October 25, 2023
By: TucsonBizz Staff Writer
TucsonBizz is a division of Sofvue, LLC.
Printed with permission of Data Titan, Sofvue LLC
Not only is food one of the three basic needs of life, but it is also a way to bring friends and family together, create smiles and memories, along with providing each of us with the nutrition needed to sustain life. In fact, you might even argue that food is the universal language for everyone on the planet.
Let’s take a stroll through the world of restaurant mobile app development, where innovation meets culinary delight, and discover how this growing technology can add tremendous value to your business.
About Restaurant Mobile Apps
Restaurant mobile apps serve a wide swath of the hospitality industry. They help customers find their favorite restaurants, reserve tables, order meals online, and leverage meal pick-up services. A typical restaurant app can offer some or all the following features:
✅ Menu access
✅ Table reservation
✅ Online food delivery
✅ Digital payments
✅ Cuisine filters
✅ Menu customization
✅ Menu ingredients
✅ Real-time chat support
✅ Coupons and discounts
Latest Trends in Restaurant App Development
Data trends for restaurant app usage are staggering. With more businesses turning digital, the use of restaurant mobile apps will only increase as restaurants turn to this innovative business model. Here’s some interesting stats:
● The number of people using online meal delivery in the US doubled from 81 million in 2017 to 161 million in 2022.
● Grocery delivery also increased two times from 50 million in 2017 to 116 million in 2022.
● In 2022, the US made an estimated $218 billion in revenue, with over $76 billion of that coming from the meal delivery sector.
● It is predicted that the restaurant industry market will reach almost $500 billion by 2027, as both online grocery stores and meal delivery companies continue to grow across the US.
Types of Restaurant Apps
Technology advancements have allowed restaurant businesses to launch distinct types of restaurant mobile apps for varying purposes. Here is a detailed list of the common types of restaurant mobile apps with their unique features:
#1 Food Delivery Mobile Apps
Millions of people across the US have grown accustomed to using mobile apps to order their favorite meals from the comfort of their homes, and food delivery mobile apps help restaurants meet growing consumer demand. Some of the different types of mobile apps include:
Restaurant directory
Food delivery apps provide a comprehensive list of restaurants, enabling users to sample a wide variety of cuisine and dining in their local area.
Food delivery tracking
Food is an emotional journey for most of us and what better way to enjoy the journey than offering real-time order tracking?
Safe payment options
These apps offer multiple payment options that are completely secure.
User ratings
Customers can make better decisions by going through the user ratings of different restaurants.
#2 Table Reservation Mobile Apps
Except for “experience” based restaurants, no one wants to sit around for an hour waiting for a table. This is where table reservation apps can save the day. They allow users to reserve tables in their favorite restaurants. Users can also receive timely alerts of vacant tables at their favorite restaurants.
Table availability
With a swipe, the app will send your customers push notifications not only about the availability but also reminders of upcoming reservations.
Booking confirmation
Apps can provide instant booking confirmation and reminders to customers, thus minimizing the risk of late cancellations.
Personalized customization
Users can inform the restaurant about their preferences or when they have a special occasion like birthdays and anniversaries.
Discount and coupon alerts
Customers are notified of available coupons and discounts for dining at their favorite eateries.
#3 Restaurant Inventory Management Mobile Apps
An inventory management app helps restaurants optimize and manage distinct aspects of their business. These apps can provide timely updates when the stock of a particular item runs out.
Purchase history
The feature helps restaurant owners focus more on their best-selling items. It gathers data from the purchase and order history of customers and provides useful insights, including automatic reordering.
Stock levels
This feature tracks availability and alerts department heads of items running low on inventory.
Popular Features You Can Add to Your Restaurant App
The restaurant industry is very competitive, and the pandemic taught all of us how to eat from the comfort of our own homes. Smart restauranteurs understand this shift and know they must take advantage of and capitalize on the digital divide. Below is a list of common and effective features you can add to your restaurant mobile app:
1. Meal and order tracking
The most unique feature of a restaurant mobile app is its ability to allow users to track their order and know when it is going to be delivered.
2. Safe payment gateways
People have their own preferred ways of making payments. Some use credit and debit cards while others place orders with cash on delivery option. Others still prefer to use crypto currencies. Regardless of the payment gateways used, your restaurant app should be versatile enough to offer your customers multiple payment gateways that cover at least 95% of your local customer base.
3. Informative alerts
This feature in a restaurant app helps customers stay informed of upcoming events at the restaurant. These alerts provide ample information about the order status when people order their food online.
4. Chatbot
Chatbots make it easy for customers to ask questions about menu items, orders. This acts as an engaging medium for customers for interaction while also answering their questions. Chatbots can deliver quick responses without having to hire additional support staff.
You may also like to read: Mobile App Development: Expectations Vs. Reality
Benefits of Developing a Restaurant Mobile App
A restaurant app meets numerous business goals. Some of the benefits include:
Smoother workflow
You no longer need to conduct weekly inventories. A mobile app streamlines many of these processes, freeing up your time to focus on other important work duties.
Better business decisions
Predictive analytics is a widely used feature derived from the Internet of Things (IoT). It involves studying data and making future predictions. This feature allows businesses to make accurate decisions to reach higher profits.
Interactions by customers
A mobile app delivers personalized experience to the customers. Features like food and restaurant recommendations, deal of the day, etc. ensure that your customers interact with the app. Always remember, consistency and UX/UI play a huge role in creating the right experience for your customers, so be certain your app has a user-friendly interface design.
Added revenue
A restaurant mobile app gives your business an online edge that can be viewed by tens of thousands of otherwise lost views. This provides your business with an excellent edge over the competition. You can also sell advertisements and generate more revenue.
Online Catering
Restaurant mobile apps can also offer catered orders for birthday parties, weddings, anniversary celebrations, etc.
How to Find a Suitable App Development Company?
The app development market is flooded with millions of so-called mobile app development companies offering multiple services, but truth be told, many of these companies are what I call fly-by companies that are here today and gone tomorrow… along with your money. You can streamline the process by keeping the following points in mind:
● Ask for proof of other mobile apps the development company has created, and beyond that, visit the Google Play and Apple Store to see exactly how many people have downloaded the mobile apps developed by the company.
● Ask to see at least a dozen letters of recommendation and/or testimonials.
● Tell the development company you want the names; phone numbers and addresses of at least ten companies they’ve developed mobile apps for. Next – call every one of them to find out the real story.
● If the company you are talking to doesn’t offer you an NDA very early on in the initial talks, something is wrong.
● If they only offer “month-to-month” programming services, run.
Frequently Asked Questions on Our Unique Restaurant App Development Solutions
How much do you charge for your restaurant mobile app development service?
If you ask someone to build you a customized car, you can imagine how wide a price you might get as a response. Software and mobile app development is no different. Projects can start as low as $50,000 and go well over $1,000,000. The bigger question you need to ask is how the company will build your application, what phases should be expected and what their prior experience has taught them about how long similar apps take to build.
Can your experts customize the app according to my needs?
Our skilled team of developers and designers is committed to transforming your business concepts into successful mobile applications. Feel free to explore our portfolio containing dozens of projects and previous accomplishments.
What features can you add to a restaurant mobile app?
We can add a plethora of features to any app project. There are millions of libraries, algorithms and API’s, and the list continues to grow every day. You can expect a well-built mobile app with features such as GPS tracking, map views, multiple payment gateways, table booking, mobile alerts, coupon notifications, and so much more. The overall feature list depends on your app and business deliverables.
Conclusion
In today's fiercely competitive landscape, businesses are increasingly leveraging technology to meet their objectives. The transformative power of mobile app development is evident, as it revitalizes various industries by enhancing revenue streams and solidifying brand uniqueness.
If you're in the restaurant business and seeking a proficient mobile app development partner, look no further. TucsonBizz has been a market player for nearly two decades, establishing itself as a premier software development firm across Arizona. Whether your focus is on consumer-centric apps or intuitive websites, we have the expertise to fulfill your software needs to world-class standards.
Our team is composed of architects, developers, analysts, coders, and designers, each a specialist in their domain. You can count on them to craft a solution tailored to your specific requirements. Simply bring us your business goals, and we'll transform them into a successful venture. Here is what makes us unique.
✅ Twenty years of development experience
✅ Mobile app development services since 2011 (when the Apple iPhone was first released)
✅ Quality codebase services
✅ SEO-optimized software
✅ Multi-faceted industry experience
✅ Award winning services
Our expertise in the field has allowed us to design and develop $23MM+ in solutions across dozens of market sectors. To learn more, contact us at 623-845-2747 and we will assist you every step of the way.
Read this blog: E-commerce Mobile App Development Cost & Features
Citations
Statista.com
Link: https://www.statista.com/topics/3294/online-food-delivery-services-in-the-us/#topicOverview
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