Kickstarting Your Food Delivery App Development Journey: Extensive Guide to Launch an UberEats Clone

Uber clone

The comfort of ordering and enjoying our favorite food without even stepping out of our homes is what technology can do in this modern world. A simple electronic gadget is making lives simple, convenient, and hassle-free. Restaurants needn’t spend exhaustively on deliveries. On the other hand, customers needn’t waste their time and energy reaching eateries. A food delivery app effortlessly bridges this link, growing in terms of popularity and revenue in any community. 

Apps like UberEats, DoorDash, etc., have made a mark for themselves in this flourishing market. However, the vast market of food delivery services is still unexplored. With the COVID-19 pandemic pushing restaurants to join hands with delivery platforms, now is the time to make the most out of this situation. If you’re an entrepreneur aiming to launch a food delivery app, you’ll need to know the ins and outs of app development. This blog caters to those needs of entrepreneurs comprehensively. Besides, the blog also discusses the lucrative benefits of opting for an UberEats clone

UberEats – An Overview 

UberEats is typically a third-party aggregating food delivery platform that enables users to order food from a wide range of restaurants listed on the platform. Once the order is placed, restaurants receive the order and begin to process it. Delivery executives pick up the orders and deliver them to customers’ doorsteps. 

Launched in 2014, UberEats has gained a massive reception among the audience worldwide. Being the taxi giant Uber’s food delivery division, the platform was never short of achieving a wide customer base in the shortest possible time. The food delivery platform has spread its services across 45 countries and 6000 cities, making it a strong competitor when it comes to food delivery apps. 

The All-important Stakeholders 

Be it any food delivery platform, every stakeholder’s input is highly crucial for the efficient running of business operations. The stakeholders involved in a food delivery platform includes, 

  • Customers
  • Restaurant owners
  • Delivery executives
  • Admins 
  • Customers – The demanding factor 

Customers are the bloodline for any business. They reach out to the food delivery platform, browse restaurants, search their favorite food, and place orders from the comfort of their homes. 

  • Restaurant owners – The supplying element 

Almost every business works based on the golden rule of supply and demand. Once customers place orders, it is the responsibility of restaurants to process, prepare, and pack food orders within the scheduled time. 

  • Delivery executives – The linking medium 

A robust delivery chain is critical to ensure timely deliveries. The delivery executives pick up food orders from restaurants and deliver them to customer locations. Delivery executives are aided by a GPS-enabled navigation system for seamless operations. 

  • The admin – The controlling authority 

Supervising a food delivery platform is no easy feat. The administrator must keep an eye on multiple orders, resolve customer queries, process transactions, and roll out offers and discounts periodically. 

The trending app development style – UberEats clone 

Now, there are two popular approaches to food delivery app development. One can either follow the traditional way of building an app from scratch or opt for the customization of ready-made clone apps. The latter is an emerging technique that has gained a tremendous reception among entrepreneurs worldwide. An entrepreneur needn’t take up the burden of building the app. They can customize an UberEats clone entirely, rebrand the app based on their business needs, and launch the food delivery platform right away. 

An UberEats clone app is beneficial in innumerable aspects. They are, 

  • Incredibly cost-effective
  • Extremely time-conserving
  • Highly scalable
  • Entirely customizable 
  • User-friendly in every aspect 

Features that shape up a food delivery platform 

Now that you have identified different stakeholders, it is time to load various stakeholders’ apps with features. Let’s discuss some of the unique and essential elements worth-considering in a food delivery application. 

Customer App 

  • Social media Login/Sign up: Users register with the platform by either providing necessary details or logging in seamlessly via social media handles. 
  • Search and filter options: Users browse different restaurants or food items using the search option and filter their results in a flash by sorting out results on various metrics. 
  • Instant booking/Schedule for later: Users can place their orders right away or schedule them for the future. 
  • Multiple payment options: Users can pay for their orders via numerous payment gateways, including credit/debit cards, digital wallets, net banking, etc. 
  • Real-time tracking: Users can track delivery executives in real-time with the aid of GPS-enabled real-time tracking functionality. 
  • Push notifications: Users get instant updates on their orders, offers, discounts, etc., via in-app push notifications. 
  • Ratings and reviews: Users can rate and review their food ordering experience, providing valuable feedback. 

Delivery Executive App 

  • Availability toggle: Delivery workers can go online or offline in a flash with the help of the availability toggle. 
  • Accept/Reject orders: Delivery workers can accept or turn down delivery requests based on their convenience and availability. 
  • In-app navigation: Upon accepting requests, delivery executives receive restaurant and customer location details. They are guided by in-app navigation throughout the delivery phase. 
  • Manage multiple orders: Delivery executives can pick up multiple orders to conserve time and energy and pave the way for speedy deliveries. 
  • Earnings dashboard: Delivery executives can view their daily/monthly earnings with an intuitive dashboard.

Restaurant Owner app

  • Availability toggle: Restaurants can switch between their availability effortlessly with the toggle option. 
  • Order management dashboard: Restaurants get to know the upcoming orders, the ETA of order processing, the total payment from customers etc., via the informative order management dashboard. 
  • In-app chat/call: Restaurant executives can connect with delivery drivers, customers, and the support team with the help of in-app chat/call. 
  • Inventory management: Restaurant owners can update their inventory from time to time based on the food items’ availability. 
  • Manage pricing: Restaurant owners can assign prices to food items based on their preferences. 

The Admin panel 

  • Bird’s eye view: The admin can control and supervise every app activity from a single place with this bird’s eye view feature. 
  • Manage transactions: The admin processes transactions from the customer end to the restaurant end after the necessary commission cut-down. 
  • Verify service providers: The admin verifies the authenticity of delivery executives and restaurants before enabling them to take up customer orders.
  • Resolve customer queries: The admin and the support team are available round-the-clock to resolve customer queries at the earliest. 

Monetizing an app like UberEats 

An entrepreneur’s mindset inevitably involves benefitting people and earning a consistent income. It is the responsibility of an entrepreneur to transform an idea into an income-yielding business. Some of the monetization strategies worth-considering in a food delivery application include, 

  • Commission: Restaurants get to boost their sales by joining hands with the platform. As a result, these restaurants give up a percentage from every user’s payments as paid commissions to the platform owner. 
  • Delivery charges: Customers enjoy doorstep deliveries by placing orders via the platform. Hence, during checkout, they pay an additional fee called delivery charges. While a part of it goes to the delivery executives, a substantial amount reaches the platform owner’s pockets. 
  • Subscription plans: You can roll out subscription plans to customers who wish to enjoy enticing benefits like instant deliveries, offers, etc. They pay a fixed fee either monthly/annually to enjoy subscriptions. 
  • In-app ads: Even though quite annoying from a user perspective, entrepreneurs leverage third-party advertisements as they act as a potential income source. By displaying ad banners on your platform, you can levy charges based on views, clicks, impressions, etc. 

Weighing the pros and cons of an UberEats clone 

A food delivery platform comes with numerous advantages to every stakeholder. However, they have certain disadvantages as well. Let’s discuss the costs and benefits of an UberEats clone here, 

Pros: 

  • Customers enjoy the luxury of doorstep deliveries with just a few taps on their smartphones. 
  • The cost involved in ordering via a food delivery platform is relatively less when compared to that of reaching a restaurant across the town. 
  • Restaurants get to reach out to their potential customers without any investment from their side. 
  • Besides, they get to boost their visibility by having an online presence, growing their audience base. 
  • Delivery executives, who work on the ‘gig’ economy, can generate income by working flexible hours. 
  • An entrepreneur gets to maximize their profits by yielding revenue in numerous ways, including commissions, subscriptions, in-app ads, etc. 

Cons: 

  • Medium and low-scale restaurants find it challenging to cope with the commission scheme offered by the third-party platform. 
  • Restaurants lose their credibility for an unknown error from the platform’s side, hampering customer trust significantly. 
  • Customers, on specific occasions, experience delays in the delivery of orders, leading to inconvenience. 

Elements that make a food delivery platform successful 

Based on the Pareto principle, it is 20% of the platform’s aspects that drive 80% of traffic and sales. By focusing specifically on these aspects, an entrepreneur can assure success in the flourishing food delivery app market. They include, 

  • Having a user-friendly app design 
  • Incorporating cutting-edge features
  • Implementing the latest tech-stack 
  • Choosing the right app development company 
  • Upgrading the system based on customer feedback 

Tackling the COVID-19 pandemic 

By integrating safety add-ons in your on-demand food delivery app, you can ensure safety in your ecosystem, gaining customer trustworthiness in a flash. Some of the COVID-19 safety strategies include, 

  • Contactless deliveries 
  • Safety ratings and reviews
  • Face mask recognition software
  • Take away option
  • High-touch surface information
  • Safety badges
  • Knowledge banners 

Conclusion 

The COVID-19 pandemic is propelling the need for third-party food delivery platforms more than ever. An entrepreneur with the right approach and a robust food delivery app can gain instant traction among different stakeholders. Opting for a clone app solution is an ideal way for entrepreneurs to capitalize on the current demand. Reach out to an app development company, customize their UberEats clone, and establish your presence in the food delivery sector right away.