Blog Post

Develop a Food Delivery App Like Postmates
On-Demand Apps

Astounding Features and Functionality List For Developing a Food Delivery App Like Postmates

Sanjay Kidecha,

Do you have a super app in your pocket? I am sure you do have one! A powerful on-demand app that delivers anything at the doorstep; wondering which one?  Postmates is an impressive door-step delivery application that has changed the food delivery service landscape dramatically. The spurting number of app downloads confirm the strong foothold marked by this amazing application. 

Postmates has grabbed the spot in the list of top 10 applications that deliver food online. Grubhub, Ubereats, Zomato, and Dunzo, are the few other names on the list. However, the offerings of Postmates are quite noteworthy! 

It allows people to enjoy food savoring from the local restaurants as well as order other items and get them delivered to their doorstep. Postmates offers the most convenient way for people to manage their daily routines while other delivery aspects are being taken care of. 

We understand why startuppers are desperate to develop a food delivery app like Postmates, which is why we have come up with this guide. This blog is reviewed by our expert team, who have worked and developed hundreds of on-demand apps. Kody Technolabs coding heads perform a deep study of the on-demand industry and then deliver a unique business solution. We are on the toes to help you develop a local restaurant delivery app like Postmates. Before we dig into the details, let’s learn about the app in detail.

A Few things about Postmates:

Postmates is a go-to application for users and has made shopping more enjoyable. It is a courier service founded in 2011 by Bastian Lehman, Sean Plaice, and Sam Street. 

Postmates has its headquarters in San Francisco and operates with almost 600,000 restaurants & 100 metropolitan locations in the US. 

Some eye-catching statistics are:

  • Postmates delivers 2 M deliveries per month;
  • It has a team of around 500 employees;
  • Postmates covers approximately 9.1% US food market share;
  • This amazing application has tie-ups with food giants like Apple, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Chipotle, and Walgreens. 

It is a standard courier service delivering goods directly to the consumer. Postmates perfectly blends the non-standard business approach and technologies to provide exceptional on-demand delivery services. 

The non-standard business approach means allowing anyone and everyone to work as a courier. Any enthusiast user can fill-up the form and register themselves as a courier. The courier position varies from pedestrian to van drivers.

How does a food delivery app development like Postmates work?

Making an app like Postmates is easy yet demanding. The Postmate team would have gone through a lot of ideation before deciding the working model and food delivery business model for Postmates. 

The working approach of Postmates is encouraging and simple. 

 Step 1: The registered user can browse through the list of restaurants and their respective menus to decide the order. 

Step 2: The order is confirmed only after the complete payment is made by the user. 

Step 3: Once the payment is received by the other end; the application sends a notification to the restaurant and the delivery executive. The nearest destination courier picks up the order within an hour. 

Step 4: The GPS-tracking tools help users in tracking the order and know about any delay. If any delay is found in the order processing, the same can be conveyed by the users to the team. 

Read Also: A Perfect Guide On How does GrubHub Works

Develop a Food Delivery App Like Postmates

Why should you build an on-demand food delivery app like Postmates? How did the Postmates app guarantee success?

  • Who would not like to invest in an app idea which can grab the maximum return on investment? On-demand food delivery applications are a great opportunity for entrepreneurs thriving to make an on-demand industry jump. Startup owners want to invest in creating an app like Postmates because of the growing demand and assured customer satisfaction. 
  • On-demand food delivery applications ensure an increase in the number of clients. You can have a maximum capacity to handle customers without worrying about the paperwork. 
  • There are lesser roadblocks while taking an order; because of this, you can promise your customers faster processing & delivery.
  • If you follow Postmates footsteps, you can adapt to the delivery mode of any type. By developing a food delivery app like Postmates, you can generate a relaxing and comforting customer experience. 
  • It empowers you to offer more reliable delivery services and thereby grab the market spot.

How did Postmates ensure their success?

Being an early bird by participating in the ongoing trend:

As described by the co-founder and CEO of Postmates, Bastian Lehmann, We’re betting on the huge trend that local inventory will become unlocked and available to purchase, even in smaller retail stores, because you won’t have to go to the store anymore.

Better ROI:

Right from the beginning of their journey, hitting the right chord of customers’ satisfaction grabbed them a hefty return on their investment.

Partnering with the right giants:

The application’s instant success undoubtedly attracted plenty of investors, but the team’s tie-ups were also eye-catching. Apple, Walgreens, Starbucks, Chipotle, Mc-Donalds are to name a few. 

Doing it just right:

It is not a cakewalk to start a food delivery application overnight and gain success. You need to face some of the underlying risks and overcome challenges to compete in the given second-largest on-demand market. 

By doing the right things at the right time, Postmates marked its footsteps, strong and loud. Without a second thought, we agree to Bastian Lehmann’s dubbing for Postmates, “Google for delivery.” 

What is the revenue model for food delivery app development like Postmates?

It is a definite wish to make money in return by developing an on-demand food delivery app. There are various ways in which you can earn money with your on-demand delivery applications. 

Delivery fee:

You can make a huge amount of money by charging customers on every made at their doorsteps. 

Fees from restaurants:

Registered restaurant partners can be asked to pay some amount of money for leveraging your platform and earning orders. 

In-app advertising:

You can allow some third parties to publish and market their products/services on your platform, and in return, you get money. 

Subscription-based platform:

You can release a subscription plan in which you can provide some freebies and discount coupons to the subscribers.

Peak Pricing models:

Another way of generating revenue is by adapting the peak pricing model. This simply means, the higher the demand, the higher is the price of the services. 

Develop a Food Delivery App Like Postmates

What are the best functionality and features of the food delivery app development like Postmates?

If you are starting your app development by launching an MVP or a prototype, it is important for you to understand the placement of each feature in the app. However, most of the features would already be mentioned in the Product Requirement Document, but you can change them later as you move ahead with the development. 

An on-demand application like Postmates usually functions on two screens, client screen, and courier screen. 

The client screen will consist of:

User registrationUser Profile
Smart search for a restaurantRestaurant info/Description
Order placementPayment gateway integration
ReviewsMenus
Scheduled deliveryReal-time Order tracking
In-app callOrder history
Multilingual supportUnlimited product list
General account settingsPush notification
Delivery locationCard payments
OffersDiscounts

Courier person’s screen:

Courier profile signupCourier profile set up
Accept/Reject ordersPush notification
Order managementCheck order history
GPS trackingPayment history

Along with this, there will be a third screen, namely, admin screen or restaurant screen, or both. 

Restaurant-side screen:

Admin dashboard Order receipt
Push notifications Menu update
Profile set upReviews and Ratings

What are the various on-demand app development stages? What is the cost to develop an application like Postmates?

The entire mobile app development process for an on-demand application differs from company to company. However, the fundamentals of which remain constant.

The fundamental on-demand app development stages are:

  • Requirement collection:

On-demand app development can only be initiated if you know what you are building and why you are building. Conduct proper market research and capture what your competitors are offering. Based on the study, pen down your application’s requirements.

  • Prototyping:

Rather than launching a full-fledged product directly into the market, it is advisable to start testing a prototype. A prototype lets you know if the placement of features has some logic and checks if the application’s navigation is flawless.

  • UI/UX designing:

It is quite critical to come up with a creative UI/UX for your on-demand food delivery app. Hire UI/UX designers who have the enthusiasm of developing an out-of-the-box user experience.

  • App development:

Once you are sure what you want to build and how, it is time to execute the most crucial part of the journey, App development, select a reliable app development partner who has enough experience in the industry of on-demand. They will guide you with the API selection, server selection, database management, third-party API selection, Payment gateway integration, etc.

  • Quality test and product launch:

When you are ready with your product features, test them at every stage. This will ensure that a bug-free product is launched into the market.

This complete cycle of app development will come at the cost of $10K to $15K with a total of around 800 working hours. However, this is just an estimate, and you should consult your prospective app development partner to get an accurate figure for app development.

The Future of on-demand food delivery apps:

Looking at the Postmates grandeur, it is quite confirmed that it is still the right time to initiate food delivery app development. The rising demand and introduction of advanced technology like AR/VR and Big Data give a clear picture of how this industry is going to prosper in the future. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us; we will help you deliver robust on-demand food delivery solutions. Thank you for reading the blog!

Sanjay Kidecha

Sanjay Kidecha is the Chief Finance Officer at Kody Technolab and a Fintech geek. With one foot in finance and the other in tech, Sanjay likes to write on emerging Fintech trends, ideas, and how-to guides to keep industry leaders updated with the ever-changing world of fintech!

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