Food Apps Blog - 2022

Online Food Ordering Marketplace – What Makes It a Good Startup Idea in 2021

Today everyone is so busy and is getting busier every day mostly in metropolitan cities. People search for reliable solutions to deal with their hectic schedules and carry-out their daily routine tasks. 

People need online food ordering services as they have no time to cook food for themselves at home or visit a restaurant. Here the question that comes is why to use an online food ordering marketplace instead of not a restaurant having its own ordering and delivery services. The answer is that it is easier for the customers to visit a single marketplace website rather than installing an app or visiting the website of every single restaurant in the area. 

Customers have more options and can easily explore all the restaurants available in a particular area. It is also easy for the customers to compare the prices, ratings and reviews, and many other such things.  

COVID-19 has forced people to stay at home and this is a great opportunity for all the online food start-ups to grow because this is what the other food ordering platforms are doing presently. Although, building an online food ordering marketplace is not very easy as it appears to be. It needs absolute determination to build and market it. 

It involves different processes starting from development and ending to reach the customers. The whole process takes time; it can’t be done in just one day. Also, there is not a single app but it consists of 3 in which one is for the users, the second for the delivery representative, and the third for the restaurant owners. 

How and Where Online Food Ordering Marketplaces Work?

The online food ordering marketplace works just like the aggregator’s business models where owners make profits through service charges. They provide a central place where all the restaurants are listed and customers can order from online ordering food channels. 

Earlier, food ordering and delivery services were limited to those areas where there are high population demand and density but with the advent and popularity of the internet and increased use of mobile devices not only urban but semi-urban as well as rural areas have also become a prospective market for this sector. 

Models of Online Food Ordering Marketplace

There are two online food ordering marketplace models:

1. Food Ordering Platform 
2. Food Ordering and Delivery Platform

Let’s get into details of the above mentioned platforms. 

1. Food Ordering Platform: The food ordering platform is used by most customers to order food online. Nearby restaurants are listed on the food ordering apps and customers can use the apps to order their favorite food from their favorite restaurants. On food ordering apps customers can view their food menus of various restaurants and order whatever they feel like and from where they want to order.
   
   The food ordering app is simple and easy to use and customers can order the food after they get themselves registered on the app.  Once registered customers can easily check the menus of different restaurants and can decide what to order. They may also have a look in the reviews and rating section to choose wisely.
   
   The online food ordering system gives opportunities to the restaurants to expand their market because online food ordering is so much popular among the customers. One thing that needs to be mentioned is that the food ordering platforms do not offer delivery services. For delivering the food orders to the customers’ restaurants needs to have their own delivery service. 

Working of Food Ordering Platform

1. Firstly, the customer logs in into the food ordering app and then chooses the restaurant and orders the food of his choice. 
2. After placing the food order, the customer makes a payment by using inbuilt payment options in the app. 
3. Once the order is confirmed food preparation starts at the restaurant.
4. The restaurant delivers the food to the customers by its own delivery service. 

2. Food Order and Delivery Platform: This platform is very advantageous for app owners as they can earn good profits from it.  These are very useful and profitable for the start-ups because people who are new in the business don’t have sufficient resources to establish their own delivery service and they mostly look for such platforms for delivery services. When they have a food delivery platform, they do not need to worry about the management of deliveries. 

Working of Food Order and Delivery Platform

1. The customer logs in, then places the food order and makes the payment for the same. 
2. After that restaurants receive and confirm the food order and the food preparation is started at the restaurant. 
3. Once the food is prepared and ready for delivery, the restaurant notifies the delivery partner.
4. The delivery partner arranges a delivery agent and the agent completes the delivery process and waits for the next order. 
5. After confirmation, payment is done. 

Essentials of Building a Food Ordering Marketplace

If you are thinking to build a successful food ordering marketplace you must consider the following points: 

1. Listing of Maximum Restaurants: There are a lot of food ordering apps in the market that is popular among people. To stay strong in competition and compete with them the first thing you must do is try to add more and many restaurants as possible to your restaurant partner list. 
   
   Many restaurants partner with multiple food ordering and delivery services to gain more profits as they will get more and more orders from different platforms. Therefore, persuading restaurants will not be that difficult but you need to market your app in order to reach a wider audience. 

2. Order Scheduling: Your app must have an exclusive feature so that it seems to be different from what other apps are having. One feature that you can include in your app is repeat order scheduling. Using this feature, customers can schedule their delivery time according to their convenience and order the food at a time convenient to them. 

3. Multiple Payment Options: This is the very important feature that you need to have in your app as everything is going digital now. If your app is not integrated with multiple payment options, then you will be left behind. Therefore, integrate debit and credit cards, e-wallets, net banking, and various other modes of digital payments to your app for quick and secure payments. 

Apps Needed for Food Ordering and Delivery Marketplace

1. Apps for Customers: In this app, customers view different restaurants and food items and can place orders and pay online. This app needs Login/Sign-up, Search restaurant, In-app payment, Order tracking, Loyalty program, Repeat order.

2. App for Delivery Agents: This app needs features such as login, order status, earning history as it is concerned with pick-up of food order from the restaurant and delivering it to the customer’s location. 

3. Apps for Restaurants: Restaurant apps include features such as admin panel, accept or reject any order, payment receiving, and cross-interface communication. Restaurants need to list their dishes on the app after going through the registration process.  
   
4. Website Portal for customers: who still surf the internet on desk systems and love to see the more detailed view on their desk systems for more convenience.
   
5. Backend System / Web Panel for Restaurant Owner for managing orders & daily food menu updates.

Where to get these applications to start a marketplace business?

You can purchase ready and tested solutions from the Ready On-Demand Food Delivery Marketplace solution