How Much Does a Food Delivery App Like DoorDash or Postmates Cost?

Although the concept of food delivery is not new, the advent of online food delivery apps has completely transformed the food industry. Connecting with multiple restaurants and ordering from a wide variety of food has become a matter of just a few clicks since the launch of food delivery apps like Postmates, DoorDash, and other dedication apps.

In fact, ordering food from them is as simple as reheating a frozen dinner. With the rapidly growing trend of online food delivery, it's not surprising that by 2025, this industry will be worth $200 billion.

If you're still unsure whether investing in food delivery apps is a good idea or not, consider the ever-increasing popularity of online food delivery services and their potential in the future to make a more informed decision.

Let the Food Games Begin With Market Research

No matter how brilliant your app idea is, it's always a good idea to research the market and the feasibility of your project before investing and hiring an IT team. To make things easier to understand, let's break down the market's key figures into categories:

1. Consistency in usage

According to Zion & Zion's survey, there are 2,928 adults in the United States aged 18 and up.

According to the Zion & Zion Survey report, 41% of consumers used a multi-restaurant delivery website/app at least once in the previous 90 days.

According to Statista, 36.0 percent of users in 2019 are between the ages of 25 and 34.

2. Market Share of the Most Popular Food Apps

Grubhub, UberEats, DoorDash, and Postmates are the top four most popular food delivery apps, with respective usage rates of 37.8%, 36.0 percent, 19.9%, and 9.8%.

According to the survey, Gurbhub has a 52 percent market share in New York City and DoorDash has a 64 percent market share in San Francisco. In Miami, UberEats has a 61 percent market share, while in Los Angeles, Postmates is the most popular food delivery app with a 37 percent market share.

3. Revenue Generation from Online Food Delivery

According to the survey report's forecast, the online food delivery segment will generate $136,431 million in revenue in 2020.

By 2024, the projected market share will be $182,327 million, based on a 7.5 percent annual growth rate (CAGR 2020–2024).

According to the survey report, the largest segment of the market is "Platform-to-Consumer" delivery, which is expected to reach $70,741 million in 2020 and 965.8 million by 2024.

According to Statista reports, the average revenue per user in the Platform-To-Consumer delivery segment is expected to reach $100.38 by 2020.

4. The App and Users of Online Food Delivery

Third-party delivery services are used by 31% of users at least twice a week, and 34% of consumers spend at least $50 per order when ordering food online.

Mobile ordering or loyalty programs, according to 45 percent of consumers, would encourage them to use online food ordering services more frequently.

57 percent of millennials believe that restaurant food delivery can make their lives easier.

By 2020, orders placed through a smartphone or mobile app will be worth $38 billion.

Working with third-party food delivery services can help your restaurant increase its sales volume by 10% to 20%.

In a nutshell, based on these figures, it is safe to conclude that the online food delivery segment has a bright future ahead of it, and that investing in food delivery apps is a wise decision. However, if you believe that by hiring a mobile app developer, you will be able to quickly get started with the app, you may be putting yourself in a difficult situation.

Sure, they can incorporate the latest technology and tried-and-true methodologies into the app development process, but you'll need to make a few decisions to get started.

What Does It Cost to Create an On-Demand Food Delivery App Like Postmates or DoorDash?

Let's dig deeper into each point for a better understanding:

1. Principles and Categories of On-Demand Food Delivery Apps

The first thing that comes to mind when developing an online food delivery app like Postmates or DoosDash is "how do they work" and "what sets them apart from the competition?"

Customers and restaurants can use on-demand food delivery apps as a one-stop-shop. Customers can use this platform to order their favorite foods from a variety of menus and restaurants. The retailers can see the product order through the application's backend, and the courier will receive a notification to pick up a delivery request.

However, developing an on-demand food delivery app, like clothing, cosmetics, and shopping, is a broad concept. So, if you're going to create a food delivery app like Postmates or DoorDash clone, make sure it has three layers:

• App for Customers (End-Users)

• App for restaurant owners

• Admin Control Panel

• Types of Online Food Delivery Apps

Let's assume you have a good understanding of how these food apps work. However, there are currently two business models to consider when developing a food delivery app:

Aggregators are a type of business model in which users and restaurants come together to meet each other's needs. This type of food app allows users to order food of their choice, and restaurants can view and deliver the food without the need for the app's owner's assistance.

Platform with Logistic Support: This is a full-featured food delivery app that includes logistic support and enables restaurants to deliver food to customers in real-time. End-users will be able to select a food item from the menu, place an order, track the status of their order, and pay using a variety of methods using this business model.

2. What Sets Postmates and DoorMates Apart from Other Food Delivery Apps?

Before you start looking for the best mobile app development company, consider the unique selling points of popular food delivery apps such as Postmates and DoorDash. What distinguishes them from others in the market and makes them so successful?

If you want to build a food delivery app like Postmates or DoorDash, the first thing you should consider is their excellent user interface and seamless ordering process. Apart from that, there are a few other distinguishing characteristics that make them a popular choice in various regions:

The benefits of using the DoorDash or Postmates food delivery apps are as follows:

• Advanced filters are available, such as top-rated items, dietary foods, quick supplies, and more.

• From order scheduling to order tracking, everything runs smoothly.

• Immediately sharing information on preparation

• Restaurants that have been highlighted

• Offers and deliveries that aren't included in the main listing

• Food quality, delivery speed, and overall order experience are all rated.

3. How Do I Begin Using a Food Delivery App?

You may be mistaken if you believe that determining the USPs of the leading food delivery apps and hiring an app developer is enough to create an app that will entice a potential client to click the install button. Instead of duplicating a food app clone, you should evaluate your business idea, conduct market research, determine the features and technologies that support the food app, and hire a mobile app development company to create an outstanding food delivery app.

However, because we are primarily concerned with the cost of app development, we will jump right into the steps that affect the costing and functionality of the apps. Here are a few of the points we'll go over in more detail...

• Postmates and DoorDash are examples of important features that influence the cost of developing a food delivery app.

• To stay competitive, food delivery apps need advanced yet innovative features.

• Postmates and DoorMates are two of the most popular online food delivery apps.

• Monetization Strategies and Business Models

Let's take a closer look at each point...

1. Factors Influencing the Cost of Developing a Food Delivery App

When it comes to calculating the cost of developing a food app, the app's features and functionality are crucial. It not only takes up the lion's share of the app development budget, but it also has a significant impact on the app's market adaptability. The more unique and useful features your app has, the more likely it is to succeed. However, the more complicated the features are, the longer it will take to develop them and, as a result, the higher your budget will be.

So, here are a few features that every food delivery app should have:

2. The Food Delivery App's Advanced Features

Apps with Chatbots for Food Delivery

Including chatbots in your food delivery app is the cherry on top. Chatbots can speed up the entire ordering process, no matter how well-designed your food delivery app is. Users can use chatbots to choose their favorite food and restaurant, place orders, and track the status of their orders in real-time.

Chatbot development provides a unique level of food and beverage ordering through an app. If you're having trouble with it, look for a mobile app development company that specializes in chatbot development.

Commands for Voice Search

Simply use voice search commands in your app to add Alexa skills to your food app. Some food delivery apps, such as Grubhub, already have Alexa-like features in their apps, making it easy for their users to find any of their favorite dishes using voice commands.

Hire an app development company that can integrate Alexa skills into your food delivery app, allowing you to speed up the ordering process and send push notifications to your customers with estimated delivery times.

3. The Most Effective Technologies for Online Food Delivery Apps such as Postmates and DoorMates

The technologies available to you vary greatly depending on which operating system you use to launch your app.

Developers commonly use Java for Android app development, while Swift is used for iOS app development. Flutter and React Native, on the other hand, are the most popular programming languages for creating cross-platform apps.

Apart from that, here's a rundown of the technologies used to create food delivery apps like Postmates and DoorDash:

• S3 (Amazon Simple Storage Service)

• EC2 is a service provided by Amazon.

• SDK for Facebook

• PayPal

• Google Maps is a mapping service provided by Google.

Google Places is a search engine that allows you to find

• Stripe

• Fabric

• APNS

• Firebase

• Cloud Messaging by Fire

• Google Analytics is a tool that allows you to track

4. The Most Effective App Monetization Strategies

The first concern of an app developer when creating a food app is to figure out how to make money from it. While there are many ways to profit from your mobile app, here are a few that are appropriate for your Postmates or DoorDash-style food app:

Delivery Fees: One of the most common ways to profit from on-demand food delivery apps is through delivery fees. You can begin charging a delivery fee for each courier delivery you make. The delivery fee for Postmates ranges from $0.99 to $3.99, but it also offers users feature discounts.

Collaboration: The restaurants and cafes with whom you've partnered may pay you for in-app promotions. You will be paid when users find a specific establishment in your app and place delivery orders from there.

Premium: Make a paid and free version of your app. The app's free version includes basic features such as browsing a list of restaurants, placing orders, and paying for them. Paid versions, on the other hand, come with premium features such as live tracking, feature discounts, free delivery, or the ability to be completely ad-free.

4. What Does It Cost to Create a Food Delivery App Like Postmates or DoorDash?

One of the most difficult tasks is determining the exact cost of app development. Many software development companies and app developers claim to be able to create an app for $10,000 to $25,000, but this is simply a marketing ploy for startups and businesses.

The truth is that app development estimation includes a few stages of development, such as UI/UX design, back-end/front-end development, admin panel, a server component, the cost of hiring an app development team, their location, app testing, and so on.

Still, if you're thinking about making a simple food app with MVP, here are some time and cost estimates:

According to the table above, the total development hours for an iOS food app will be around 1275+, based on the average per hour developer's cost ($50). The cost will be around $63,000+, but if you hire app developers in India, it will be around $22,000+. According to Clutch research, app developers can be hired for as little as $18 to $30 per hour.

Conclusion

Following an examination of the food app development industry and its projected figures, it is safe to conclude that online on-demand food delivery apps are here to stay for the foreseeable future. As a result, a plethora of food delivery apps pop up every day, providing users with a great deal of convenience.

However, the final cost of app development is determined by a number of factors, including the country in which you hire an app developer, the size of the app, the technologies you use for development, and much more. It's also worth noting that the developer's per-hour rate has a significant impact on the overall cost of app development. For example, the average developer price in the United States is $150, in the United Kingdom, it can be around $100, and in India, it can be as low as $18.

If you're ready to invest in on-demand food apps, it's a good idea to contact a professional mobile app development firm that can understand your business needs and offer you the best solutions to stay competitive.