How To Build A Food Delivery App Like Ubereats and Deliveroo

How Much Does It Cost To Build A Food Delivery App?

Wondering how to build a food delivery app like UberEats and Deliveroo? And more than that, you must be curious to know how much it will take to develop a food delivery app that allows people to put an order right from the comfort of their home. 

Well with that fact that 60% of customers request delivery or takeaway once every week, therefore it would be a great opportunity to invest in food delivery apps. But online food delivery apps like UberEats and Deliveroo are such extensively grown apps that have not been developed overnight.  

So firstly, to create a food delivery app like UberEats and Deliveroo, you need a high budget and perfect assistance from a top mobile app development company that understands the local customer’s needs. 

However, apart from this, to succeed in this thriving industry, all you have to do is to have a well planned online food delivery app that provides customers with the choice and convenience of getting food with a few taps on their mobile phones. 

Earlier too, restaurants and food chains used to deliver food but the process has undergone a rapid change in recent years. Online food delivery platforms enable  restaurants to make use of both digital and traditional marketing modules. And this would be an excellent way to start a competitive business and attract consumers who are eagerly looking for convenient ways to have their meal delivered to their doorsteps.

Looking to create a top-notch food delivery app? We enable you to hire mobile app developers to build your bespoke solution together for a faster, more customized app experience. Let’s discuss!

Why to Create a Food Delivery App like UberEats and Deliveroo?

The popularity of online food delivery apps is increasing with each passing year. But it could be the most convenient way to connect customers and restaurants with each other. There are a number of advantages to building a food delivery app, it’s fair enough to say that investing into the food delivery app solution will be a worthy decision. 

But you don’t have to trust our words, here are the market insights that represent the progressive picture of the market…

Key Food Delivery Statistics

• The entire food delivery app industry is expected to reach $165 billion market size by 2029.
• The number of users are forecasted to experience significant growth in all segments by 2028 and expected to reach 2.5 billion users.
• In a survey, it is revealed that more than half of global consumers said that they expect their online food orders to be delivered within 30 minutes or less. 

With these statistics, it is fair enough to say that online food delivery apps will be a perfect option that businesses can gab to make revenue. But what are the top revenue generation models that help you make profit from the app? Let’s discuss!

Top Revenue Channels for Online Food Delivery App like UberEats and Deliveroo

Starting an online food delivery app is one of the brilliant app ideas. But this would require you to hire android app developer that can help you customize an outstanding app but it will add up to the cost. So as an investor, you must be wondering how returns you will get  over this investment?

Here are the few best monetization strategies that can try to make profit from your food delivery app:

1. Charging A Commission Fee From Restaurants

One of the prime ways to make money from the food delivery app is to charge the transaction on every order placed through the platform. The admin can collect payments from customers and automatically deducts a specified commission before crediting the remaining to the restaurant’s wallet. This model enables businesses to make a hefty amount of money based upon the volume of orders processed. 

2. Third-Party Promotion

To boost the visibility, the admin can allow restaurant owners to promote their brand on the app. This could be anything from listing restaurant, banner ads, or special deals that appear on the app. Providing the promotional slot on the app will help enhance exposure, enhancing their chances of attracting more customers. And in return, businesses can charge for this promotional space.

3. Subscription Model For Merchants 

Implementing a subscription-based model for restaurants is one of the most effective monetization strategies for the food app owners. The admin can offer various subscription plans based on monthly, quarterly and yearly basis. Make sure, the cost of the subscription plan is competitive. 

4. Delivery Fees

Another simple way to generate revenue from the food delivery app is to charge a delivery fee. Online food delivery apps like UberEats and Deliveroo charge a certain amount of percentage on the delivery services. It can be either charge from customers on top of their order total. Moreover, the fees can be varied based on distance, delivery time, or order size in revenue generation. 

These are the few ways you can generate revenue from your food delivery app. However, the ultimate choice of the monetization strategy is depending upon your app structure and features and functionalities. Before that, decide what type of food delivery app you want to develop… 

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Type of Food Delivery App You Can Consider Developing

In the current food delivery situation, there are three significant food delivery fire up models that are ruling the current market. 

1. The Aggregator Model

This model depends on the customary arrangement of food conveyance. These new businesses that depend on the aggregator model go about as the outsider who deals with the shoppers and the cafés in the region. They give a stage to the customers to peruse through an incredible number of foods and cafés.

As an outsider the food conveyance application aggregators offer help for requesting and offer an introduction to the eateries. The shopper can investigate the menus, audits, appraisals, and costs simply in the wake of enrolling on the application, and afterward put in their request. 

2. New Delivery Administrations, or Applications with Calculated Help

So also, aggregator applications permit clients to arrange food at different pizza shops, eateries, bistros, and different foundations where they cook food, and yet they additionally help with food conveyance as per the Uber plot.

For eateries, this is a genuine find, on the grounds that new administrations permit any eatery, pizza joint, bistro, and even your grandma, who readies the best crusty fruit-filled treats on this side of the Mississippi, to enter the market.

3. Food Delivery Platform with Logistic Support

This model varies from the aggregator model as it bolsters the joining forces of cafés with complete coordination support for android app development solutions. This model can stretch out its administrations gainfully to little cafés, food joints, and home conveyance administrations to convey food in a consistent way.

This model offers a great deal of straightforwardness and backing to new businesses in the food business who don’t have the assets or the transmission capacity to have their own conveyance framework set up.

How Do Food Delivery Apps Work?

A food delivery app is a perfect digital solution that seamlessly connects customers with local restaurants and streamline the entire process of food ordering and delivering. Before you hire an app developer, make sure you understand how it works. So let’s dive straight into the technical considerations of how food delivery apps work. 

Let’s explore the details of its business structure:

Understanding the Business Role in Food Delivery App

To build a food delivery app like UberEats and Deliveroo, you need to create a digital ecosystem with the functionality for each user role. Here are the main business modules that that you need to create a food delivery app similar to UberEats:

• Customer App: This is majorly designed for the customers where users can  browse nearby eateries, view menus, place orders and track deliveries in real-time. With this app platform users can put orders, receive updates on order status and can securely process payments. 
• Restaurant App: This module is for restaurants through which they can receive and manage orders, update their status, and accordingly prepare the food. In fact, with this platform, restaurants can view order history, customer feedback and performance metrics to optimize operations. 
• Delivery Panel: This app panel is for the delivery person,  who gets notifications for delivery requests, navigates to pickup and delivery locations, and updates order status through the process. Moreover, with this panel, there will be real-time tracking ensuring transparency. 
• Admin Panel: Admin panel is like an additional layer of controller that helps in managing and processing orders and provides real-time metrics of app performance. 

But the question is what features you need to integrate at each app panel to make the entire app work smoothly. Let’s take a look at it!

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Must-Have Features to Build a Food Delivery App That Keep Users Engaged

To build food delivery apps like UberEats and Deliveroo involved detailed features at all four essential panels- Customer, Restaurant, Delivery and Admin. Each panel serves a specific user group with distinct functionalities. Here are the must-have features for each panel:

1. Customer Panel

• User Registration and Login: Make sure you offer an easy login and registration process and let users login the app via email, phone number, or social media accounts like facebook, twitter and more.
• Browse Restaurants and Menus: Add a search box in the app where users can search for restaurants with detailed menus including images, descriptions, and prices.
• Order Placement: Keep the order putting system simple and intuitive. Let them select the dishes, customize orders, and place them without any hassle.
• Real–time Order Tracking: With this feature, let users locate the real-time location of the order. GPS-enabled tracking allows users to track the status and delivery route in real-time. Though it’s a little challenging, therefore, you can hire mobile app coders that help you integrate this feature in the app..
• Multiple Payment Options: Add a secure payment gateway supporting various methods like credit/debit cards, digital wallets, and cash on delivery and let users pay as per their convenience.
• Order History: This could be a great addition to your app which enables users to access past orders history for easy reordering and tracking.
• Reviews and Ratings: Let users add their genuine feedback, review and ratings for restaurants and delivery services.
• Customer Support: Provide in-app chat/calling feature in app to help users in getting direct customer support to provide immediate solutions.

2. Restaurant Panel

• Restaurant Profile Management: This profile is for restaurants and let them add the details regarding operating hours and contact information.
• Menu Management: Let restaurant owners easily update the menu items, prices, and availability.
• Order Management: Managing multiple orders manually is a great challenge, therefore, this is where restaurant owners access the dashboard to manage incoming orders and update their status.
• Payment Management: Using this feature, restaurant owners can easily manage payments by tracking all the payments received from the platform, including commission deductions.
• Promotions and Discounts: Let restaurant owners create and manage special offers and discounts to keep their users engaged with the app and let them stay connected.
• Analytics and Reports: With the complete analytics and detailed insights into sales, order volume, and customer preferences, restaurants can plan their week sales and be able to manage their inventory accordingly.

3. Delivery Panel

• Delivery Person Profile: This is where delivery persons need to get registered using the details provided by admin and create a profile including mentioning the availability status. 
• Order Notifications: With this feature, drivers will get instant alerts for new delivery orders and provide them flexibility to accept or reject the orders as per their availability.
• Route Optimization: GPS-enabled route suggestions allow drivers to manage on-time deliveries by using highly optimized routes. 
• Delivery Status Update: This is where drivers can update the status of the delivery (e.g., picked up, on the way, delivered).
• Earnings and Incentives: Using this feature, courier people can keep track of their earnings, tips, and incentives earned.
• Customer Communication: In-app calling or messaging to communicate with customers if needed.

4. Admin Panel

• Dashboard: Comprehensive dashboard displaying key metrics and real-time data on orders, customers, restaurants, and delivery agents.
• User Management: Tools to manage customer, restaurant, and delivery agent profiles.
• Order Management: Oversight of all orders placed, including the ability to intervene in case of issues.
• Payment Management: Monitoring of all transactions, commission deductions, and payouts to restaurants and delivery agents.
• Analytics and Reporting: Detailed reports on platform performance, including sales, user activity, and growth trends.
• Marketing and Promotions: Management of promotional activities, including discounts, advertisements, and loyalty programs.
• Customer Support: Interface to manage customer service requests and resolve issues efficiently.
• Content Management: Tools to update and manage app content, including banners, notifications, and terms of service.

In a nutshell,  these are the few features that can help you create an engaging food delivery app that can drive you huge revenue. But translating these ideas into practical robust solutions would require you to hire a React Native app developer that can help you customize the features that work on multiple platforms.

How Much Does It Cost to Build a Food Delivery App Like UberEats and Deliveroo?

Though it’s true that venturing into the food delivery industry is one of the overwhelming opportunities. But how much does it cost to build an online food delivery app like UberEats and Deliveroo is one of the serious concerns for both startups and leading enterpreneurs. 

Considering the complexity of the app, the average cost ranges between $22,000 to $50,000+ or can go beyond $75,000 depending upon the advanced features and tech stacks. 

So, here are the major factors that affect the average cost of the food delivery app:

• Number of partners 
• Number of development stages
• Complexities in the plan of action 
• UI/UX design
• App Testing
• App development team you choose to hire

Apart, all these factors, the region or location of the mobile app development company matters the most as every location has different living standards and market competition which affects the hourly cost of the developer. Every hour rates fluctuate from $20 – $60 (portions of India/Eastern Europe/South East Asia) to $80 – $150 (portions of Western Europe/US). 

However, at Xicom we provide the flexibility to hire dedicated app development teams with flexible engagement models based on hourly, monthly and fixed billing. So if you are interested in building a food delivery app, then you can book a free consultation slot with our experts to get your project requirements estimated by project analysts.

Read More: 115+ Top Mobile App Ideas in 2025 For Startups, Entrepreneurs etc.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this blog guide has given a detailed idea about how to create an app like UberEats or deliveroo.  On an average it will take around 600 working hours and may cost between $22,000 to $50,000+ depending upon complexity of the app. 

But the fact is, this industry domain is already led by so many food delivery apps like UberEats and Deliveroo. So to get an edge, you need to hire a top software development company that helps embrace the unique approach and agile methodologies along with the innovative features and functionality integration. 

For more details, you can drop us a query or contact us!

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