Cost of Developing an App Like Swiggy in 2024 

Who doesn’t love to get instant access to any type of food with just a few taps and clicks?  

These days, users, especially millennials, work most of the week and desire a platform to get food from their favorite restaurant or cuisine without leaving their comfort zone. 

That’s why food delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato come to offer the best quality food to you. 

If you are running a restaurant business aiming to tantalize consumers’ taste buds and advertise your eatery, then investing in an online food delivery app is going to increase your sales and keep your business shining. 

In this blog, we will give you a quick walkthrough of why food delivery apps are rising, features for developing a Swiggy-like app, major challenges that the food delivery business faces along with the cost of developing an app like Swiggy. 

Why is creating a food delivery app like Swiggy in high demand? 

Gone are the days when people used to find restaurants to satisfy their hunger. With rapid digitalization, customer expectations have changed a lot, and consumers prefer online food delivery rather than dining out. 

Customers get access to a wide pool of food options that they can’t find on a single menu card of a restaurant.  

People have become so busy these days, so they prefer ordering food online with just a few taps away. They want to receive food orders conveniently at their home without traveling to restaurants in traffic-congested areas.  

They want comfort and convenience at their doorsteps rather than leaving their homes to find their favorite food or worrying about what to cook. Ordering food items online saves a lot of time and effort for customers. 

While ordering food online, a food delivery app such as Swiggy provides real-time updates where you can view your order history, save multiple addresses, or see whether a particular dish is available or not.  

In addition, you can order the items that you think are affordable for you. 

Here are some more reasons as to why your startup should invest in creating an app like Swiggy: 

1. Reach a broader set of audience 

Most people nowadays are tech-savvy, and using an on-demand food delivery app lets you expand your reach and tap into a new set of customers. 

2. Changing customer preferences 

Digital technology has changed the way customers place orders by walking into the restaurant and waiting for their food. 

Due to changing customer preferences, businesses need to come up with an online food ordering app so that customers can order meals online and get them at their doorsteps.  

3. Grow your business online 

An online food delivery app helps you satisfy your customer’s taste buds by offering a variety of food items.  

You can get their attention by offering special discounts and promotional offers that keep the customers coming back to you. 

4. Increase sales 

One research study found that 63% of consumers enjoy taking online delivery rather than dining out with family.  

In this crowded market where competition is taking the front seat, investing in a well-designed food delivery app provides you with a competitive advantage.  

Every restaurant owner is interested in increasing their sales, and that’s possible when you have a strong online presence.  

The more visibility you get online, the easier it is for customers to find you and place an order through your app. 

Features for Developing an App Like Swiggy 

Are you looking to develop a perfect online delivery app for your business?  

If so, these are the Must-have features you should include to create a perfect food delivery app like Swiggy. 

Top Features of Food Delivery App for Customers 

The customer side of an app involves elements visible on the screen when users log into the app. 

1. User Registration 

This feature allows users to create an account or log in by entering their phone number or using social media credentials. 

Ensure that the registration process is as smooth as possible, and users should not feel frustrated, as if filling in a passport form.  

Additionally, adding a user profile feature on the app is important for saving customer details and understanding their preferences, allowing you to increase sales volume by sending push notifications to them. 

2. Smooth and Efficient Ordering Process 

Users should be able to add items to the cart, place orders seamlessly, view their order history, etc., all with minimal effort.  

When developing an app like Swiggy, make sure to have a simple ordering process that allows customers to add their favorites to the cart. 

3. Ratings and Reviews 

Adding a ratings and review feature plays a significant role in creating a food delivery app like Swiggy. Customers can share their feedback regarding food and restaurants.  

Such ratings let other customers make informed decisions and affect their online experience.  

When new customers land on your app, they prefer to read online reviews from existing customers and decide whether they should order from you or not.  

Therefore, such reviews matter the most in building restaurant credibility. 

4. Easy Searchability Option 

Users can discover eatery items, restaurants, and cafés by using search options.  

After creating an account on an app like Swiggy, users should be able to use search and filtering options to narrow down the search results and make an effective choice from nearby restaurants based on various categories. 

5. Multiple Payment Options 

A food delivery app like Swiggy or Zomato is not limited to finding the best restaurant in your area; rather, it streamlines the ordering process by providing multiple payment options such as PayPal, credit card, debit card, cash on delivery, etc.  

If you are looking to create a Swiggy-like app, consider providing multiple payment options to customers so that they can choose their preferred payment method while ordering food. 

6. Real-time Food Tracking 

The order tracking feature provides real-time insights to users, such as whether the order is accepted, on the way, food is prepared, or is in the kitchen.  

They can keep track of every stage of the order ranging from food production to delivery, follow the delivery agent’s location, and know at what time the order will be delivered. 

7. Geolocation Feature with MAP 

Users can even select the area on the app to find available restaurants. By typing specific keywords, users can find a list of area-specific restaurants by typing various keywords and phrases. 

Features of Food Delivery App for Delivery Executive 

While developing a Swiggy-like app for delivery partners, these are the Must-have features you should include: 

1. Delivery Partner Profile 

The delivery partner can update complete details on the delivery app, such as full name, contact number, and address, and upload their profile photo and other personal details.  

They can register their profiles by doing an email signup, logging in through social media, or entering details manually. 

2. Accept or Reject Orders 

This feature enables the delivery executive/boy to accept the orders they can complete.  

If they feel that a few orders cannot be completed because of some emergency, they will reject the order.  

Moreover, delivery personnel can manage their orders and get access to a bunch of data such as order pickup, consumer details, size of order, and drop location. 

3. Geolocation 

An important feature in creating a delivery-side app is GPS navigation, which allows delivery partners to keep track of customer location and deliver the products. 

4. Notifications 

The delivery partner gets push notifications when they receive a new order. 

5. Map for the Delivery Route 

Integration of Google Maps on your app allows the delivery boy to find the fastest route to deliver the product to the customer’s doorstep. 

Features of Food Delivery App for Admin 

The admin side of an app is used to manage the activities of users. The admin panel is considered the backbone of the app because the admin gets access to add or remove users, control the user data on the app, and keep track of the daily activities of the user. 

1. Restaurant Management 

The admin can manage all the restaurants listed in the app, such as adding, removing, or updating any restaurant from the list.  

Apart from that, they can manage various aspects of the food business, such as handling customer orders, viewing the list of current orders, assigning an order to a delivery executive, or coordinating with a restaurant partner. 

2. Analytics and Reports Generation 

Here, admins can evaluate the performance of various restaurants with the help of real-time reports. 

3. Discount Offers and Coupons 

Admin can offer discount offers, coupons, and promo codes that lure customers to place an order with you. 

Common Challenges Faced by Online Food Delivery Businesses 

1. Intense Competition 

When new players think of entering the food delivery space, they face intense competition from those players who are well-established in the market. 

The new players must figure out their unique value proposition to differentiate themselves from players who are dominating the market. 

In such a case, you can either introduce more features in your app or design an enticing UI/UX for the food delivery app. You will have to figure out new ways where you can partner with restaurants and at the same time attract customers. 

For instance – You can offer lucrative discounts and offers for customers for the first set of orders placed through the app. 

2. Collaborating with Restaurant Partners  

Finding restaurant partners is challenging for you when you are starting. Although you can find various food outlets and list them on your platform, you need to find partners or low-level restaurants that need promotion. 

Your focus should not be on finding prominent restaurant partners; rather, you should focus more on increasing partner count in your early stages. 

3. Creating Intuitive UI/UX Design 

When developing an online food ordering app, creating a consistent UI/UX is a major challenge.  

When designing UI/UX for customers, add enough white space in your app, allowing customers to digest the items, and choose colors related to food that can satisfy their appetite. 

If you don’t have expertise in creating UI/UX designs that stand out from the crowd, partner with a mobile app design agency. 

4. Which Features to Add to MVP 

Most restaurant app development agencies struggle to decide which MVP features they should add to the application and which ones to leave.  

Before launching a full-fledged app like Swiggy, you must test the waters because MVP reduces the cost of developing a food delivery app. 

As the app gains more traction, you can focus on adding more features because unnecessary spending adds more to your app development cost. 

5. Find an App Development Partner 

Now the real struggle comes in front of you where you need to find a perfect app development partner who is there to convert your idea into a fully functional app.  

When choosing an Android or iOS app development partner, make sure to look at their portfolio section and see their testimonials. 

More importantly, check whether they are the right fit for you and see whether they have experience in creating food delivery apps or not. 

How Much Does it Cost to Create an App Like Swiggy? 

There is no fixed development cost we can commit, as the cost of developing a Swiggy-like application depends on several features and functionalities along with a few other factors. 

Here’s a snapshot of how the cost of developing a basic online food ordering app differs from advanced applications. 

1. App Platform (Android/iOS or Web) 

If you want to tap Android and iOS users, consider developing a Swiggy-like Android or iOS app. Generally, the cost of developing a food delivery application is higher for Android than iOS because it has more devices for testing. 

2. Design of an App 

Food ordering apps like Swiggy have interactive designs with smooth navigation. The design of an app affects the app development cost.  

If you want to develop an online food ordering app that has an engaging design and is user-friendly, then it will cost extra bucks from your pocket.  

Creating a stunning design for your app involves various elements such as UI/UX, user interface, restaurant listings, order placement, user registration, search and filters, customer support, and much more.  

Make sure to include the necessary elements in designing your app. Also, you don’t want to bombard customers with adding too many elements as your focus is to enhance customer experience. 

3. App Functionality 

Swiggy and Zomato stand at the top in meeting their customer expectations all the time because their focus is to add quality features to an app and enhance the app’s functionality.  

The addition of features in an online food delivery app such as placing an order, tracking an order, and getting in touch with the delivery partner improves the experience of new customers. 

4. Application Size 

The cost of developing Swiggy-like Android or iOS applications depends on how complex or simple the app is.  

Do you want to include more features in your app, or do you want to keep it simple?  

The more features you add to your app, the bigger the app will become, which increases your app development cost.  

One way to go is to start with MVP first, add minimal features to your app, receive feedback from users, and later on, you can continue adding more features. 

5. Location and Expertise of App Developer 

The cost of creating an app like Swiggy depends on the expertise and location of the app developer.  

In this step, you need to partner with a mobile app development agency that provides you with continuous support and has a dedicated team of UI/UX designers, mobile app developers, and web developers.  

For example – Hiring app developers from countries like Europe and America charges you around $120-$150 per hour. 

Wrapping Up 

Players such as Swiggy and Zomato have dominated the online food delivery industry. But still, there are hidden opportunities in the market that you can tap to target specific audiences.  

If you haven’t invested in creating an on-demand food delivery app like Swiggy, then you are losing tremendous profits and a massive chunk of customers.  

Working with a mobile app development company helps you supercharge your business success by turning your app idea into a functional app.  

At BigOhTech, we have a dedicated team of 250+ certified app developers who are ready to come up with customized mobile applications that keep your business ahead.