Mobile App Development: Three Models Of Online Food Delivery Startups

Technology has made everything easy with its innovative mobile apps that solve daily problems. Today, individuals who do not like cooking can eat cooked food conveniently, without having to cook it by themselves. All they need to do is place orders for whatever food they want, and it'll be at their doorstep in minutes.

Demand has made ordering with the telephone only, insufficient. Now, thanks to mobile app development, especially Android app development, people can now order any meal online; they can even order different types of food using one app. Also, these apps allow customers to rate and review these online eateries for better services. What's more, customers can pay online too.

The world has evolved, and so, businesses had to join the moving train to keep retaining their spots in their respective markets. Restaurants are not left out. Walk-in restaurants now make provision for customers who want the option of ordering food online.

Now, app developers from app development companies have created different models of this online food delivery startups, which will be considered, to see which one has the potential of being at the top, in the online food delivery business.

• Logistics - focused food delivery - This is a platform where the customer who wants to order a meal, can go through the menus of several restaurants and also order from more than one of them, using one app. This platform, like the name suggests, takes care of restaurants' logistics, making them more known in the consumer market too. A logistics- focused platform partnership with a restaurant gives the latter the advantage of not worrying about maintaining delivery vehicles, paying the delivery drivers and even insurance. Businesses operating with this platform get their money by charging both the restaurants and the customers a fixed amount of money.

• Aggregators are the link between the restaurants and the customer. Customers can also order from different places using one app, on this platform. They pass messages from customers to the restaurants; but unlike logistics-focused where delivery is taken care of, the restaurant does the actual delivery themselves. They also do not charge the customers. Restaurants who make use of their services are the ones who get to pay the platform owners.

• Full-service on-demand delivery- Those running this kind of platform do not involve third parties in their food deliveries. Rather, they employ their own chefs who make the meals according to customer demand. When an order is made, the chef(s) prepares it and a delivery person, who is also hired by the company, delivers the food. With this option, customers place their orders ahead of time, to enable the chef (which they can choose), make the meal. Also, customers can check out the ingredients that would be used for a meal they want, before ordering.

Comparing The Three

Full-service on-demand delivery platform owners are in charge of everything, from making the meals to delivery. But to start up this model, a lot of capital is needed. Then again, employees will have to be paid, insurance will have to be covered, and certifications will have to be passed.

The aggregator platform is a competitive one. Aggregators make it easy for a restaurant to have market presence without spending a lot of money. However, restaurants that are not able to make their own deliveries would not be able to use this service.

Logistics- focused delivery services partner with different restaurants, help them cut costs of running an online food delivery business by taking care of most of the logistics. This is the best kind of food delivery model from observation because every party gets to benefit from it; the platform, the restaurants, and the customers.