How To Create A Food Delivery App Like DoorDash

Online food delivery platforms such as DoorDash make it easy for users to purchase food from their favorite restaurants. This expertly designed app facilitates convenient and frictionless online food ordering transactions in multiple territories. Below, we reveal what you need to know about creating a food delivery app.

1. Online Food Ordering Is Enjoying Phenomenal Growth

It’s a decision most of us have made. We opted to spend a quiet Friday evening at home instead of standing in line outside our favorite eatery. But we still craved that tasty pizza or sushi from the restaurant across town while we watched Netflix. So we did what most savvy consumers do nowadays and whipped out our smartphones. We ordered directly from the restaurant’s website or app or via a third-party food delivery app.

Our order arrived in record time, and then we munched down on our delicious meal. We barely gave a thought about how quick and convenient online food ordering has become. Yet, what makes this industry segment so compelling is how frictionless it has made the food delivery process. With just a few clicks, taps, and swipes, hungry customers don’t have to leave home or their place of work to enjoy breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

And this combination of technology and convenience is making a considerable impact. Consider that the food industry has an annual growth rate of approximately 3.7%. However, online food delivery has achieved annual growth rates of 15-20%, which is impressive. And much of this business is driven by platforms such as DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats.

2. Enter DoorDash

The platform that we’ll focus on from here on out is DoorDash. It’s a technology company based in San Francisco and founded by Stanford University students in 2013. Today, the company serves customers in Australia, Canada, and the United States across 4,000 cities. And what DoorDash does so well is connecting customers with a myriad of eateries in their vicinity.

The DoorDash app is available for Android and iOS, and the core user base consists of younger time-strapped families. Thus, the app’s developers constantly refine the user experience and interface (UX/UI) to save customers time.

3. Key Features To Implement In Your Food Delivery App

Eateries that join the DoorDash program must upload their menus and images of food items. However, some establishments fail to upload relevant images, which frustrates customers. So, there’s an opportunity to improve on the concept by making image uploads a mandatory process. And several other features that you need to implement in your online food ordering app include the following:

• Search box
• Filtering
• Food customization
• Order history
• Pre-order
• Cashback and discount offers
• Ratings
• Restaurant address
• Delivery & special instructions
• Pick up
• Push notifications
• Real-time GPS tracking
• Live chat

4. Craft Your User Flow

Users should discover interesting eateries in their area and make their way to the checkout screen as quickly as possible. Thus, you’ll need to map out all the steps users will take by drawing up a flowchart. Also, consider how they navigate your app via the search box and the various filter and sort options. Several of these options will consist of the following:

• Rating

• Under 30 min

• Pickup

• Vegetarian

• Menu price

• Group order

Then, design your app’s screens with wireframes before putting together a prototype or minimum viable product (MVP). DoorDash, in its current form, has come a long way and utilizes advanced machine learning (ML) algorithms. But since you’re likely testing the market, it’s unnecessary to add complex features during the initial stages of development.

The Bottom Line

Developing a food delivery app such as DoorDash makes good business sense. Younger users are increasingly relying on their smartphones to book plane tickets through to ordering food. Contact us today to learn how NS804 can help you create apps that make food delivery a cinch.