How to Make an App Like Uber Eats: Features, Cost and Tools

Recent study finds that around 44 percent of consumers in the US use food delivery services at least once per month. Great time for online food startups to flourish, isn’t it? And that’s exactly what Uber Eats, Foodpanda, GrubHub, and similar platforms do.

But it's not easy to build an app like Uber Eats. The development takes time, finances, and you won’t fit all the features in a single app. You need one application for users, another for couriers, and an admin panel for restaurants. Each having its own development complexities.

In our article, we’re discussing all the ropes of building a food service like Uber Eats and promoting it.
Food Marketplace Models
There are two food startup models that take a big share of the current market. Let’s take a more detailed look at both.

Order-Only Platform
Order-only apps act as an aggregator showing nearby eateries to app users. They connect customers with a wide network of food venues. The system gathers information about restaurants, and users get access to menus, look through restaurants’ rates and reviews, and so on.

This model helps restaurants to expand their market—while customers simply look for a good place to order food from. These platforms do not offer delivery services, though (restaurants have to use their own couriers), they gain profit by charging up to 15% commission to restaurants.

Here’s how it works:

Users choose food and place an order.
The payment is authorized within the system.
A restaurant receives the order and starts preparations.
The food is handed to the restaurant's courier.
The courier brings food to the customer, payment is deducted.
The biggest challenge for such startups is building a wide network of nearby food venues. App owners should look for all possible partners, including small eateries.

Examples of order-only apps:

Otlob
Delivery Hero
Supp.li
Zomato
All these platforms are well-designed and have different filters (by dish, location, price) to help users find the best eatery. Still, they remain limited in options and income sources. More information you can find here.