How Much Does a Grocery Delivery App Cost?

On-demand grocery delivery apps are becoming a top-notch industry in recent years. It is replacing the brick-and-mortar grocery stores by fulfilling these needs of people within a few minutes in the comfort of their homes. However, the increasing competition in the market and audience demands is expecting exceptional on-demand grocery delivery apps to get groceries delivered. 

Alongside this, the growing number of online grocery delivery apps encourages various entrepreneurs to take an interest in this industry.  So, if you have developed the idea of an app for delivering groceries and thinking about its execution but are stuck with grocery delivery app development costs. To get an answer to this query of yours, you have reached the right blog by Vizteck. This article will give you a detailed insight into everything you need to know.

What is a Grocery Delivery App?

A grocery delivery app allows its user to order their groceries online and get them delivered to their doorsteps within a few minutes. The owner of the app is responsible for providing a seamless experience to its users at the ease of their homes once they have accepted the app’s terms and conditions. 

There are different grocery delivery apps available in the market following different monetization models which impacts the way they perform their activities. 

Top Grocery Delivery Apps in the Market

The top players in the grocery delivery market are

• Walmart
• Instacart
• Peapod
• Shipt
• FreshDirect
• Farmigo

How Does Grocery Delivery App Work?

An app that delivers groceries allows their customers to have access to different grocery stores and get their required groceries delivered to them at their doorstep. Such apps are making grocery purchasing pretty much inexpensive. These apps have reduced people's need to visit grocery stores physically to pick things they want. The process of grocery delivery app development is making the on-demand grocery delivery work seamless. This is how apps that deliver groceries to your door work:

• The user of the grocery delivery app provides their location and inserts their address manually once they log into the app. By doing so, they see the list of grocery products available.
• Users then chose the items they want, add them to their cart, make payment via their preferred payment method, and chose the time and date for delivery.
• Users also get to manage pickup directly from the supermarket. For which all they need to do is to place their order and choose the right time to pick it up from there.

Business Model for Grocery Delivery App

There are various business models available if you want to develop a grocery delivery app but the two most prominently used models involve

Aggregator Model

Grocery apps have an Aggregator Model that enlists all the nearby stores to the user's platform. An example of such a business model is Walmart. The responsibility of getting the order delivered to the user’s doorstep lies solely on the store owner or on the app’s delivery team. The major working of such a model depends entirely on the partnership of store owners and app owners.

Marketplaces 

Marketplace grocery apps are pretty much similar to the aggregator model except for their core mode of functioning. In this model, the store owner or merchant displays his groceries and the customer contacts them via your developed grocery app. It makes your app act as a mediator between the buyer and the store owner. 

For developing any of these business models, you are required to follow certain steps similar to that of On Demand Food Delivery Apps.

Monetization Model for Online Grocery Shopping Apps

There involve three models for apps that deliver groceries which are the commission model, subscription model, and service charges. The detail about each of these models is

Commission Model

In this model for on-demand app development, a different commission is charged on different goods which further varies on which product is trending and which isn’t. 

Subscription Model

As suggested by the name, this model is a subscription-based revenue model in which you get further offers based on the subscription plan your user has chosen. 

Service Charges 

This model is also a revenue-based model which involves earning profit by working independently via online stores.

Must-Have Features for Grocery Delivery Apps

There are various sections that you need to check during your grocery delivery app development. The checklist is under

User/Customer App

The user of your grocery delivery app has to register himself after downloading the app and for that following sections are expected to be there

Registration/Login

This is where the user creates his account for using the app. By doing so, the user gets to have a smooth experience of getting groceries delivered to his doorstep. Creating a user profile and registration can be done via email address or phone number. In today’s time, social media account integration is also available which makes the process of creating an account seamless.

Profile Management

Once done with registration, the user creates his profile where he has to enter his name, contact information, age, gender, etc. The app must be capable of identifying these details given by the user.

Product Browsing Amenities

This option enables the user to search for products from various categories including their price, size, and brand. This feature also allows the user to compare the two products using pre-determined filters.

Add to Cart

The add-to-cart feature allows the user to add products to the cart that he wants to buy.

Manage Cart

This feature allows the user to review the cart in case he wants to add or remove anything from it before making the payment.

Delivery Slot Selection

Delivery slot selection allows the user to choose their time of delivery as per their convenience and if the chosen time slot isn't available, it lets the user cancel the order. 

Advanced Search Filter

The advanced search filter allows the user to search for specific products. It assists the user in looking for a specific product in the shortest possible time.

Delivery Tracking

The delivery tracking feature of your grocery delivery app will allow the user to track his order which will help your app in the form of increased user engagement.

Multiple Payment Options

Multiple payment options allow the user to pay for their order through any available payment option.

e-Wallet Integration

This is where the user loads the fund for checkout to make the payment process easier and more seamless.

Schedule Delivery

This feature allows the user to schedule his delivery and then track order status and estimated delivery time.

Discount Vouchers and Coupons 

This feature allows the user of the app to view any available discounts voucher or coupons and use them when required.

Order History

This feature allows the user to make a repeat order or to choose the product he has ordered previously.

Rating and Reviews

The rating and review feature allows the user to share their reviews and rating about their experience. 

Help and Customer Center

The help and customer center feature allows users to contact the support team in case of any issue they are facing with ordering or getting their order delivered. 

Push Notifications 

This feature allows the user to know about any update, discount, offer, or coupon offered by your app.

Location-Based Product Listing

Using this feature, the user can choose any grocery store to place his order based on their location.

Order Cancel, Return, or Replacement

In case of any damaged or faulty product, the customer can complain and get a refund or replace the order.

Pick Up and drop

This feature makes the user choose their pick-up and delivery spot based on their current location or can even add a manual location. 

Admin App

This panel will have features like

Dashboard

This feature allows the admin of the app to manage all the back-end operations. Using this feature, he can manage orders, update inventory, and manage other business activities.

Product Management

The product management feature allows the admin to add products in bulk from the back end. It also enables him to change the status of products depending on their availability, add descriptions, and remove discontinued products.

Order Management

This option allows the admin to assign orders to grocery stores as they receive them. Upon order confirmation, the admin assigns a delivery boy to carry the grocery order from the respective store and deliver it to the chosen drop-off location by the customer. In this feature, the admin can check the activity status, the amount earned per order, and other relevant information.

Payment Management

This is the feature where the admin can manage all the transactions being done in the app including refunds. Tax and commission-related activities are also managed here.

Driver Management

This feature allows the admin to check all the information about their drivers including their name, contact details, address, commission earned, availability, and so on. Admin can even add or remove drivers.

Discounts and Promotional Offers

This feature allows the admin to run promotional offers and discounts on the app.

Inventory Management 

This feature enables the admin of the app to manage the availability of products in real-time to manage orders. This enables the admin to have timely information about product stock.

Manage Customers

This is the feature where the admin can manage customers by adding or removing them or by even changing their activity status. It makes the admin view all the customer’s information including his name, contact details, address, and the like.

Manage Stores

This is where the admin can add or remove stores on the app along with checking their status.

Feedback Management

The feedback management feature allows the admin to view and check the ratings and reviews shared by customers of the app.

Payment and Commission Management

This feature allows the admin to track all the accepted online payments along with setting commissions for every store.

Push Notifications

This is where the admin gets all the notifications about receiving emails, orders, drivers, etc.

Managing Menu and Products Categories

This feature allows the admin to manage and categorize products based on different parameters as shared by different stores.

Delivery App

This panel will be for the person delivering the grocery where he has to do the registration and other verification needed by the app owner. This will include features like

Registration

The registration feature allows the delivery boy to get registered to the app using his phone number and email address to start his journey of delivering orders.

Login

Once the delivery boy has registered himself, he login to his app ant and can start receiving orders.

Geo-Location Services

Maps are a crucial feature in delivery apps as it helps the delivery person reach the pick-up and drop-off location effectively. 

Accept/Reject the Delivery Request

This feature allows the delivery boy to accept the order or reject the delivery order based on some specific reason.

Scheduling Availability

This feature allows the delivery boy to schedule the time when he will be available for delivering an order.

Help and Customer Care

Help and customer care allow the delivery person to contact the helpdesk in case of any issue he is facing while delivering the order. 

Delivery Request Notification

This feature allows the delivery person to receive the notification for a delivery request and once he accepts the delivery, he gets all the related delivery information. 

In-App Calling/In-App Messages

This feature allows the delivery person to communicate with the buyer via in-app chat and call options.

Push Notifications

Push notification feature allows the delivery boy to get to have real-time information about order delivery information.

Route Optimization

Using this feature, the delivery boy gets to find the shortest and fastest possible route for order delivery. 

Delivery Time Slots

This option allows the delivery person to know about delivery slots chosen by the customer for order pick-up and delivery.

Work History

This feature allows the delivery person to know about the number of trips he has taken, the total distance he has covered, and the like so that he could know about his performance.

Rating and Reviews

This feature allows the delivery person to rate and review their delivery. 

Vendor App

This panel allows the vendor to smoothly manage the order from customers, assign shipments to delivery agents and manage everything else. It includes features like

Item Management

This is the feature where the vendor can add/update the product listing, their prices, and minimum quantity for order, and make them available for order.

Brand Management

If there are multiple stores available on your app, the vendor gets to manage them all using this feature. 

Order Management

This feature allows the vendor to check the status of the order, and the amount collected on each order, and take action accordingly.

Coupon Code Management

Using this feature, the vendor adds or updates discounts and coupons for customers to avail.

Payment Tracking

The vendor can check all the account information including the successful payments and pending payments. 

Order Alerts

This feature gives the vendor notifications about new orders.

Receive Orders

This feature enables the vendor to receive orders for different grocery items.

Advanced Feature

Some advanced features include

• Real-time analytics
• Communication channels
• Offering multiple payment modes
• AI-Based delivery system

Technology Stack for Grocery Delivery App

The technologies which are expected to be implemented in your grocery delivery apps include the following:

• Push notifications- Push.io, Twilio
• Payment method- Stripe, EWallets, Braintree, and PayPal
• Database- Hbase, MailChimp Integration, Cassandra, MongoDB, Postgres
• Real-time analytics- Cisco, IBM, Hadoop, Apache Flink, Spark, BigData
• Cloud environment- Azure, AWS, Google
• SMS, Phone verification, and Voice- Twilio, Nexmo

Team Members Required for Grocery Delivery App Development

For a project’s success, having a skilled and experienced team is a must who understands all the requirements and technicalities involved. To develop a grocery delivery app, there involve certain people in the development team:

• App Developers
• App Designers
• Project Manager
• Quality Assurance Engineers

Factors Affecting the Cost of Grocery Delivery App Development

Cost to Develop Grocery Delivery App

Just like the food delivery app cost, the cost to develop a grocery delivery app depends on various factors. The exact cost, however, can only be achieved after analyzing the requirements of your app and your business.

Depending on the features, business model, and technology stack mentioned above, a rough estimate for grocery delivery app development costs can range from $20,000 - $25,000. However, on an hourly basis, developers are changing $25. But again, this range depends on a lot of other factors.

Finals Thoughts! 

In conclusion, before looking for the exact cost of grocery delivery app development, you must analyze the overall features and functionalities of your app. A suggestive business approach to do so is by writing them down, wireframing the required features, and then calculating the overall cost of it. 

By reading this article, you have looked at every possible element that you must know about if you want to build an on-demand grocery delivery app along with its cost. However, to get the exact idea about the development cost for your app, you should consult Vizteck Solutions to turn your idea of a grocery delivery app into reality. 

FAQs

What Are White-Labeled On-Demand Grocery Delivery Apps?

It is a ready-to-deploy application that has pre-loaded advanced app features which can be altered as per the client’s needs or requirements. These apps are advantageous to the owner as it helps him save the time and cost of developing a grocery delivery app.

How Much Does It Cost To Develop A Food Delivery App Like Instacart?

The cost of developing a food delivery app depends on various factors:

• Development budget
• Documentation cost
• UI/UX design
• App testing and maintenance
• Platform selection 

Is The Online Grocery Delivery Business Profitable Or Not?

Grocery delivery businesses are profitable businesses as it is bringing a lot of convenience to their users. This business is catching up to people daily by making their lives at ease. The global grocery delivery market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 23.7% by the year 2025.