Tips For On-Demand Food Delivery App Businesses
Published on: December 16, 2020
Introduction
Ordering your favorite cuisines from your favorite restaurants is a treat in itself. Since the advent of on-demand food delivery apps like UberEats, DoorDash, and Grubhub, consumers have grown prone to home deliveries. These apps allow you to order food with anytime-anywhere convenience, are inexpensive, and also offer real-time order tracking.
Yet we never get to catch a glimpse of the opposite side. We’re unaware of the adversaries the delivery people and restaurants face to get our desired food delivered on time. The on-demand food delivery companies don’t consider these delivery individuals as their employees. The small restaurants and kitchens associated have to get on board with these platforms to survive their competitors and compensate for the tough times.
This blog offers valuable insights on the issues with the on-demand delivery models. All issues are shared by Chris Picek who has been a Calgary-based delivery app driver.
This blog explores the different areas that on-demand food delivery can conquer. Read on to learn about how various niches can be offered different on-demand food delivery app development services.
An Overview of the Other Side
Picek has delivered food for ‘SkipTheDishes’ (an online food delivery platform) on and off during the COVID-19 pandemic. Picek believes that the flexibility these apps provide you with is the highlight of these services. One can work as much or as little as they want to but all the goodness ends there. These apps offer rules and restrictions for an employee without any benefits and protection. This is the beginning of the inconvenience with such apps.
Picek has described this work profile as “serving as the errand boy for capitalists”. The real concern sets in as one learns about the money flow in these on-demand services.
The income of their couriers is solely dependent on the commission and tips offered by the company and the customers. Some months you seem to be doing well while other months just don’t pay enough. It becomes increasingly difficult for one to trust these platforms for uniform pay.
One of the employees of DoorDash who works as a delivery guy and as a part-time construction worker had similar complaints about the platform. He accepted that the wages offered on deliveries are inappropriate. The drivers are responsible for upgrading their insurance and also have to pay for the gas. The average estimate a driver earns is 4 – 5 USD per delivery.
The drivers are also expected to deliver in high-density areas that have more restaurants. The drivers always face parking issues in such areas. As the volume of these orders is high, it generates more revenue and hence the drivers are always expected to be punctual. Plus, the delivery guys have to park illegally at times to deliver food on time. If they get a ticket that would easily wipe out a week’s wages.
Issues with Restaurants
Due to the proliferation of these on-demand delivery apps, many of the well-established restaurant chains have had to develop their delivery apps. Cory Medd, the owner of one such 18-year-old restaurant ‘Two Guys Pizza’ have had their contract drivers for many years. They know the system and customers in and out and they’re the employees of the company.
The restaurant had received the offer of going on board with the SkipTheDishes platform. The transition was tough as Two Guys Pizza already had a solid customer base. Eventually, the on-demand apps started acting as a competition for the restaurant. The benefit on-demand apps offered were real-time tracking and online payment provision, both of which were absent in the restaurant’s app.
Medd accepted that SkipTheDishes is a convenient and well-organized app but the primary concern for him not going on board with them was “Control”. Going on board with a third-party app was handing over control to them. The Two Guys app offers direct communication with the customers in case of any problems instead of relying on a third-party app.
Medd had to calculate the profit and recognition SkipTheDishes had brought them along with their 15-30% cut from orders. But then due to the incoming COVID-19 pandemic, there was an evident increase in their take-out and delivery. Had he gone on board with the third-party app they would’ve increased their prices, which haven’t been changed since 2017.
But as COVID hit the world, ‘operation survival’ began for many of the small-scale restaurants. These restaurants had to do whatever it takes to endure this phase and ensure their survival. An established restaurant in a small city is more privileged than a small restaurant in a big city, as they can easily get lost in the shuffle.
Confusion Business Model
The business model these on-demand companies have is too confusing from a driver’s perspective. There is a dystopian feature of these apps. The driver knows they’re being paid for a particular trip but they can’t learn how or why.
In a nutshell, you’re being directed by an algorithm and paid by the same while not making physical contact with anyone. The drivers are not even sure about whom they’re working for. This dystopian model is bound to raise insecurities among delivery individuals.
Summary
Summarizing the overall experience of the gig economy is the result of convenience mixed with confusing labor. There is an increased convenience with a decrease in quality and trust. This has given rise to another trend known as ‘take it or leave it’.
As Walmart provides us with cheap goods on their worker’s backs, the on-demand app business model promotes a similar approach. If you’re greeting a product at a much cheaper price than your expectations, then someone along the line is definitely paying the price for it.
The business models these companies follow have many loopholes that need to be filled to build a business that rewards all the participants equally. Especially the inconvenience and lack of information that the delivery troops receive.
The future with on-demand apps still holds immense potential and ROIs till the year 2024. There are many other food ordering and delivery niches that can be explored. You can research the business models these giants follow and introduce new ways that follow transparent methods.
If you’re not sure how to go about creating your dream on-demand app, you’re in the right place. We’re a professional mobile app development company that masters the art of creating web and mobile applications. We have also created numerous on-demand apps as per the highest industry standards. If you’re too inclined on creating the next big on-demand business such as DoorDash or UberEats, give us a call and we would be happy to assist on every step that follows.
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