Food delivery, unbeknownst to many, is actually an ancient tradition. The first food delivery ever recorded was in South Korea, where the scholar Hwang Yun-seok ordered naengmyun (cold buckwheat noodles) to be delivered to him and his colleagues before lunch.
Today, food delivery is more common than ever. With more people working from home, there is now a higher demand for convenience, which is why food delivery apps are so popular these days.
According to an article in Fatbit.com, about 42% of food orders are now placed online. A 2018 research by Frost and Sullivan found an estimated USD$82 billion in gross revenue generated by various food delivery services. They also predicted that this number will more than double by 2025.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, food delivery has become a necessity — and 65% of restaurants say they were able to increase profits during the pandemic after partnering with delivery apps.
It was the gig economy that helped propel food delivery apps into a global industry. China has the largest user base, with over 650 million people regularly using food delivery apps. The US is the second largest market and the most well-funded, with a 20% growth rate over the last 5 years.
Apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub, are now able to offer a wider selection of restaurants and food types and have seen an especially higher influx of usage during the pandemic. Grubhub reported that the number of active diners grew to 27.5 million in Q2 2020 from 20.3 million in Q2 2019 — an increase of 35%.
READ: Startup ideas in the new normal
What exactly makes these apps so popular? An article in mckinsey.com lists various reasons:
Modern delivery platforms allow customers to customize their ordering experience by storing and filing their data. About 80% of customers never or rarely leave for another platform after signing up. This results in a winner-take-all dynamic, where the app which can sign the most customers in a given period of time reaps the most rewards.
The promise of delivery apps is customer satisfaction through speed. Not only do they deliver food items in a timely manner, they also work best during holidays and rush hours, when food establishments are too busy to cater to in-store diners. Normally, the highest-volume days for online platforms areFridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, when 74% of orders are placed.
Customers who order from food delivery apps not only decide on their food choice. They get to choose their preferred payment option as well, which ranges from paying cash upon delivery, payment via debit and/or credit card, or online bank transfer.
What can we learn from these businesses? The success of most of these apps lies in effective marketing strategies that maximize and capitalize on customer engagement. Whether or not you are starting a food delivery business of your own, you can still learn a thing or two from these types of services.
With these nexttips, you’ll surely see an increase in your lead generation, customer retention, and ultimately, your bottom line:
1. Create stand-out, engaging content for your customers
Apps like DoorDash often use promotional offers and contests through social media as part of their over-all marketing strategy. For any small business, it’s important to stand out. Successful food apps remain popular because of their endless innovations, giving emphasis to their content and brand values that customers can engage with.
Producing fresh, interesting content is crucial not only in creating brand awareness but also in gaining customer loyalty. You can use tools such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook to make sure your content is vibrant, relevant, and attention-grabbing.
2. Always ask for customer review to boost your social proof
Delivery apps like Food Panda know how important customer reviews are, putting them front and center of their app and business. Reviews are important for a number of reasons.
They provide social proof. Social proof through reviews is an essential concept that leads to sales and awareness, and simply plays on the idea that customers always want what others are buying, too.
Feedback is also essential to any businesses as it builds feelings of trust among customers. Whether you’re a retailer or a restaurant, it is important that you ask for customer reviews at every single stage of interaction and with every method: from point of sale, emails, push notifications, or SMS.
3. Make things as easy as possible for your customers
The ultimate reason why delivery apps have become so popular is that they are so convenient to use. Customers would always prefer to buy the food they want with minimal effort, simply with a few taps on their phone. This should be an important lesson for any starting business.
Design your product or service so that it would be easy for customers to find you, to buy from you, and to keep in touch. Remove all barriers to purchase with a great set up. Design your company website in a way that makes it easy for your users to navigate through the essential pages to encourage sales and positive brand associations.
If you’re looking to create your brand identity, look no further. BizScale has all the services fit to your needs. Talk to us by completing this form, emailing sales@bizscale.com, calling 833-722-5310, or booking time on Calendly. We may not be in the food business, but trust that we’ll deliver.
Sources
