Building a food delivery app is only half the work. The other half is maintaining a food delivery platform with regular mobile app development solutions. A food business needs a curated menu and inventory lists for thousands of individual merchants and track high volumes of daily orders and run an efficient dispatching system.
Challenges food delivery apps like UberEats, Postmates & Swiggy faced
Food delivery apps like UberEats, Swiggy, and Postmates have faced issues like price discrepancies, disloyal customers, misrepresentation of brands and unhappy customers. Some of these challenges, if not handled properly, may lead to severe loss and brand failure.
The growing online food delivery market
The total revenue of the online food delivery marketplace in 2019 grew up to an incredible amount of $107,438M and is expected to grow exponentially at 8.8% by 2024. Recent startups, however, are finding it difficult to get fair market shares and the consumers to trust an unfamiliar name in the light of the recent pandemic. That said, established delivery apps are not with their own challenges.
Challenges faced by online food delivery apps
Let’s look at some of the challenges faced by food delivery apps:
- Gaining loyal customers
With multiple delivery apps, consumers have a wide selection of cuisines and menus. They can also review different apps for the best prices, customer satisfaction, and offers provided by a particular business. So it is very tough for any business to maintain customer loyalty. A business can offer services and incentives like discount coupons, freebies, cash-back or a free product/service to its loyal customers to increase customer loyalty.
- Market prices are unstable
The shift in the economy affects the food business in multiple ways: the prices of raw products, fuel prices, and other utility requirements directly affect the business. However, if the economy falls, lesser people will order food online to save money. This puts a small business in jeopardy as it also needs to fight competitive prices with other similar businesses.
- Competing with the industry giants
The big fish in the market has more resources to maintain its position. A startup needs to build a strong customer base by offering some exclusive services/products or special features in its user interface that attracts more customers.
- Massive order volumes
If a business takes many orders but does not have an efficient support team to carry out those orders, it can be a fatal flaw. Large order volumes may lead to low-quality services, compromising on food quantity.
- Inconsistency in food quality and user experience
Food delivery apps offer services from a wide range of outlets, and in case of irregularity during packaging or delivery, the delivery app will feel the brunt of leaving its customer dissatisfied and angry. Similarly, it is difficult to maintain a consistent user experience with so many people involved in the process.
- Reliable delivery network
During high traffic times, delivery agents may not always be able to deliver food in the best condition. This can lead to negative feedback from the customer and the dining outlet.
Solutions for the food delivery app industry
A brand can overcome these challenges and get better results with the following:
- Right marketing
- Skilled agents
- Associating with reliable brand names in the food industry
- Offering as huge a variety as possible
- Maintaining the quality of its services
- Custom mobile app development services
Technical advancements in-home delivery has helped the food industry by adding cost-effectiveness and quality to its product and services. Challenges are plenty in the food delivery industry; even the industry giants face them. However, food delivery apps have a bright future ahead, and with the right efforts, they can help achieve great business revenues.
