90% of guests search for a restaurant on the Internet before actually going there
The research conducted by Upserve.com shows that about 90% of guests check restaurants online before the first visit. It is more than any other industry. For the last few years, we observe that more and more people want to order food delivery and make a reservation through the Internet.
What information should every restaurant website have? If you want your business to thrive, you should present a legible and updated menu, opening hours, call to action, online ordering, reservation and delivery service. We distinguish a few main types of restaurant apps, such as restaurant control apps, online food ordering & delivery apps, table booking apps, loyalty program apps, or restaurant location apps.
Why is it worth investing in restaurant app development?
FoodTech apps are highly popular right now
Which one will be more profitable for your business?
Why should you build your restaurant app with us?
Working with Railwaymen is an investment in a high-quality product backed by professional service from specialists. Our previous experience makes us familiar with the current needs of our clients and we try to solve them on an ongoing basis through our applications. In our portfolio, we have many food service apps projects that are popular among users and satisfying commissioning clients.
Our FoodTech projects
Our experience in application development covers a wide range of industries. Some of them are projects implemented for the foodservice industry.
Here are a few examples that may appeal to you.
Bilingual web & mobile application for the food tech from the GCC region
Shawarmer is a quick-service restaurant founded in 1999, which has grown to more than 90 restaurants across the Saudi Arabia region. The project goal is to enable guests to order food for pick-up from all of the Shawarmer restaurants conveniently.
Shawarmer mobile app has already reached over 200k downloads, and this number is growing.
Read full case study
Alamar is a leading operator of quick service restaurant chains based in Saudi Arabia, North Africa and Pakistan. The company is the exclusive representative of brands such as Domino's Pizza and Dunkin' Donuts.
The work on the Alamar project primarily involved the development of an eWallet for the client's application used to order takeaway food. Through the use of the Golang language, we created the application's API. The application also gained an extensive admin panel, which allows the client to better manage all processes. The last facility we applied to the application was the integration with Moyasar payments for Saudi Arabian users.
Read full case studyWhat do our restaurant partners say about us?
Customer feedback is extremely important to us. For this reason, we strive to provide solutions that will fully meet their expectations. At the same time, we want the applications we create to stand out in terms of quality and functionality.
Our Clutch.co profile is full of positive feedback. We are incredibly proud that the average rating of over 39 clients' reviews is 4.9
Thanks to investing in mobile app development, Starbucks increased customer loyalty by 80%
Nowadays, restaurant guests are expecting excellent treatment. The good news is that thanks to applications, you can ensure it and increase the number of loyal customers. Custom app development allows building loyalty programs that none of the competitors have. That is what Starbucks did.
Apps for restaurants provide a variety of options that will level up the customer experience. They give the possibility to access the menus quickly, pay for the order with one click, and track the delivery in real-time. Furthermore, the research conducted by Financesonline.com clearly shows that building location-based businesses is much easier with technology.
This is how your restaurant mobile app might look
UX/UI design is an essential part of the app development process. Check the concept of the FoodTech application prepared by our Designer.
Frequently Asked Questions
FoodTech is the future of the modern restaurant industry. Recently, we receive many requests about restaurant mobile app development, online food ordering & delivery apps, building loyalty programs, reservation systems, etc.
There are 3 main ways to become an owner of a food ordering, delivery, or any other kind of restaurant application. You can hire a freelancer, build an in-house development team or cooperate with a software development company specializing in food technology.
In the case of hiring a freelancer, we advise you to keep in mind that freelancers usually work individually. So you have to estimate whether one person will be able to manage the whole software project. Furthermore, you won't be the only customer, so you need to be aware that delays can happen, and it may take much more time to complete the app. Building an in-house team is a time-consuming process. It is a good idea if you are planning a big, complex project that will be continued for at least a few years. Choosing a development company as a partner is a perfect choice if you have more sophisticated needs and want a complex app development service. Software house is an organization that can ensure a group of IT specialists that will build your restaurant app from scratch. They can also validate your app idea first, so you'll be 100% sure that restaurant app development is a good choice for your business.
At Railwaymen, we can build a basic version of your restaurant application (Minimum Viable Product) for around $20,000 - $30,000, and it will take about 3 months.
The speed of app development is related to the project's scope and the number of people who participate in it. For example, to build a basic app for one platform with a basic UI (without custom elements) that has up to 5 screens, we will need two developers, one QA Specialist and one UX/UI designer. Creating the application will take about 350-650 hours (4-9 weeks).
The first step is to research the market and potential customers. Market research and knowledge of users are necessary to build a successful MVP. This knowledge is essential to plan any next steps. With background information, we can define key problems and solutions. The main question here is what is the main difficulty your restaurant guests have and how the product can help them solve it. Then we can plan and build the restaurant app MVP. Tools like user flows or wireframes will help us prepare the vision for the business app, which in turn will get more defined into user stories. Another great idea at this stage is a working UI prototype. Of course, to build an MVP, you will need a team of experts: developers, QA specialists, UX/UI designers, and project managers. When the digital product is ready, it is time to release it and gather the target audience's feedback. The last step is further app development or maintenance.
Of course, the list of features should be strongly related to your business goals and target users' needs, but a few are definitely worth implementation. It is hard to imagine a solid restaurant application without online ordering & reservation and mobile payments. Online ordering and table booking are desirable by users, no doubt. Food delivery apps are another hot trend. Implementing push notifications is good idea to inform users about their order status and marketing promotions.
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Joanna Brzezińska-Wajda
Head of Sales