services

Home Services

On-demand home services are being utilized by people around the world to receive assistance with things like beauty, wellness, cleaning, plumbing, movers and packers, etc. Examples of on-demand house service delivery apps incorporate Homejoy, TaskRabbit, and Handy.

on-demand gift delivery apps

Gifts and Flowers

Flower and gift stores can also turn their businesses online by acquiring a dedicated app for on-demand gift and flower delivery.

Using on-demand gift delivery apps, users can shock their loved ones with flowers and gifts in no time. They can list a selected delivery time slot and take gifts at the doorstep.

on-demand logistic apps

Logistics and Transportation

On-demand delivery apps can be developed for transportation and logistics service providers to transport packages from one spot to another. Such applications provide consumers to transport parcels anytime and anywhere. Examples of on-demand parcel delivery are Uber Freight and Uber Deliver.

Moving businesses online and building an on-demand delivery app can appear more informal, but you require to recognize several portions before doing that. You will have to consider your current consumers and develop a strategy to engage and attain new users.

Therefore, we have described key performance indicators (KPIs) that each business should examine to launch the on-demand delivery app happily.

What are the KPIs you should consider before building an On-Demand Delivery App?

While producing an on-demand delivery app, you require to think about the following factors:

User Acquisition

Once you determine to sell your assistance via an application, you are required to expand your business appearance in the marketplace. Some of the methods that can assist you to create an unlimited user base for your on-demand delivery app model are as follows:

Promote your service

Before an app is driven in the market, businesses are required to boost their assistance or goods in the market. You should promote your app concept on different social media platforms and achieve practices like public relations.

Referral programs can also be utilized to obtain more users. You can endeavor free deliveries or special discounts to your consumers if they welcome more users to your goods.

Trace the execution of publicity campaigns to see if it assists obtain consumers or not and constantly attempt to optimize your ads to earn the highest users.

Search local partners

It can be hard for a company to expand its appearance in the market without the support of local partners. Discovering local partners can support the business to extend its range to the untapped markets. You can also cooperate with retailers operating at international or national levels to expand the user base for your business.

Start business smartly

All startups may not have large funds to accomplish campaigns and marketing plans. If you don’t have sufficient capitals to run marketing techniques before launching an app, you should begin with tinier investments. Begin from the ground level and introduce a big amount originally.

You can examine your concept in your local geographic area that has a solid community. It will give you a sketch of the execution of your thoughts and support you to boost more funding.

User Retention

Getting consumers is not sufficient; you also require to think about maintaining your consumers. It has been observed that delivery businesses have more faithful consumers as opposed to any other company. Therefore, you require to make sure that consumers remain with your business forever. It can only be achievable with excellent consumer assistance, intuitive app design, reliability programs, and referral programs.

Here is the unusual key that can assist you to maintain the consumers:

Consumer Support

The consumer may not forever be happy with the assistance given by your firm. Therefore, you should have a strong consumer support service where the consumer can communicate smoothly and ask their anxieties. Adding the consumer support segment to the app may assist you to maintain customers as it develops faith between consumers and the company.

Offering discounts

Since there is a tremendous demand for on-demand delivery apps in the market, you might require to be on the aggressive edge. Therefore, to attain out your assistance among other opponents, your app should allow unique interests and chances to endeavor the highest concentration. You can also run referral and integrity programs on your app to bring and engage users.

Customer Feedback

If the firm desires to increase its user base, enable your consumers to rank the assistance provided on the app. It will assist businesses to understand their name in the market. Based on the feedback of consumers, the business can grow its services continuously.

Flexible Work Schedule

On-demand services regularly bring consumers because of elasticity work schedules. Consumers desire to schedule assistance or goods flexibly whenever they require. Therefore, giving them that elasticity would assist you to keep consumers involved for a long time.

Transportation and Delivery Expenses

Based on the thriving delivery apps, we have suggested several actions that businesses want to get to cut down transportation costs:

Synchronized Routes

One of the on-demand delivery businesses, Roadie, has executed a model to keep capital by utilizing drivers who are previously on the route to the destination. You should allow technology to discover nearby drivers to the address that will accommodate you to keep transportation expenses.

Energy-efficient transportation

To keep the expense of delivery, you should think of energy-efficient transportation. For instance, Postmates, the American Food Delivery Company, hires bike dispatchers for the delivery of tiny packages. Delivery via bikes notches down prices because the keeping of the bike is actually poorer than that of car keep.

Optimized Routes

Utilizing developing technologies like IoT and AI, you can improve logistics services and optimize the delivery plan, thereby decreasing the time to choose up and deliver assets to end-users.

Now that we have reviewed the KPIs to think about before making an app, let’s take a glance at the important highlights that on-demand delivery apps should have.

how To develop an on-demand delivery app

How To Develop an On-Demand Delivery App?

1. Requirement Gathering

The initial action to build any mobile or web app is to collect necessities. On this platform, you require to receive all that you require in your app. You will require to consider the solutions to the following questions:

1. Is your idea novel?
2. Do you have any rivals in the market?
3. Who will be the users of the app?
4. What features can create your app to stand out among opponents?
5. What is the targeted market for your app?
6. What safety rules do you desire to install in the app?
7. What is your budget?

Having answers to the raised questions, you will be capable of building an SRS (Software Requirement Specification) paper that you can distribute with your in-house development team or a third-party development company.

2. Visual and Technical Objects

 After knowing the demands, the following move is to build high-fidelity and low-fidelity screens for your on-demand delivery app. Build wireframes for your app and an effective prototype. Attend a conference with your stakeholders and team to get feedback on the object and continue forward to its development. It is suitable to hire a third-party full-stack development company that knows how to develop an app from ideation to MVP and ultimate production.

MVP creation

3. MVP Creation

Before launching the ultimate discharge of the app in the market, you should think about building an MVP first. MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is good with the least features, composed for a quick trial and more product enhancement.

You can distribute the MVP for your goods with your stakeholders and offer feedback to improve the product. It assists decrease mistakes in the ultimate discharge of the software and launches a flourishing product.

4. Development

Once the MVP is passed, the following action is to improve the actual software. Execute the agile development method to make diverse emphases of the goods and assure that the ultimate variant is improved and of high-quality.

After it is finished and examined completely, deploy it to the App Store/Play Store to produce it in the market.

Hiring an in-house development team can be costly. Also, it may bewilder you from your core competencies. Therefore, you can hire a third-party web development company that can create your project at established values.

As the development process is transparent, the following move is to recognize the specialties you may require to attach to your on-demand delivery app.

What are the key features that can be added to the On-Demand Delivery Apps?

An On-Demand Delivery App can have the following user personas:

End-User

A person who utilizes the app to purchase or order goods or services

Courier Provider

A person or organization of individuals who are accountable for the delivery of products or services

Admin

A person or association of individuals who take charge of the functioning of the app

Specialties of the Users’ App:

Sign Up

Users download the app and sign up to enter goods and assistance on the app.

Order placing

Users choose the goods or assistance they desire to purchase and review their costs and availability. Once chosen, the user can add things to their cart and put an order with information, including the name, delivery address, nearby landmark, alternate number, and preferred delivery time slot.

Search Option

User apps should have the search portion utilizing which they can immediately discover goods or services they are watching for.

Schedule delivery

Since it is an on-demand delivery app, the app should have the specialty “Schedule Delivery.” It should enable users to choose their favored delivery cuts.

Real-time tracking

Users should be capable to trace the rank of their orders in real-time.

Push Notifications

Push notification is a basic component of the app that gives users notice of the time enduring on delivery, courier locations, discounts, and offers or pay status.

Review and Rating

The app should have a review and rating method that provides consumers to rate the order delivery. It will assist you to recognize your assistance and develop them to engage your users.

In-App Chat

With built-in chat specialties, consumers can communicate with dispatchers and get the status of orders.

Order history

Users should be capable to trace the records of deliveries made utilizing the app and they should be capable to renew the order if they desire.

Payment

The app should have a payment feature that enables users to pick between the many payment opportunities, for instance, digital wallets, credit cards, debit cards, and Cash on Delivery.

Geo-location

The geolocation specialty enables users to discover assistance or goods based on their place. For instance, applying geolocation, users can detect nearby package delivery providers, restaurants, and stores.

Contactless Delivery

As COVID-19 is hitting majorly numerous nations, businesses have begun giving contactless delivery. The app should have the Contactless Delivery alternative so that users could put orders fearlessly and stay protected. 

Features of the Courier Delivery App:

Register

Delivery personnel signs up for the mobile app. But their profile requires to be passed from the admin to take delivery orders.

Order Management

The courier providers can control their orders from start to end. They can observe and receive delivery orders.

GPS Support

When delivering loads of packages each day, assure that orders should not get missed. Therefore, the delivery app should have GPS-support that performs it gently for delivery boys to discover the address instantly.

In-App Chat

In-App Chat Feature enables delivery personnel to interact with consumers if they are not capable of getting to the place via GPS. 

Order History

The app should have order archives that allow courier providers to trace the archives and rank of each order.

Contactless Delivery

The app should have a Contactless Delivery utilizing which drivers would take the image of a parcel abandoned at the door and transfer it to the admin and clients for delivery verification. When the driver accelerates the picture, the consumer gets the notification and picks up the item with zero contact.   

Features of the Admin App:

Content Management

With the Content Management specialty, the admin can add the content of the goods or assistance to be offered. They can modernize the price, delivery slots, and contact info.

Order Management

Admins can enter the data of all orders done, delivered, or removed and consumers’ feedback along with pay statements. It can assist them to perform versed decisions to improve the income of the business.

Customer support module

Admin’s mobile or web app should have a consumer support module where they can handle consumers’ issues and interact with them.

Real-time tracking

Admins can track the delivery of orders in real-time and watch the response of drivers, for the case, the time they get to deliver an order and purposes for order cancelations.

Analytics of App Usage

On-demand delivery apps can have a dedicated dashboard for analytics of app mode. Utilizing this dashboard, admins can monitor the rise/fall in the user base, thriving orders’ status, and much more.

What is the execution flow of the app?

Request

The user demands to get the goods or assistance and review its availability. Regardless of the industry, the call method continues the same.

Approve

The provider accepts a call and confirms the order by examining the availability of goods or services.

Track

The approval notification is conveyed to the end-users and they can trace its progress on a map within the app.

Product/Service Delivery

The user accepts the goods or services they requested. It could be a grocery item or a maid for house cleaning.

Rate

The consumer rates the services or goods and composes feedback on the app.

how to minimize the cost of development of on-demand delivery apps

How to minimize the Cost of Development of On-Demand Delivery Apps?

You don’t require to build your app from scratch if you don’t have enormous funds to use on the app development. Alternatively, reinvent the wheel and develop your goods utilizing third-party integration tools and APIs.

We have described on-demand delivery apps based on the type of development:

A Mild Web App with Google Form

Build an easy web app and use Google Forms for Order Placing of Items. Integrate it with Zapier so that whenever the user fills a Google Form, the messenger service provider receives a notification.

You can either integrate a third-party reimbursement gateway into the app for payment or transfer a digital wallet’s payment link in SMS to the user via Zapier when they demand goods or services.

Once the payment is done, delivery personnel gets a notification and an object is abandoned to the end-user. Delivery providers can manage the data of users in Google Sheets to maintain a report and transfer them enticing offers from time to time.

The price of this app could reach between $10,000-$15000.

progressive web apps

Progressive Web Apps for Users and Drivers

If you don’t have the funds to make a native app, you can opt to create a progressive web app for your on-demand delivery service business. It’s a development methodology that blends the advantages of both mobile and web apps. It’s a website that looks like a mobile app. Though it is approximately more affordable than native apps, it needs a shorter time to load, works on any device, and intensifies progressively. It can even run in low-connectivity or the burdened page views apparently even if you are offline.

With third-party APIs or SDKs like Amazon SNS for Notifications, Auth0 for Authentication, you can create a progressive web app. The value of a progressive web app could vary between $15,000-$40,000

Long-term scalable native apps

If you desire to develop long-term scalable native apps for on-demand delivery services, then it can be pretty costly as opposed to the earlier applications. However, we suggest applying third-party integrations to dodge making from scratch and keep prices. With pay-as-you-go cloud hosting models, push information APIs, authentication APIs, payment gateway APIs, you can instantly launch your app with lower development costs.

The cost of developing the native app could range from $80,000-$100,000.

Developing on-demand applications need a blend of skills and experience; therefore, you require to find your development team carefully.

On-demand delivery services have testified to a head in business due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Deliveroo and Grab, Food Delivery Chains, have announced that they have seen a 20 percent rise in food orders because of the pandemic.

On-Demand Delivery Apps are in large demand now but don’t assume them to be a short-term trend. Though producers of notable on-demand delivery apps get significant benefits, local economies can also leverage these apps to deliver benefits to their business.

If you are considering developing an on-demand app for your business, there won’t be a pleasanter time than this. We have a crew of technology specialists who can help you transform your idea into being. Contact us and take your company to the next stage.