In the last one decade, the on-demand economy is booming like anything, and now on-demand delivery apps like Uber for X, Airbnb, and Postmates are the next best thing in the industry. The online shopping is pushing the significance of such apps to unprecedented heights. Also, due to the increased demand and competition in this industry, these types of apps are going to hold the industry for a longer time.
One thing is crystal clear in reference to the on-demand delivery app; the product delivery is swift and convenient and embracing such a service will only take you forward. Few examples of it include courier services, goods delivery, furniture transport, food delivery and more.
When every other company is going through the one or the other crunch, the on-demand delivery apps are making it big day by day. So, it becomes quite significant for us to understand what exactly is pumping these apps.
I will be taking you through every prospect of the on-demand delivery app that will come handy to you if you are thinking of opting for some similar business plans. From its advantages to notable features, I will be covering everything.
Before starting off, let’s discuss the methods a business can pertain to the on-demand delivery model:
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Collaborating with third-party delivery provider: If you don’t wish to invest in building your own app, you can simply club with some existing on-demand delivery app service provider to sell your products in the market. But note, it will be the other company’s user base that the people will know. Though you will be saving on developing your own delivery program. Further, the cost of the collaboration will depend upon the company to company. Thus, weigh your options smartly before jumping into it.
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By developing a dedicated app: If you are wary of collaborating with third-party companies, you can get your own business app. It will give you the control over all the operations involved. These type of apps work best for the businesses which are in continual demand.
How To Build An On-Demand Delivery App?
It consists of three key ingredients. An app for customer engagement, other for courier services, and another one for the administrative operations. Let’s take them one by one:
Customer Engagement App
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Sign-up: Every app requires authentication before getting started. You can do it in various ways. Some apps may require your social account details, some will work with your email, and some will log in with a phone number.
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Placing orders: After selecting the service or product you want to get, the user will look for price and availability. Once fixed, the app will require the user to enter his name, address, nearest landmark, alternate number and preferred delivery time.
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Finding the best route: Based on the address given, the app will look out for the nearest courier service, so that there should not be any hindrance while delivery.
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Tracking: The app will also track the order from its packing to the final delivery. It will include product dispatch, route of the courier, and the estimated time of delivery. It will help the customer to keep track of his product, and in case, the customer wants to cancel the order, he can do it easily.
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Notifications: Through notifications, the customer is regularly intimidated of the order status. It gives a sense of personal engagement.
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Payments: Today, the companies offer various payment options to make it easy for the customer. The customer can pay while placing the order and also, during the time of delivery. The different payment methods include card payment, mobile payment gateways, COD or cash on delivery, NFC payment methods and a few more.
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Feedback and rating: Once the product is received, the customer tends to give the feedback and rating for the product. So, positive feedback on the app will only help the company to grow.
Don’t forget to offer tempting discounts and offers. It will make the customer spend more time on your services.
Courier Service
The courier service plays a significant role in the delivery of the services and products. Therefore, only the reliable and certified courier service providers should only be roped in for the delivery services. It will help in implementing an alternate way of tracking the order.
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Order status: The courier company can review orders from the beginning to the end. Thus the courier service will be in a better state to accept the best suitable orders.
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Client communication: The courier service can directly connect with the customer and as well as the service provider.
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Feedback and rating: The customer should also be able to rate the courier service other than the service provider. It will help the other people in picking the best ones.
The courier service companies can also ask for tips to make their service better.
Administrative Operations
It includes the back-end workable.
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Customer and courier profiles database
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Customer engagement module
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Payment module
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Analytical data
How To Grow The User Base?
After making up your mind about trading your services through an app, you need to grow your presence in the marketplace. Following are the techniques which will help you to gather enough user base for your business model.
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Start smartly: Every start-up doesn’t have huge funds to give a push to their campaigns and marketing strategies. So, it makes sense if the company starts from the ground level and infuse a good enough amount initially. If the business model gets going, more funds can be pumped later. Also, the local market will give a great deal of ideal how the services are going to perform in the longer run.
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Advertise and advertise: It’s the basic. Before launching any product, the company needs to promote their services or product on the market. So that, people should already have a fair idea what is coming in the market, and it will also lessen the time of BEP or break-even point. In the age of PR agencies, advertising is not a big deal, the company just have to pay money, and the rest will be taken care of by the PR agency.
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Finding local partners: Without the help of local partners, it will become tough for a new company to make it presence. It will further help the company to grow faster and expand their reach to the untapped markets. Later on, the company can move on to collaborate with retailers working at the national or international levels.
Retaining customers
The story doesn’t end here. Here comes the most challenging task, that is of holding on to the customers with whom the company is engaged directly or indirectly. Reliability plays a crucial role in retaining the customers, and it comes from the sincere efforts.
Initially, it’s hard to make your presence in the market. So, if the company do well and gather some customer, hold on with them. The reports suggest that customer are very company loyal; once they make their belief in a company, they are going to follow it for long. Thus, the companies should look to take advantage of this fact and bind the customer by offering impeccable services, coupled with discounts and deals.
Know what factors can help in retaining the customers:
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Customer support: The customer will not always be contended with the services of the company. Therefore, it makes sense to develop a robust customer support apparatus, where the customer can connect easily and voice his concerns. Adding the customer support to the app directly will be quite beneficial over here.
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Customer rating: If the company really wants to go big, let the customer rate the services on your app. It will apprise the company about their actual standing in the market. And on the basis of rating, the company can customize the services better.
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Enticing discounts: Among hundreds of competition, the company needs to stand out. Thus an app that will offer special deals and discounts will get the maximum attention. To engage the customer more on the app, the company can offer extra loyalty points, which the customer can use to purchase future products or services.
Benefits of on-demand delivery apps
The on-demand app is in great demand due to its advantages over other means of services. The foremost thing that such apps bring with them is the speed and convenience. The other notable perks of on-demand services are as follows:
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Swift: Being a customer, you just have to pick up your device and select your product. After placing an order, it takes maximum a day to get on to it.
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Low cost: The best part of the on-demand apps are their low price services due to the involvement of their own fleet of transport and the workforce.
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Convenient: Nowadays, everyone is quite familiar with the mobile devices. So, to place an order from the app is not complicated at all. Moreover, it saves the customer time and efforts by placing an order like this.
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Transparency: The apps offers transparency from the time of placing the order to the delivery. The push notification is another tool which helps the customer to stay aware of their order from time to time.
The Closing Thoughts
So, it was all about the on-demand delivery app. Due to its ease of use and comfort, the business houses are going for it. Ultimately, it will hold the true potential to impact the marketing strategies of any company in the future.
If we talk about the cost of developing an on-demand delivery app, it goes the same as that of a regular app. The final cost of the app will fairly depend upon the features and functionality you will add in that app.
Next time when you will think about going out with a plan for your next start-up, do consider such an app. Do let me know, what you think about it.
Also read: How 'On-Demand Economy' is impacting Business World
Sr. Content Strategist
Meet Manish Chandra Srivastava, the Strategic Content Architect & Marketing Guru who turns brands into legends. Armed with a Masters in Mass Communication (2015-17), Manish has dazzled giants like Collegedunia, Embibe, and Archies. His work is spotlighted on Hackernoon, Gamasutra, and Elearning Industry.
Beyond the writer’s block, Manish is often found distracted by movies, video games, AI, and other such nerdy stuff. But the point remains, If you need your brand to shine, Manish is who you need.
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