How To Build A Food Delivery App Like Uber Eats? – Complete Guide

Last Updated on June 20, 2022

Have you ever imagined that how many times in a week do you order food online? The food delivery apps are the leading businesses offering the comfort of luxurious food at your doorstep. The popularity of different food delivery apps can be estimated that the US food delivery revenue has increased from 8.7 billion USD in 2015 to 26.5 billion USD in 2020. Out of all the popular food delivery apps, Uber Eats is indispensable to the US market.

Launched in 2014 under the experimental setup only, Uber Eats is a force to reckon with currently. Owing to its business revenue, many companies are eyeing to launch a dedicated food delivery app as Uber Eats only. If you’re planning something like the same, have a quick look at our detailed research on “How To Build An App Like Uber Eats” Let us start by having a quick look at promising Uber Eats market statistics.

Uber Eats Market Stats

Statistics are convincing figures while making crucial decisions in businesses. When it comes to Uber Eats market statistics, figures come out to be highly powerful. Have a look:

• Uber Eats has a global presence and controls 29% of the global food delivery market. It is currently available in 6,000 cities and is partnered with more than 600,000 restaurants.

• Uber Eats established itself as the top-grossing food delivery apps in July 2020 after Uber acquiring Postmates for a whopping 2.65 billion USD.

• Uber Eats has sustained the pandemic and has generated more revenue than the parent’s mobility segment since Q2 2020, i.e., 4.8 billion USD in 2020.

What Made Uber Eats Stay A Relevant Food Delivery App During Pandemic?

The secret of the success figures of Uber Eats even in a pandemic is credited to the crucial strategies adopted by the company to stay relevant in challenging times. Some of the key strategies for all stakeholders included:

• For Customers: Uber Eats started by launching a covid-19 awareness campaign aiming at contactless delivery at the customer’s doorstep. This no-contact delivery assured the customers that their order was delivered at the door under the “Leave at door” policy.
• For Restaurants: Uber Eats nurtured their partnerships with restaurants by launching an opt-in program and becoming part of the covid-19 awareness campaign. The opt-in programs ensured that businesses could earn daily payouts. This food app giant further waived delivery fees for more than 100 thousand restaurants in Canada and the US in 2020.
• For Delivery Staff: Uber Eats distributed all necessary sanitization materials to their delivery staff, including masks, gloves, sanitizers, etc. The company further motivated its delivery staff by incorporating them into the Covid-19 awareness program.
• For Healthcare Workers: Uber Eats has successfully delivered free meals to more than 300 thousand first-responders and healthcare workers, alone in Canada and the US.

Key Elements Of A Successful Food Delivery App

Before jumping to the next step in building a food delivery app like Uber Eats, it is crucial to understand the key elements of any food delivery app. There are main three parts of any profitable and successful food delivery app, which are:

The Client-Side

The customers should be able to perform the following functions on any food delivery app:

• Quick sign-in to the app by creating an account using email addresses and contact details. It can be alternatively done using third-party apps like Gmail, Facebook, etc.
• Selection of different restaurants out of the list of partnered restaurants. Further, it should include restaurant saving options.
• Quick placing of orders.
• A secure payment gateway system for processing online payments and validating offers and codes. This gateway should offer various payment options like debit cards, credit cards, digital wallets, payment apps, etc.
• Quick order details- order tracking, order number, estimated delivery time, etc. It should further offer a quick chat with the restaurant and courier side for order details.

The Restaurant Side

It should be able to perform the following functions:

• Quick sign-in to the app that enables restaurants to join the platform. It should capture all details like restaurant location, contact information, business hours, etc.
• Easy and quick menu uploading using the company’s content management system.
• Promoting the business by offering promo codes to multiple customers.
• Quick order details- view incoming orders, order status sharing to customers, etc. 
• Quick ability to locate the nearest delivery person for quick order pickup.
• A seamless communication channel for passing information to customers and delivery staff.

The Courier Side

It should be able to perform the following functions:

• Quick sign-up to the food delivery app.
• A dedicated order management page, offering quick order details- pick-up location, delivery location, order size, estimated pick-up time, etc. 
• A dedicated orders history page for keeping a record of customer experiences.
• A seamless communication channel for passing information to customers and restaurants.

Business Model Of Uber Eats

Let us now have a quick look at the successful business model of Uber Eats. The aim is to make a strict note of the multi-platform, on-demand, and aggregator business strategy of Uber Eats. As discussed, there are three main elements in Uber Eats- the restaurant side, client-side, and courier side. The simple process of placing online food orders by clients, accepting and preparing by restaurant side, and delivering by courier side is highly profitable for Uber Eats only due to this business model.

How Does Uber Eats Make Money?

Without much adieu, let us move to the main sources of money-making of Uber Eats. There are following four main concepts through which Uber Eats is earning profits:

• Commission on orders: Restaurants or cafes pay Uber Eats a commission fee on every order as high as 30%. This is one of the primary sources of earnings for Uber Eats.
• Delivery partner’s fees: Uber Eats takes up to 25% of the total delivery partner’s fee, which is further bifurcated into three parts. The delivery partner’s fee is divided into the delivery fee, distance per mile fee, and pickup fee. Hence, the delivery partner’s fee varies on location, availability of a delivery partner, and distance. Uber Eats further charges a “small orders fee” of 2 USD on orders below 12 USD. 
• Promotions: Most popular restaurants like McDonald’s sign exclusive promotion deals with Uber Eats and hence pay agreed commissions and fees as per the deal. Uber Eats promotes the services of the restaurant that improves their sales. Uber Eats is further offering relatable social media posts, email marketing for multiple customers, and customer-facing brand campaigns to restaurants. 
• Surge pricing: Uber Eats charges a “busy fee” on surge hours. This fee is calculated using a dynamic pricing algorithm that takes into account different factors. These are the availability of delivery partners, at the same time, at the same location, etc.  

Customer Segments Of Uber Eats

Uber Eats’s business strategy is based on different customer segments and transactions, namely- business to business dealing between Uber Eats and restaurants, business to company dealings between Uber Eats and customers, and direct dealing between Uber Eats and delivery persons. Let us have a close look:

• Restaurant-side: Restaurants can play with the menu prices on Uber Eats that are different from their original on-premise price. This is because restaurants have to pay a commission to Uber Eats on every single order.
• Client-side: The customers only require a seamless internet connection for placing their order on Uber Eats. It is further easy for them to sign-up for the app.
• Delivery-side: The delivery staff receives information from the app about the scheduled pick-ups from nearby restaurants based on location. The delivery persons receive payment according to the number of deliveries.

Value Proposition Of Uber Eats

After looking at the main customer segments, let us go through the value proposition of Uber Eats for every customer segment. So, here you go:

• Restaurant-side: Restaurants have the advantage of saving their delivery partner costs. Uber Eats promotes and advertises the restaurant’s menu on different platforms and hence significantly adds to the restaurant’s profits.
• Client-side: The customers can enjoy a variety of food thanks to the collaboration of Uber Eats with numerous nearby restaurants and cafes. There are reduced chances of wrong order placing on direct calling to a restaurant or cafe compared to placing it on Uber Eats. Further, customers don’t have to worry about cash availability as they can place pay online through different payment options.
• Delivery-side: The delivery staff can increase their regular income by working as a delivery partner with Uber Eats. Further, the delivery staff can work using a car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc. 

Key Resources Of Uber Eats

After the value proposition is discussed, let us have a quick look at the key resources of Uber Eats. There are four main key resources of this highly profitable food delivery app, namely:

• Restaurant agreements: The deals with the restaurants on commissions and other promotions make a considerable amount of the revenue.
• Platform: A dedicated platform that connects multiple restaurants with prospective customers online.
• Brand: An engaging brand that is used in all possible cities of Uber Eats operations.
• Algorithms: The advanced algorithms that calculate overall costs, fees, and timings.

Steps To Develop A Food Delivery App Like Uber Eats

Step 1: Conduct Market Research

The first step starts with researching the competitor food delivery apps, finding food industry trends, and finding the ideal location for online food delivery services. It is crucial to design the top features of the upcoming food delivery app.

Step 2: Select Food Delivery Model

Once the basics are clear, the next step is to choose the food delivery model. There are two options of order-only model and order & delivery model. Both food delivery models come with accepting and managing orders but differ on logistics support. The order-only model raises money by charging commissions from restaurants, while the order & delivery model adds delivery fees along with restaurant commissions.

Step 3: Choose Prominent Features Of An Uber Eats Like App Service

The next step is to add popular features of a high-grossing app as Uber Eats in your food delivery app. These features can be categorized into four sections, namely:

• Admin Panel: Delivery management, restaurant management, multiple capabilities, payment options, notifications, and statistical reporting.
• Restaurant App: Order management, menu management, tracking delivery & payments, support & assistance, tracking payments & deliveries, push notifications, etc.
• Customer App: User registration, order tracking, restaurant listing, reviews & ratings, multiple payment options, reward points, takeaway options, advanced search, etc. 
• Delivery boy App: Secure login, delivery management, real-time tracking, multiple deliveries management, push notifications, etc.

Step 4: Leverage The Power Of Right Technology Stack

Step 5: Pick A Feasible App Development Option 

The last step is to select from the different app development options. There are multiple options for a ready-made app delivering a solution or hiring a full-fledged app development team.

API’s To Create A Food Delivery App Like UberEats

The introduction of APIs in the food delivery app development process may reduce the overall development costs and fasten the process. This comes with multiple savings as a large variety of APIs is available for use in a food delivery app like Uber Eats.

• Google Places API: It allows apps to answer queries related to places through HTTP requests. It charges between 2 USD to 14 USD for 1000 queries and a maximum of upto 100,000 queries.
• Foursquare API: It allows food delivery apps to communicate with the popular social networking search and discovery app- Foursquare. Its pricing starts at 599 USD. 
• Uber Eats API: It is easy to manage orders and handle multiple customers using Uber Eats API. It works at revenue sharing model and charges anything between 15-40%.
• GrubHub API: It has a highly valuable database of more than 115,000 restaurants in the United States. It works at revenue sharing model and charges anything between 10-30%.
• MapBox API: MapBox Navigation API and MapBox Geocoding API help add custom maps for use in sites and apps through MapBox. It is free for 25,000 monthly users and then charges according to usage.
• Google Matrix: It helps determine the correct time and distance between the origin point and destination. It is available to all apps as 200 USD free credits monthly.
• Freshchat API: It helps to add a live chat option on the food delivery app using JavaScript. It offers a free account for 21 days and then charges 15 USD monthly.
• Onesignal API: It is one of the effective APIs that offer push notifications to your app users. It charges 99USD monthly.
• Waze Navigational API: It is a free web-based toolkit that allows your app direct access to Waze, a turn-by-turn instructions-providing app. It offers directions according to real-time road conditions. 
• TomTom’s NavApp and MapLibrary APIs It is a web-based toolkit that helps add custom mapping features to your food delivery app. It is free to use for up to 2,500 queries per day and then starts charging 25 USD per 50,000 transactions.

How Much Does It Cost To Make An App Like Uber Eats?

The total costs to build a food delivery app like Uber Eats depends on different factors like multiple integrations, a list of features, platforms, etc. It is easy to get a clear insight into the cost of the food delivery app after the initial product discovery phase is completed.

It involves the selection of UI/UX designs, visual prototypes, etc. The project scope, project roadmap definition, setting MVP budget, resources planning, app testing, and investment pitch are other crucial steps in the product discovery phase. 

Hence, total costs come after the broad calculations of UI/UX designs, the app’s back-end, and development. On average, it may cost anything between 15,000 USD to 50,000 USD depending on all factors discussed above.

Uber Eats USPs

Let us have a quick glance at the top USPs of Uber Eats that gives it a cutting-edge over other competitor apps. 

• Location eligibility: The customers don’t have to worry about their location eligibility while placing orders on Uber Eats. It delivers at offices, homes, parks, hospitals, etc.
• Orders scheduling: Uber Eats allows users to schedule orders in advance. The additional support to order tracking at preferred location and time ensures customer satisfaction.
• Customized pick-ups: Uber Eats offers options to choose from self-pickup or delivery.
• Short delivery time: Uber Eats offers the shortest delivery time by keeping a strict vigil on the preparation time of restaurants and order pick-up times.

Time To Create An App Like Uber Eats

Another concern related to creating a food delivery app like Uber Eats is the time required to develop the app. The total time required can be bifurcated into the time taken at different phases:

• UI/UX design may take around 60 hours,
• Front-end and back-end development takes about 400 hours,
• Technical documentation may take approximately 40 hours,
• MVP Testing takes approximately 80 hours, and
• Polishing and bug fixing requires 40 hours.

Wrapping Up

While many business ideas fail due to improper research and planning, it is ideal for creating a food delivery app like Uber Eats in 2021. Detailed research starting from key Uber Eats figures to the top strategies of the company in challenging pandemic times offer quick insights into Uber Eats success. It is then followed by a fact-rich study of Uber Eats’ business model. Once everything about Uber Eats is clear, we’re ready with quick steps to make a food delivery app like Uber Eats. 

A quick look into possible APIs and budgetary requirements further prepare you to start building a food delivery app like Uber Eats. Hence, after having a thorough look at our research, when are you planning to start working on your food delivery app like Uber Eats? Get in touch with Emizentech an app development company for all your mobile app needs.