Online food ordering business is explosively growing in the changing dynamics of the food industry. Hungry customers place online food orders more often via mobile applications due to the convenient and simple process. As a result, food ordering mobile application development has become an essential need to run a successful online food delivery business. But before embarking the development process, it is important to learn top must-have features in the mobile application in regards to the Entrepreneur (Admin), Seller and Customer.
Let’s check out all the features to develop customer-focused and easy to maintain food ordering mobile application:
Admin-Friendly Features:
- Easy To Use And Easy To Manage: Mobile app developed with complicated layouts are often time-consuming, hard to use, difficult to manage. Therefore, develop simple to operate and comfortably accessible mobile app with a simplified layout.
- App Size: Users avoid to download the mobile application of larger size. So, develop the app of an ideal (average) size with engaging functionalities.
- Security: Secure applications are most preferably used by customers. So, the mobile app should be highly-secure to suppress the cyber-attack risks to build brand reputation.
- Scalable And Customizable: Due to constant technical advancements, your mobile app should be highly customizable and scalable. This helps to keep the app up to date with the latest technology.
- Technical Support: Ask your mobile development company to provide you with pre-post launch technical support for the mobile application for its smooth and error-free working.
- Affordable Price: Develop food ordering mobile application at an affordable price without compromising with the rich-features to avoid any chaos in your budget.
- One Time Cost: Make sure the technological investment to develop food ordering mobile app is a One Time Cost. This will help you to identify extra or hidden costs (if any) charged by the development company.
- Create a Referral Code System: Let your users promote your business with referral code system. This will help you to enhance the customer-chain.
- Advertisement Feature/Marketing Module: To generate extra revenue, you can run advertisements for other businesses of the food industry.
- Restaurants Management: An easy approach to adding, connecting to or removing restaurants accessing your application.
- Coupon/Deals/Discount/Credit/Cashback Management: Have control to change, enforce or cancel the coupon and credits distribution as well as deals, cashback, and discounts offered to retain the customers as per market dynamics.
- Easy ReFunds: In case of unavailability of food items, delivery staff or unreachable location, make an easy refund to the customers to build their trust and business reputation.
- Reporting/Insights Feature: Get daily/weekly reports of user activities, session reports, app performance reports, mobile analytic insights etc to improve your marketing strategies.
Seller-Friendly Features:
- Order Management: Sellers must have full access to review, confirm or cancel orders after checking the food availability at the restaurant to provide quality customer service.
- Assign Deliveries On-The-Go: Actively assign food deliveries to specific delivery team member according to his availability. This aids to deliver on-time food to customers.
- Cash On Delivery: Mark ‘cash on delivery’ to let the delivery guy get a notification that he has to collect cash for the delivered food.
Customer-Centric Features:
- Sign-Up and Sign-In: Simple sign-up and sign-in process via google or social media accounts will let users register themselves easily to access the application.
- Search and Menus: Your app must have search and menus to let customers find desirable dishes and restaurants with ease.
- Estimated Delivery Time: Once the customer places their order, he/she must be provided with the estimated delivery time. This enhances customer service quality with on-time food delivery.
- Smartwatch Extension and GPS Tracking: Facilitate your customers to order food not only from their smartphones but also from smartwatch. Also, add a GPS tracking feature to provide easy food order tracking facility.
- Review & Rating System: With a review and rating system, let your customers speak about the services and food quality to influence others. This is a simple implementation of ‘word-of-mouth’ strategy.
- Multiple Payment Methods: Develop your food ordering mobile app with multiple payment methods including E-Wallet, PayPal, Cash On Delivery, Airtel Wallet, Amazon Pay etc to allow users to make payment as per their preference.
- Messaging And Notification Feature: Your food ordering mobile app must have this feature to interact with your users and notify them about in-going orders, new deals, discounts etc.
- Easy Checkout: Easy checkout process for providing a user-friendly experience to your customers.
- UX Rich Design: Intuitive interface and stunning design of mobile application enhance user-engagement with improved accessibility.
These are the essential features that every food ordering mobile application should include. To save time and money, many business owners are choosing a ready-to-launch food ordering marketplace such as YoYumm that offer both Android and iOS mobile apps for customers, merchants and delivery staff.