We can’t argue with the fact that food delivery websites are convenient, fast, and mostly have affordable prices. They work best for modern people that are always in a hurry. These apps are built to save time, and help customers pay for their food in a fast and easy manner. And, of course, delivery websites expand the market, allowing users to order food from various eateries.
But what’s the key to their success? Wide choice, fast delivery, experienced and hard-working personnel and, certainly, a convenient platform. It’s very important to know how to build food marketplaces your customers want to see, and that’s something we’re going to discuss now.
Food Delivery Models: Which One to Choose?
Food marketplaces vary according to their goals and requirements. First of all, you’ll need to choose whether your service is going to be local or worldwide. By the way, McKinsey & Company proves that worldwide delivery marketplaces (UberEats, Delivery.com) stand for 1% of the total turnover.
So if you choose a local model over worldwide one, there’s nothing to lose. Local model stands for food delivery from nearby places, working within one country or city.
As you may suspect, food delivery platforms offer lots of opportunities to start new businesses. Thus, the next thing we’d like to discuss is the common business models used by food delivery websites.
- Order-Only Model
These platforms connect customers with nearby eateries which have to organize the delivery on their own. Usually, restaurants pay a fee of 7% up to 15% to the platforms per each received order. GrubHub is a widely popular order-only platform and the best example of this model.
- Order and Delivery Mode
If you’ve ever used UberEats, you should already know how the model works. Such platforms organize both ordering and delivery processes. It works great for small eateries that don’t have any delivery means.
- Fully Integrated Model
This last model combines all the three services – cooking, ordering and delivering. That means the company prepares food by itself. This model requires additional expenses on chefs’ salaries, trucks, heaters, etc.
How to Build a Food Ordering Platform
Sure, you can’t just find an IT firm and ask them to create such a platform for you. Prior to actual food marketplace development stand hours of thorough planning and lots of aspects to consider.
Custom or Ready-Made Website
Let’s be straight – ready-made websites work for small eateries, not serious businesses. Modern users want to use something original, convenient, and with unique features. This can’t be achieved without a custom-built website.
The Target Audience
There are three categories of users to attract – students, people with children, and working adults. Each category has specific needs your platform should fulfill. For example, the main fuel for students is fast food. So you may want to cooperate with local fast food chains to create a wide choice of food and deliver it faster.
People with children tend to eat healthy food. Still, they have little time to go shopping and prefer groceries to be delivered to them. If you’ve defined this category as your target audience, ensure food freshness and convenient delivery.
Busy working people don’t have time to plan their meals, but often have enough money for well-cooked products. That’s why delivery from restaurants is so popular among them.
Work on a Great UI/UX Design
Design matters for each and every website. Customers want to use applications that are simple, clean, and intuitive. Besides, you’d also want to be focused on the key action – food ordering.
Good and well-planned design requires lots of time and efforts from the designers. But rest assured – the result is always worth it.
Use SEO and Social Media
Search Engine Optimization isn’t new. To make your website ranked by search engines, make sure it has all the required SEO elements like user-friendly URLs and meta tags.
Nowadays, every business wants to be active on social medias like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. To make your pages stand out, you should draw users’ attention. Being creating is not always enough, so focus on your users’ needs too. Besides, don’t forget to check the visitors’ comments and quickly reply to them.
Adapt Your Website to Meet Local Demands
FoodPanda and GrubHub are aimed at delivering food locally and still found their way to success, so here are some interesting and important ideas from these platforms.
- Create your business according to the local environment and types of customers. Mind that some key features may work well in one city and don’t work at all in another.
- Categorize the food according to the local preferences.
- Add various payment options. People should be able to choose whether to pay via credit card, eWallet, or cash on delivery.
Consider Various Revenue Sources
Money’s always a struggle, and you’re going to face it sooner or later. When you’re launching a digital product, think of additional revenue streams. Here’s our list of ideas.
- Paid advertising is one of the most popular monetization ways. All you need to do is offer third parties a place for their ads on your website. For example, UberEats charges a marketing fee for place advertisement
- Sell gift cards for a certain amount of money. For instance, there are two variants of gift cards offered by GrubHub – eGift card and physical cards.
- Offer additional services like the delivery of medicine, and earn a commission for every client. Famous Delivery.com offers to bring laundry, groceries, and more.
Build a Mobile Version
More and more people tend to use their smartphones more often than PCs. There’s always an option to simply optimize your website for mobile phones by applying responsive design.
Wrapping Up
Creating your own food marketplace is a long-term process, and the biggest number of hours you’ll spend on its planning. Also, remember that if you’re going to create a food delivery website or application, you need to hire qualified software developers. Take some time to check their portfolio, rates, and read customers’ reviews to choose the best team for your project delivery.
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