The outbreak of the coronavirus has taken the world by storm. Almost all countries had to go into a lockdown with businesses had to close their stores and operations during the lockdown period. But, the food businesses continued to function as essential services even during the lockdown. All credit goes to food delivery apps that have helped food businesses generate some revenue even in the time of distress. As the lockdown restrictions in different countries are easing, it has become evident that food delivery apps are vital for restaurants and other food businesses to survive.
In this technology-driven world, customers are driven by instant gratification, which in case of food is delivered through restaurant delivery mobile apps. Earlier customers had an option to dine-in, however, the pandemic has made them depend more on food delivery apps to satisfy their hunger pangs.
But the consumers have become more cautious than before to avoid contracting the disease and therefore, make their choices carefully before ordering from a particular restaurant. People are looking for Lash extensions Las Vegas So, with the new-normal trend sweeping in during COVID-19, these 8 ideas can help you scale your food delivery mobile apps and sustain in the long run.
Ideas to scale your food delivery mobile app
COVID-19 has made people hesitant from ordering food from restaurants and is inculcating a culture of cooking at home. With a reduced number of online orders and no customers to dine-in, restaurants and other food delivery businesses have been suffering losses. At this time, customers trust only a few restaurant delivery apps that ensure food safety and hygiene even during delivery. Moreover, many customers are switching to healthy eating in order to boost their immune system and stay healthy.
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Here are 8 ideas for your food delivery mobile app that can get your business thriving during COVID-19.
- Offer no-contact delivery
Most of the restaurants and food delivery apps have integrated this feature within their apps, however, some delivery agents do not practice it despite the customer opting in for a no-contact delivery. Maintaining safety for your customers and delivery agents is important for the smooth functioning of your business. Therefore, not only should you offer a no-contact delivery service to your customers, but also ensure that it is being practiced by your delivery staff. Your food delivery app should also provide information on the health and safety procedures followed by each restaurant and delivery agents. This initiative will make your customers trust that you are strictly following and maintaining safety and hygiene standards.
- Introduce special categories
With the focus of customers shifting to healthy eating, your food delivery app can introduce special categories such as organic food, healthy food, and special dietary requirements-based food. Very few food delivery apps focus on providing a separate category of restaurants that offer these special categories. The health-conscious customers would prefer ordering from apps that offer these services over apps that only consist of regular restaurants and food joints.
- Introduce other items delivery
Get creative and think of new ideas that you can use in your food delivery app. For instance, food delivery apps such as Swiggy in India, have introduced deliveries of products for your pets from pet care stores. It also offers delivery of things like documents, business deliveries, lunch boxes, etc., from one location to the required location. The app leveraged their creativity and understanding of customers’ requirements to come up with such ideas. Therefore, to scale your food delivery mobile app you should introduce the delivery of important items that your customers may need.
- Integrate grocery delivery
Your food delivery app should not only be limited to the delivery of food from restaurants and cafes. Many food delivery mobile apps have started offering grocery delivery to help customers practice social distancing during COVID-19. You too should integrate the grocery delivery feature on your food delivery mobile app and leverage the need of the hour. Your customers are more likely to order groceries and other essential items from your app than food from restaurants. COVID-19 has made customers rely more on online shopping and doorstep deliveries, and this trend will continue post COVID-19 as well. Therefore, to scale your food delivery mobile app, you need to look into the future trends and custom behavior.
- Improve app design
An important factor to scale your food delivery mobile app is to make your app more attractive. It may be by changing the color scheme of the app icon or the design of the app icon. A good example of this is the app icon of the Urban Company and MakeMyTrip apps in India. These apps simply used a mask on their app icon which grabbed the attention of many users. Making such creative and attractive yet simple changes depicting the current situation and need of the hour will captivate more customers. The restaurant app development company you are associated with can assist you with the trending designs that can help attract customers.
- Integrate advanced filters
Offer your customers an easy search experience through advanced filters and categories. For instance, you can categorize restaurants on your food delivery mobile app under Popular Brands, Best in Safety, Promoted Restaurants, In the Spotlight, etc. These categories will help customers easily find what they are looking for. If a customer is apprehensive about the hygiene and safety standards of the restaurants, they can pick a restaurant from the Best in Safety category. Moreover, advanced search filters such as cuisine type, restaurant name, or food can also expedite the search process.
- Integrate AI-based chatbots for customer service
Ensure you are always available to resolve your customer’s queries instantly. Your customers have a choice to switch to other food delivery apps if they are not satisfied with your services. AI-based chatbots ensure that you are available 24/7 for your customers and reduce the requirement or workload of human staff as well. The chatbots will instantly handle grievances of your customers with utmost priority to make them feel valued. They also direct customers to customer service agents only for complex queries.
- Provide coupons and offers
A great idea to attract customers and retain them on your food delivery app is by providing them amazing deals, offers, and coupons on every order. Customers feel valued when they receive good offers and deals. Reducing the delivery fee can also help scale your food delivery mobile app. Many leading food delivery apps also offer free deliveries on purchase of a subscription with a nominal fee. In addition, they provide various discounts on different credit/debit cards, digital payments, and festivals. Attractive offers will keep your customers glued to your app each time they wish to order their meals.
- Build partnerships
If you are a food delivery aggregator, you will find many local food businesses that are on the verge of shutting down. These food businesses may not have their own food delivery apps and can use your support to reach out to their customers. This will not only help revive the local food joints but also build your customer base.
The Bottom Line
The new normal has drastically transformed the dining out scenario and customer behaviour. The pandemic has made it all the more difficult to attract and retain customers. As various countries have begun easing their lockdowns, people are taking baby steps to resume their lives outside their homes. The situation will never return back to what it was before the pandemic which requires you to adapt to the changes as well with a futuristic vision. Therefore, these 8 ideas will help your business gain credibility and trust from your customers which is much-needed during and post the pandemic. Restaurants and food delivery businesses that have implemented these ideas within their operations are already thriving despite the challenges brought in by COVID-19. Lastly, restaurants and small food joints that haven’t yet leveraged the digital world must build a food delivery software or partner with food delivery aggregators.
