Technology has paved a new path for businesses to operate. Mobile apps have dominated the restaurant industry in recent years, rising demand for business owners. Moreover, the usage of mobile apps has stiffened the presence of restaurant owners in the market while simultaneously aiding them to promote their brands online.

In short, the cost to build a restaurant app is somewhere between 2000$-8000$ comprehending basic features such as online delivery. Developing an app for a multinational food chain will cost around 20,000$-40,000$ compromising advanced features such as a price list, opening hours, online table reservation. Moreover, when a restaurant owner decides to launch an app, it is preferable to contact a developer and set terms with him. More importantly, the development cost will include coding, design, and testing. Cost is calculated on an hourly rate depending upon the market.

By 2025, The global online food delivery services market size is anticipated to reach USD $63,551.77 Mn.

Check: App development cost in india

Benefits of developing a restaurant app

Taking into consideration the adoption of mobile devices indicates clearly that restaurant owners should seize this opportunity and realize what boost an application will provide for their restaurant. Some benefits include.

• Promotes the branding of the restaurant
• Profound customer interaction
• Feasible payment processing
• Multiplies booking
• Interactive customer feedback
• Consolidate customer fidelity

Developing a restaurant app will seed brand awareness which is an excellent marketing strategy. Post pictures of the food and interior of the restaurant so when customers book their order online, they would also want to dine in. Online payment process becomes feasible as customer pay through a reliable way which they prefer plus the restaurant is in the liberty of not assigning a critical task to their employees. Enable customers to book online and earn products for a free meal, this way customer loyalty builds up.

Check: Benefits of mobile apps for business

Important features to include in a restaurant app

Some important features a top-notch restaurant app should have may include.

• Menu

A list compromising of food items their prices, pictures and some cases number of calories present in them. There are various ways to display the menu templates, but it is preferable to keep things simple and user-friendly. Food can be arranged into categories and subcategories further, so it is easy for the customer to filter their desired food.

• Online ordering

An average person takes about thirty seconds to place an order online rather than calling for delivery. It is more convenient for customers to interact with the restaurant in this manner. Online ordering system simplifies the process and makes the service more attractive; users may be given the choice to place orders for dine-in, pickup, or delivery.

• Menu Customization

Customers may be diet conscious or may have food allergies by enabling them to choose which ingredients to include and exclude will make them appreciate the services.

• Payment Process

Some preferred methods of payment are online banking, PayPal, Apple pay, etc. These payment methods are reliable for both the customer and the restaurant.

• Booking of Table

Guest will appreciate that if their table is booked saving them their time to wait for a customer already present. This facility will benefit the customer to plan their evening.

• Geo-location facility

For restaurant chains, the geo-location feature may come in handy so they can deliver their food to customers in different cities or countries.

• Push-notification

By sending notifications to customers will help them out in finding new exclusive deals, discounts, and special promos. Offer free coffee to regular customers by pushing notifications.

Another cool feature is sending the customer a push notification when they are near the restaurant.

Cost for developing a mobile app for a restaurant

Developing an application depends on the complexity of the application. Complex features, designs, functions may take time to operate. The time for developing an application may vary on the skill of the developers or the number of developers.

Gather a team of developers, designers, customer care. Assign a project manager who will supervise the leader of developers, designers, and customer care. Finding a competent project manager and team leader is a challenging task. The difference between developing a simple application and a complex is the following.

• Simple application

A simple application will take up to 3-5 months to develop consisting of the following features

• Menu
• Geo-location
• Notifications
• Sharing on social media platforms
• Reviews

A team for a simple application design may consist of one project manager, one designer, two developers, One user feedback expert.

• Complex application

A complex application will take approximately a year to be functional in optimal condition depending upon the skills of the teams assigned the task. A complex application may have the following features.

• Everything in the simple app
• Complex payment method
• Pre-ordering
• Order tracking
• Bluetooth signal transmitter(beacons)

A developer charges per hour which depends upon the location and the market value. For example, an average US developer charges 150$ per hour, Europeans charges 75$ per hour, and Indian charges 25$ per hour.

Waiter application

The waiter application allows the waiter at the restaurant to check the status of the customer’s arrival, payment, or order progress so that he can take the necessary measure. This application can be assigned to the waiter of the restaurant.

Conclusion

Developing a restaurant application dedicated to a specific restaurant can be greatly beneficial but if the restaurant has only one franchise and limited resources it may not be feasible. In such cases, restaurants can register themselves on another application as Uber eats.

Finally!! If you are planning to build a restaurant then don’t hesitate to contact Aalpha

Also check: cost to build an app like Airbnb | MVP development cost