Grocery Delivery App Development: Key Features And Process

After the post-pandemic, the supermarket industry has undergone a radical transformation. The economic recession and other factors have greatly impacted this market.

Although, after the crisis, the market has been favorable to investors, new firms, and others seeking great investment opportunities. Moreover, new grocery dealers will need a digital platform to expand their customer reach. 

Investing in a grocery delivery app development is a potentially smart move for many investors and retail store owners to facilitate the delivery of groceries. 

In this blog, you will understand the following:

• Why is it a good time to invest in a grocery delivery app?
• Factors affecting the budget of building a grocery delivery platform
• Required steps to start grocery delivery app development
• Screening guide to hiring a good app development company

What Is A Grocery Delivery App?

A grocery delivery app is a digital platform that facilitates users with ordering groceries. 

The app owner facilitates the online process of purchasing groceries for their customers by enabling retailers and wholesalers to sell their groceries online.

Most of the grocery apps are subscription based, which means that users need to pay subscription fees either monthly or annually in addition to paying the price of groceries on the platform.

There are two types of grocery delivery apps that you can consider developing by knowing how they work in detail:

I. Aggregators

A type of app that lists nearby grocery stores to platform users. The platform usually includes significant grocery chains like Walmart and others. The Aggregation platform works in the following ways:

1. The users can select a list of stores shown in the app
2. Users can add groceries from the online menu in the app’s cart 
3. Next, the users check out the cart and make payments 
4. After order confirmation, users can track the real-time order till they receive the items

The store owner is responsible for delivering orders to their customer’s doorsteps. The working of such apps depends on the store owners’ and startups’ partnership.

II. Marketplaces

The marketplaces are similar to aggregators. However, their core mode of functionality is the thing that makes the difference. 

In marketplaces, the app acts as a medium of contact between buyers and merchants where the app suggests merchants nearby to the buyers’ location.

Why It Is the Best Time For Grocery Delivery App Development?

The major factors indicate a better time to invest in building a grocery delivery platform.

I. Post-Pandemic Market

There has been a surge in grocery delivery apps since the COVID-19 pandemic. Contactless shopping has encouraged many users to purchase groceries online. 

A better way to appeal to such customers is to build an on-demand grocery delivery app. 

II. Market Potential

Many successful examples of grocery delivery apps are making extreme profits by facilitating a grocery delivery platform for merchants and consumers.

The revenue of the grocery delivery market is expected to reach US 289B from $159B between 2023 to 2027 at a CAGR of 16.09%.

Source: Statista

The above data indicates a better opportunity for businesses to enter this market with the grocery delivery app development.

How Much Would It Cost to Build An On-demand Delivery App?

Many factors determine the cost of developing a grocery delivery app; the majors are mentioned below:

I. Team Type

Several options are available, ones you can choose based on your project needs and requirements. Have a look at the following team types with their estimated cost. 

Type of team	Hourly rate	Cost of MVP
Local agency	$175	$225,000
In-house	$80	$100,000
Freelancers	$20	$25,500
Outsource agency	$40	$50,000

The selection of team type depends on your project goals and the context of your tasks. The outsourcing agency combines the qualities of both local agencies and freelancers. 

However, the cost of hiring outsourcing agencies depends on many factors, such as their geographic location.

II. Location 

From the data given below, it is clear that outsourcing your project to Indian companies is way more economical than outsourcing a project to a company in another country.

Team Location	Rate per hour	Cost of an MVP	Cost of an app
The USA	$150	$150,000	$200,000
Europe	$90	$90,000	$130,000
Ukraine	$40	$50,000	$80,000
India	$25	$30,000	$45,000
The UK	$100	$100,000	$150,000

III. Application Type

Grocery delivery platforms come under four types of apps which you can build your startup around. 

To help you understand the estimated budget, we have used the pricing structure of Ukrainian developers.

Type	Examples	Cost of a similar app
Brand grocery delivery app	Walmart Grocery	$45,000
Subscription-based delivery	Hungryroot	$40,000
Personal Shoppers	Instacart, Amazon Fresh	$60,000
Grocery delivery on-demand	Uber Eats, Dumpling	$70,000

After knowing the different costs affecting factors, it is worth knowing the development process of an online grocery delivery app. Let’s understand the steps in detail.

How To Develop Your Grocery Delivery Application?

The development process has been categorized into business and technical development phases:

I. The Business Development Phase

The business development phase is one of the most fundamental parts of app development processes. The phase includes verifying the project scope to understand your target audience.

1. Marketing grocery delivery services

Almost 80% of businesses under grocery delivery services fail within the first two years. The high competition in the e-commerce sector is the leading cause of the failure of many businesses.

To make headway in this industry, your marketing budget must be 2-3 times the app development budget. Even developing a top-notch grocery store app, poor marketing can make your startup unprofitable.

2. Discovery phase 

The phase typically involves gathering information to check the app’s usability, feasibility, and viability. The highlighted steps under the discovery phase are mentioned below. 

Step	Description
Customer Research	I. Researching your potential customers will help you know your targeted market’s needs and buying behavior.  II. Draw the buying persona of your targeted customers and enlist the required criteria, such as their challenges, pain points, and desires.
Competitior’s research	I. Identify the platforms that you will compete in the same targeted market. II. Knowing the weakness and strengths of your competitors will give you a competitive advantage.
Project blueprint	The blueprint will typically involve the list of milestones, tasks, functions, deliverables, and costs.
UI/UX design	I. The UX design is a vital component of your project development.  II. The phase will ensure that your platform is easily accessible regarding app features and the grocery delivery process.

II. The Technical Development Phase

The technical development phase involves seeking the right app development team. The team should have proven records of building grocery-related apps and offering a better user experience. 

Additionally, the phase comprises developing the app’s MVP with different features for a grocery delivery app.

1. MVP Features 

The MVP is a central focus on developing the app’s core functionality. The features have been categorized under separate  panels as mentioned below:

A. Features For Admin Panel

Features	Description
Customer Data	I. Customer data can help you coordinate goods delivery along with the most critical information for building marketing strategies. II. The customer must provide their basic details, such as their name and address to their groceries delivered
List of stores	I. Enlist the list of stores in different neighborhoods of your targeted audience. II. You can manually integrate store names or use APIs to have the basic details of stores, such as their names, location, available grocery items, etc.
Menu/Items in stock	A must-have feature that can help users to know the available groceries in stock
Revenue	The feature will help your business partners to know the revenue they have made through your platform.

B. Features For Customer App

Features	Description
Registration	I. The registration will help users create their account on your platform with their basic required details, including name, address, etc. II. The feature will also help you to collect their feedback and can use their data for proper delivery and marketing
Profile Management	The feature will allow consumers to modify their information regarding changing delivery addresses, preferred payment methods, etc.
Search on the map	I. The feature is valuable for consumers to streamline the selection of their grocery stores within their neighborhoods. II. Search on my help users to navigate the list of grocery products on the platform.
Order Placement	The feature helps users confirm their orders and order grocery items for delivery.
Payment processing	I. The payment processing feature embeds the entire process of the payment-related procedure, including payment initiation, verification, and confirmation.  II. The feature helps users to facilitate payments and provides different payment methods to let them pay on their preferred payment methods
Receipts	The receipts act as payment proof that the customer has made a purchase.
Rates & Reviews	I. The feature will help you collect customer feedback regarding the platform experiences from stores/merchants and delivery agents. II. Customer feedback is crucial to enhance the platform experience of your grocery delivery platform.
Push notifications	Notifications can inform your users regarding announcements, upcoming deals & discounts, etc.

C. Features For Courier App

Features	Description
Registration	I. There is a requirement for the courier team to register on your platform as well.  II. Registration will help you keep track of your delivery team and monitor their activities, such as deliveries, payment collection, etc.
Profile Management	I. The feature will help delivery partners keep up-to-date information on your platform II. The profile detail can be utilized for real-time tracking by the mobile app development team
Order Management	You can complete the grocery shopping process by managing all the actions and processes involved in the grocery shopping process.
Status Update	The feature will help delivery partners to access the status of the orders they have delivered.
Navigation	I. The navigation will help courier partners guide them toward the customers’ delivery location. II. Consider adding route planning software to help drivers to explore the optimal route with a minimum distance
Delivery History	Delivery partners can identify and access the delivery list they have completed.
Earnings	The feature will help delivery partners to track their earnings from your platform.

D. Features For Scaled MVP

Features	Description
Order History	Customers will be able to track the records of their checkouts and can visit their order history to repurchase grocery items.
Bookmarks	Users will be able to save grocery items for future purchase
Loyalty programs	Bring back your regular customers by rewarding them with discounts, coupons, and some other ways.
Social Network Integration	Your app users will be able to integrate their social media profiles into your platform for registration and sharing your store offers among their networks.
Delivery time estimation.	The feature will be helpful for users who want to estimate the delivery time of their groceries.

2. Tech Stack 

The tech stack will depend on project requirements, including required app features, integration of advanced technologies, etc. Consult an app development company to select a suitable tech stack for your project.

Backend	Laravel
Admin panel	Laravel Nova and JavaScript, HTML5, CSS,
Mobile development	React Native or Java for Android app and Swift for iOS app
Databases	MongoDB or MySQL
Payment gateway	Braintree, PayPal, Stripe, or other payment options
Geolocation	Google Maps API
Utilities	Twilio, Firebase, Google SDK, and Facebook SDK
Server	AWS

3. Development Team Structure

When considering building your grocery delivery app, ensure your development team has the following team structure or consider outsourcing your project to an app development company that comprises the following team structure:

• Project manager
• Business analyst
• Backend developer
• Quality assurance tester
• DevOps
• UX/UI designer
• CTO
• Mobile Developer

Top 5 Grocery Delivery Mobile Apps

Explore the best grocery delivery apps for ideas and inspiration for starting your own business. 

1. Instacart

One of the most popular grocery delivery apps in the USA. The app offers varieties of groceries and facilitates deliveries across hundreds of cities.

For selected retail locations, the app offers users appropriate time selection for ordering and picking up their orders. The platform is best for purchasing fresh food items from local stores and delivering them to users’ doorsteps.

Founded in	2012
Founders	Apoorva Mehta
Available on	Web, Android & iOS
App downloads	100M+
App Rating	4.3
Headquarter	San Francisco, US

2. Walmart Grocery 

Walmart is a multinational retail corporation that operates as a supermarket chain. Customers can shop for their desired grocery items from websites and local stores.

The platform has also introduced “Delivery Unlimited,” a membership program offering its users free shipping options for the entire year. 

Founded in	1962
Founders	Sam & Bud Walton
Available on	Web, Android & iOS
App downloads	500M+
App Rating	4.3
Headquarter	Arkansas, US

3. FreshDirect

Whether it’s vegetable or chicken, the platform takes pride in delivering fresh meats, vegetables, and other grocery items to their customers’ doorstep. 

The platform provides many fresh items, including fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, dairy, beverages, prepared foods, and more. 

Founded in	2002
Founders	Jason Ackerman & Joe Fedele
Available on	Web, Android & iOS
App downloads	100K+
App Rating	4.6
Headquarter	New York, US

4. Imperfect Food

A grocery delivery service that aims to reduce food waste by selling reclaimed grocery items. The platform offers and delivers both organic and conventional grocery items to their customers’ doorstep.

The platform charges delivery fees based on its users’ location and is only available in certain areas of the United States.

Founded in	2015
Founders	Benjamin Chesler, Ben Simon & Ron Clark
Available on	Web, Android & iOS
App downloads	50K+
App Rating	3.5
Headquarter	San Francisco., US

5. Shipt

Shipt is another popular grocery delivery platform that enables users to shop from varieties of nearby retailers based on their location.

The increased demand from platform users has encouraged the Shipt app to collab with more retailers to provide new delivery options and quickly connect them via SMS. The users can receive their items from local shoppers within hours of placing an order.

Founded in	2014
Founders	Bill Smith
Available on	Web, Android & iOS
App downloads	1M+
App Rating	4.6
Headquarter	Birmingham, US

How To Choose A Suitable App Development Company To Build a Grocery Delivery App? 

Choosing the right way is a way to ensure the success of your grocery app development project. Consider the following factors to ensure you have employed the right app development company:

I. App Development Experience

The more years the company is involved in app development, the better its knowledge and experience will be in delivering high-quality apps across the grocery delivery industry.

II. Expertise Level

The right way to determine the expertise of any app development company is to know their strength in working with complex projects, integrating advanced technologies, and the knowledge and skills for building all the required features for grocery delivery apps.

III. Project Portfolio

Explore the project portfolio of an app development company that you will employ to know the skills and knowledge regarding designing an app UI, features, and their ability to deliver a project under a fixed deadline. 

Conclusion 

Grocery delivery app development has become extremely crucial due to increased demand for online shopping and home deliveries. With the growing trend of e-commerce, more and more consumers are opting for online grocery deliveries.

A well-designed grocery delivery app can help business increase their customer base, streamline their operation and stay ahead of the competition. 

Developing a grocery delivery app is becoming feasible for local retailers and entrepreneurs seeking to tap into this profitable market.

However, developing a grocery delivery platform requires a comprehensive approach to selecting the right app development company, partnering with delivery logistics, enhancing the platform’s security and scalability, etc.

However, you must employ the right app development company to help you build and launch your grocery delivery mobile app.

Choose Idea Usher as your app development partner. You can rest assured that app will be developed to the highest standards by working with our app development experts.

Know more about our Grocery Delivery App Development Services. 

From app strategy to its launch, our team of app experts can help you navigate the entire complex landscape of app development. So, if you want to build a best-in-class grocery delivery app, look no further than Idea Usher.

Contact Idea Usher 

Email:

[email protected]

Phone:

(+1)732 962 4560

(+91)859 140 7140

FAQ

Q. What features should a grocery app have?

A. Profile Creation and Editing, Signup and login, Schedule Orders, Payment Gateway, Search Groceries, Checking Local Grocery Stores, Add To Cart Options. Accessing the Contact Details of the Delivery Person is some of the must-have features of the app that avail the delivery of groceries.

Q. What is the best online grocery delivery?

A. Instacart, Walmart, Grocery, FreshDirect, Imperfect Food, and Shipt are some of the best apps that offer online deliveries of grocery items. 

Q. What features should a grocery app have?

A. Profile creation and editing, Signup and login, Searching groceries, Accessing contact details of the delivery person, Checking local grocery stores, Adding to cart, Orders scheduling, and Payment Gateway are some of the noteworthy features.