How much does a mobile app development cost for an on-demand delivery app?

by AppClues Infotech Mobile App Development Company

The pace of life is accelerating rapidly nowadays. The on-demand economy or in other words “access economy” appeared to satisfy customers’ needs by supplying goods and services immediately. With a smartphone in your hand, you can buy anything you want or get services you need in almost no time. Before Uber appeared on the market, passengers had trouble finding taxis and so did drivers looking for clients. But now you can get a cab in a couple of minutes only with a tap on the screen.

Uber Eats is another great example of a successful on-demand application that stands out. It provides restaurant owners with more orders and allows customers to choose meals in a convenient and user-friendly way.

How does a successful on-demand service app look like?

Before you decide what kind of on-demand mobile app you want to build you need to identify your target audience. In the case of Uber, its target audience is city dwellers who don’t own a car but live a socially active life. In the case of a food delivery app target audience may be office workers or singles who don’t like to cook. If you want your app to be successful you should consider this:

It should be high in quality and still slightly cheaper than the big players in the category.
Cutting-edge technology embedded in your application is a must for competitive mobile apps. It includes but not limited to a navigation feature to track an order and a banking system to pay for it.
The customers should have a need of using its service quite often, the more frequently, the better.
Your service should be flexible, i.e. be able to adapt quickly to your clients’ needs.
It should include reviews and ratings, be easy for users to get customer support & help when needed.
Push notifications, favorites, ratings and other useful functions are able to enhance user experience.

The structure of the on-demand app includes three units

User app: It’s actually the app that a customer can see after downloading it from the store. It usually includes user profile, search panel, reviews, booking, tracking, payment and support. etc.
Service provider app: This part is designed for companies to be able to add or remove services and keep in touch with the customers. It usually contains such features as push notifications, request accepting or rejecting, service start and end, track earnings, availability, etc.
Admin panel: It’s a part of an on-demand app where you can manage both users and service providers, track orders and requests, access analytics and reports as well as prices and commissions.

Must-have Features

Though the functionality may vary, there are certain modules or features that are usually included in an on-demand services platform

User profile: It’s a place where users can register and sign in, add information to their profile, manage preferences, etc
Marketplace: This is a list of services available for order
Reviews: People generally are prone to trust other customers’ opinion on services, so this feature is very advisable
Booking: This feature is a must in any on-demand solution because users want to get the services just with one tap
Cart: This is a list of orders users can review, confirm or cancel
Payment: The on-demand app would be incomplete without this feature and the payment gateways should be both secure and convenient
Navigation: A built in map is aimed at order tracking and at showing the whereabouts of the company
Chat: Consumers and companies should be able to exchange direct messages

Types of on-demand apps

Enterprise to Person (E2P) / Business to Consumer (B2C)
Enterprise to Enterprise (E2E) / Business to Business (B2B)
Person to Person (P2P) / Consumer to Consumer (C2C)

How much does it cost to make an On-Demand Service App?

The answer to this question depends on the way you want your platform to be developed. If you want to make it from scratch it will cost more than a solution built of ready-made modules, each of them has its set price. But it not only saves your money but also time because the development team won’t need to spend time writing basic specs, building basic modules, and testing them. Hence because of the unique alterations, the app will undergo it will still have a truly custom look and functionality.

Each feature requires certain hours of work of certain specialists and the price of uber like app development is calculated upon modules that will build your app. Let’s estimate a rough budget on the example of an on-demand delivery app. An app like that will probably need the following key elements: user profile, reviews, booking, payment gateways, geolocation, and chat.

The price of these feature implementations using basic modules starts at $10,000 and requires approximately 500 working hours. You should keep in mind that putting everything neatly together may require some additional time. If you prefer your app to be developed from scratch, you should be ready to spend around $80,000 and 2000 working hours.