Are you loving the exuberant experience of getting things delivered in just one tap? Do you enjoy saying goodbye to the long queues at the grocery store? YES, loud came the reply from the happy customers.
Grocery shopping application is counted as a “double” blessing, especially in this pandemic time. There is an instant surge in this industry, and grocery app development companies are constantly struggling to develop an app like InstaCart and Walmart. And why shouldn’t they, this is the golden egg segment currently.
Statista claims that grocery shopping sales will cross 59 billion by 2023. Another report also suggests that the grocery shopping market is in its full swings and will cross 295 billion in 2023. These figures are astounding and can compel every grocery store owner to make an online move.
Are you interested in developing grocery shopping apps and join the advent of on-demand applications? If yes, here are the lessons we learned from our experience and would like to share it with you before you initiate the project.
Lesson 1: Deciding the Operational Model:
Before initiating the project, you should be aware of the available operational model that you can go for. You can either go for a warehouse model where you maintain the stock of goods and dispatch them as per the order. Or you can go for a store pick-up model, where you set up a local store in the area, and deploy local staff to maintain the store. We will explain these models in detail.
Warehouse model:
For better understanding, we will cite the operational model of Amazon and BigBasket as an example here. These big giants stock up things in their warehouse and create a huge repository. They possess their own delivery vans and hire delivery persons for distribution. The warehouse is usually located on the outskirts of the operating cities.
Without a doubt, this operational model demands heavy investment, but the return on investment will be pleasing.
The plus point of this model is, you are authorized to sell products under your own label. Isn’t it a favorable deal? This being said, you need to face some challenges, too, while operating under this model.
You need to take care of the frozen items at the warehouse as well as during transit. Fragile items have to be delivered in special boxes in order to avoid any breakage. Also, you need to define the delivery routes in advance and optimize the process.
Store pick-up model:
In this operational model, you need to collaborate with local stores and supermarkets. The online grocery shopping application displays items from the nearby stores. It facilitates the customer to place an order from the mentioned stores.
You receive the order and collect the item from the respective store for the customer. This operational model is similar to InstaCart’s working model. In this model, you are free from setting up an inventory and managing the same. The only thing that you need to focus here is the timely delivery of grocery items.
Lesson 2: Providing customized menu:
For many people, grocery shopping is similar to the window shopping experience; they come, they like, and they add in carts. But, they do not make the final checkout? Reason? They still think some items need to be added to the cart.
Which further means, they did not convert over the store. However, if you provide the clients with a customized menu, they would not have to scroll through the pages every time. You can customize the menu using new technologies like machine learning and ease out the whole process.
The customized menu is like an added perk for the customers. Additionally, you can divide the app into segments for health-conscious people, people undergoing XYZ training, people on a diet, etc. This way, you can attract customers of that particular segment and make them feel special about it.
Lesson 3: Consolidating information:
Remember the rule of seven? A typical user visits and examines the site, a minimum of 7 times before making the final purchase. In the same line, a customer who visits the grocery store reads the product-related information and then decides to purchase the item.
Hence, your job doesn’t end after listing out the products on the store, but it goes beyond that. You need to mention relevant product information, price, nutritional content, and everything in one place. These are the things that you need to take care of while building a grocery delivery app.
For implementing this feature, you need to maintain a robust and scalable database that can serve a particular purpose.
Lesson 4: Stuffing the app with rich features:
You will find hundreds of blogs on the internet listing the key features to consider for an online grocery delivery app. Even we have contributed to this segment; you can read our blog here which is about developing a grocery delivery app like Walmart. Hence, we would not repeat the same set of features, but, we would mention some out-of-the-box features that would do wonders.
Voice input:
The penetration of technology into human lives allows you to give utmost comfort to your audience. You can integrate your grocery app with Google assistants or Siri and let your user make the purchase using the voice input.
Barcode scanning:
Use Google’s Barcode API for iOS and Android to allow barcode scanning in the application. The app reader reads the product’s barcode and directly adds the item to the list.
Multiple shopping lists:
The grocery shopping app is always the go-to app from the list of applications. Let users create multiple shopping lists, one for the birthday party and another for the family gathering. Allow customers to order the list together at their convenience.
Recipes:
This is something that will take your application’s popularity to another level. Usually, customers who plan to make a delicacy at home, jot down their ingredients requirement on a paper and order them from the app.
You can take the utmost advantage of this and ask the grocery application development company to design it in a way where the direct purchase from the recipe is possible. Assign a separate section where you make a collection of popular recipes and include features to make a direct purchase of recipe ingredients.
This way, your customers would not have to toggle between tabs, and thereby you can increase the conversion.
Read Also : How to Develop a Grocery Delivery App like Big Basket?
Lesson 5: Selecting the framework for app development:
Before you move ahead, we would like you to go through these blogs to understand the framework structuring better.
- Battle of mobile app frameworks;
- 10 Best cross-platform app development frameworks of 2020.
The framework selection generally relies on the demographics of your target audience. The selection of the right framework plays a pivotal role in application success. Only if you have a thorough understanding of how a particular framework works and its advantages, then only you can move ahead with the on-demand app development.
Once you read these blogs, you will know how and which framework to select for your project.
Lesson 6: Defining your USP:
As we always say, you need to stand out if you want to survive the competition. For example, say, Walmart’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is selling goods at the lowest prices. Bigbasket’s Unique Selling proposition is to offer a huge range of products, and InstaCart’s USP is offering product delivery in an hour’s time.
This way, when you develop a grocery delivery app, you need to specify a feature that you can boast about. Come up with something that has never been offered over grocery delivery platforms.
Lesson 7: Design an explicit website:
It is of prime importance to have an impeccable design in place. Invest enough time in researching and analyzing the competitors. Talk with the app development company about your expectations from the app and come up with a clickable prototype to test your product before launch.
We at Kody Technolabs, design and iterate the project, until a satisfying output is received. We believe in designing stunning websites that will please our client’s customer base.
Lesson 8: Securing Payments:
A grocery delivery app is a full-fledged eCommerce application functioning 24*7. You probably have tighter deadlines and management of perishable goods. In between all these, you might miss upon the most important thing for the grocery delivery app, which is a secured payment process.
Security of the personal credentials shared by the customers is of paramount importance. Hence, ensure with the app development company that the transactions will be well-guarded. Integrate popular payment gateways that promise customer’s data security above anything else.
Lesson 9: Avoid Out Of Stock situation:
Foreseeing the rise in demands of goods and managing its stock is a mammoth task. However, if you are going online, you need to maintain an inventory for all the stock goods. Customers usually avoid buying a substitute item or get highly disappointed if they are notified about the stock after order placement.
Hence, if possible, maintain a regular check of the inventory and keep the list up-to-date. If you know in advance that a particular product is in high-demand, then stock it up. Do not make your customers wait for their favorite product.
Lesson 10: Sticking strictly to the decided budget:
We are not saying that you go free-hand when it comes to app development, but it is better to chart out your requirements and the expenditure in advance. The reason being, the more you add on to the complexity, the more you will have to pay for the development.
Hence, discuss the functionality of the apps in advance and decide upon the price. This will save you from spending any extra money, which may cross your budget.
Conclusion:
On-demand grocery delivery applications are at their peak demand. You must include rich features that will make your customers feel special. Keep the target of making your grocery shopping app, a brand like Walmart, BigBasket, and InstaCart.
We hope the lessons we have shared above will help you to make a swift & confident move towards your grocery app development project.
For any queries, you can always contact us. We ace the on-demand app development segment and have delivered hundreds of projects successfully. All the best and stay ahead in the cut-throat competition.