Online Food and Grocery Delivery App: Transition and Critical Challenges

Updated on :October 13, 2023
By :Paul Richards

Gone are the days when people had to visit brick-and-mortar grocery stores every morning to buy essential food and grocery items. With digital technologies and on-demand mobile applications taking the center stage, customers can expect instant delivery of their orders from the comfort of their homes. Also, customers get the facility to explore more options in each category and compare the pricing before making the buying decision. After the pandemic hit the world, these on-demand apps gained more traction with the addition of several customer-safety features like no-contact delivery, free, same-day delivery, barcode scanning, multiple payment options, and many more. 

GoodFirms Roundtable is a series of podcast discussions where global leaders like CEOs, CTOs, CFOs of organizations, and professionals holding prominent positions in a company share their valuable insights, views, and experiences on various topics primarily related to IT services. Podcast discussions also serve as a guide to young entrepreneurs willing to start their own businesses. 

In this following podcast discussion, GoodFirms interacted with Bahauddin Arafat, the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Zaag Systems Limited. 

Zaag Systems Limited is a top-rated mobile app development company and a leading software development firm based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with offices in the US. Incepted in 2020, the company has scored high in web development, CMS development, e-commerce development, out staffing, and more.

The podcast article highlights the following points:

  1. Why do people still use food and grocery delivery apps despite the pandemic curtailing down?
  2. How customer expectations and businesses have evolved over the years?
  3. Critical differences between food and grocery delivery software development and other applications
  4. Core features of food and grocery delivery applications and what is the cost to build one such app?

Also, this podcast discussion focuses on a few other key areas that include;

  • Major security issues in food and grocery delivery apps that require attention
  • How do food and grocery delivery apps calculate the calorie intake of each food item?
  • Critical challenges of food and grocery delivery application
  • How has GoodFirms helped Zaag Systems emerge as the best mobile app development company worldwide?

The global pandemic that started in 2020 is one of the key reasons why the demand for Food and Grocery delivery software has shot up. Can you pinpoint why people have continued to use these apps even when the pandemic has receded?

Bahauddin Arafat pinpointed several reasons why customers prefer to use food and grocery delivery applications even when the pandemic has receded. Here are the reasons; 

  • Change in Consumer Behavior

With the increasing popularity of online and social media-based searches for various products, there is a drastic change in the search behaviors of consumers as well. The grocery delivery app solutions fit well in meeting both these needs.

  • Automation and Digitization

The grocery apps assist grocers in managing business processes efficiently with limited staff without affecting customer services. It simplifies the delivery process and brings automation at every stage. Customers have been appreciating this trend over the period. 

  •  Following social distancing and other norms

During the pandemic, food, and grocery delivery apps enabled users to follow social distancing norms imposed by most countries to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The pandemic forced people to stay home and get all the necessary items at their doorstep by giving orders online. The grocery delivery app solutions are designed to offer the following benefits-

  1. Avoiding the queue- The app users can give orders from the comforts of their homes.
  2. Saving time and effort- The on-demand grocery delivery app saves time and effort for users.
  3. Ensuring safety- The app ensures safety.

Quotation 1

While digging into the history of ordering food online, we discovered that World Wide Waiter was the first online food-ordering service (https://www.waiter.com/) that started in 1995. Cut to now; there are numerous platforms in the market. What, in your view, are some of the changes you have witnessed as customers’ expectations have changed and businesses have evolved?

Customer expectations and businesses have evolved over the years, propelling mobile app development companies to focus on the following crucial areas. These include -

  • Simpler UX

There is no alternative to simplicity. You need to simplify app navigation so that customers can browse through the available menu items in the food app, place orders that drive their appetite, and easily make payments at the right time. 

  • Faster Processing 

From preparing the food to delivering it to the customer’s doorstep, the entire process is a complex affair. But today, customers prioritize faster delivery, which is successfully carried out through faster processing of the order. 

  • Tracking the Delivery Status

Customers keep tracking their orders using the online tracker, which informs them about the real-time location of their food items and the exact estimated delivery time. 

  • Improved Experience 

Customers prefer getting an improved and personalized experience. They want to be heard and acknowledged through service reviews.

From your experience developing food and grocery delivery systems, please let our audience know how the development process for food and grocery delivery software differs from that of other applications.

Other applications are less vast and complicated than food delivery apps. It is mainly the features and functionalities that distinguish between the applications. 

The on-demand food ordering application provides push notifications, details of the delivery person, rewards, discounts, cashback coupons, etc. Also, these applications have real-time GPS tracking facilities, simple and multiple payment methods, search filters, and social media integration.

The on-demand food and grocery delivery app allow businesses to customize their customer profiles and registration process, check order history, offer in-app messaging benefits, let customers add their favorite food items, and much more. 

The apps also provide customer ratings and reviews, help businesses with virtual tasks, and offer users an easy learning curve.

Quote 2

For companies looking to build their food or grocery delivery application, please give an estimate for someone looking to develop such applications. Additionally, it's risky and expensive for startups to launch a full-fledged application at first. And here is where MVP comes into play. What features must a food and grocery delivery application have? How much will it cost to develop an MVP?

The must-have features of online food and grocery delivery application includes:

  1. An intuitive user profile.
  2. A dynamic list of different cuisines.
  3. An interactive search facility.
  4. Instant order tracking option.
  5. A facility to place orders in groups. 

Also, the app developers should add other vital features, such as a list containing recommended food items, customer reviews and ratings, convenient and secure payment options, a live chat facility, and an app notification system. 

To answer the second part of your question, it takes around four to six months to build a minimum viable product (MVP) if you start from scratch. The cost of developing a food delivery app primarily depends on the platform you select. 

Suppose you are choosing a native food delivery app development; it may cost you around $20,000 to $30,000. If you select cross-platform food delivery app development, the price will range between $16,000 and $24,000.

Whether it's food or grocery delivery applications or health apps, they often collect a lot of personal information from users to deliver the best experience. While this is important, there are some security concerns as well. As a business developing apps of such kind, what security/privacy issues can occur?

The primary threat is regarding customer privacy & data getting hacked by hackers. Also, during the registration process, the customers have to fill in a lot of personal information, including email and card details, for the payment process.

Quotation 3

The Pandemic changed not only the way we shop but also the way we perceive ourselves. We no longer indulge in bad food and have adopted a healthier lifestyle. This has led to an increase in the demand for calorie-tracking apps and software. As a pioneer in mobile app development, please let our audience know how apps calculate the calories of every food item we consume. What is the mechanism that runs behind the application?

Calculating the calorie intake is quite simple, provided the user accurately weighs and records the calories consumed. However, most apps also provide information on how many calories are burnt during the workout session. Users can view it with ease. They should take these calculations with a grain of salt; however, they could be more accurate.

Quotation 4

Developing an application comes with a lot of complex tasks and challenges. One of them is while developing a food delivery system. Creating a different experience with different user interfaces for food outlet owners, delivery partners, and customers is essential. Likewise, please brief some challenges businesses face while handling such requirements from start to finish.

The core challenges in developing a food and grocery delivery application are frequent changes in customer preferences and demands, unstable market prices, complying with food quality standards, and proficiently managing customer expectations.

In addition, developers need help with other issues, such as improper food handling, tackling threats and competition from bigger players, and concerns regarding logistics. 

The demand graph for such software and applications is only going up, and stats show that they are coming down after a while. Given this, how has GoodFirms helped Zaag Systems emerge as the best mobile app development company for customers worldwide?

GoodFirms has been the most trusted partner for Zaag Systems, helping us to boost our company’s digital presence in the local market. We are sure they will help us expand our global presence in the international market, including the US and Europe. 

You can listen to this podcast discussion here. 

What’s Next

Recently, GoodFirms conducted exclusive and extensive research on the latest market trends related to food ordering and delivery platforms where it found that the global food ordering and delivery market value has crossed over $150 billion, which is triple since 2017. 

One of the prime reasons why on-demand food and grocery delivery apps have witnessed a massive jump in the use of transformative technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc. But a few other advanced trends like multiple delivery platforms, food wastage applications, use of cloud kitchen, etc., have made food delivery apps more intelligent. One will see more enhancements as mobile app development companies plan to introduce much more advanced systems to offer seamless customer experiences.

Paul Richards
Paul Richards

Paul  Richards is a Senior Content Creator at GoodFirms, an IT Research and Reviews firm with 8+ years of rich experience. An ardent sports enthusiast and travel freak, he loves to share his ideas and knowledge on everything technology, software systems, digital marketing, and the latest industry trends. An avid reader, he likes to explore and browse various websites to accumulate more information on different topics.

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