DEV Community: Gerard Zacharias

How to Build an App Similar to Gojek? A Detailed Guide

Gerard Zacharias — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 12:01:41 +0000

Mobile apps have changed the way we look at different utilities, and in specific, Gojek is bound to have changed the way in which we look at mobile applications. When we look at mobile apps, we often think of a single app offering a single utility, or at the max, parallel utilities. However, Gojek has been quite revolutionary in offering multiple utilities in a single app.

Such abs that offer a wide range of utilities and services under a single umbrella are called super applications or simply, super apps.

A brief history of super apps

A lot of applications have intended in integrating multiple utilities. However, data restrictions and the growing emphasis on privacy meant that these apps would never see the light of the day. Most of the super apps that we know now, like WeChat, Gojek, and PayTM have been created in South and Southeast Asia.

The success of this abs and especially the growing popularity and regard for Gojek as a company and as an app has prompted a lot of people to think about the idea of super apps.

It might not be possible to define a market size for super applications. However, combining all the utilities that are consumed including but not limited to transportation, grocery, food delivery, maintenance, parcel pick up, beauty services at home, and even massages at home, the value of the market is bound to be bigger than all the loan apps put together.

Focusing on Gojek

Gojek started with its humble beginnings as a call center for by taxis in Indonesia. It launched its app only in 2015, covering just for services. Today Kamal Gojek offers a wide variety of services that number not less than 20.

While the spectrum of services offered by Gojek is quite common and familiar to everyone, it is important to note that the company is known for its formidable portfolio of investors. Gojek acquired its investments from noted names like Sequoia Cap, Facebook, and Google. About a year ago, Gojek acquired an investment of about $1.2 billion from Google, pushing it’s valuation to $10 billion, making it the first and only Dedacorn of Indonesia.

Gojek also stepped into a flurry of acquisitions. It acquired artificial intelligence and fin Tech companies in India, establishing it’s first offshore office in the city of Bangalore. The company continues to grow and in the process, has gone out of a lot of appreciation and accolades, being featured in the list of most innovative companies of the Fortune magazine.

The advantages of super apps

Super applications bring a host of advantages, making them amazingly lucrative business ideas.

First and foremost… And the most obvious advantage of a super app is that it offers multiple utilities under a single umbrella. Therefore users do not have to keep swapping between apps to get things done. In addition, it also justifies the inclusion of certain apps within Gojek. Some apps like courier services or bill payments, for example, might not be used on a regular or a daily basis. However, when their time comes, the utility is inevitable. From a simple utilitarian perspective, it also saves a lot of space for the user.

It also helps users gain more loyalty points because all the spending is concentrated on a single app. It also makes it easy for the user to redeem the loyalty points they get. If you make a payment for your electricity bill, you will have to wait until the next cycle to redeem your loyalty points. However, with a super app in place, You can use the loyalty points that you gained by paying your electricity bill to pay off your taxi ride cost.

For the business, it presents a couple of significant advantages.

Any app developer would agree that one of the most significant pain points for their app is the cost it takes to onboard their first set of users. Marketing is always a big chunk of expense, especially for apps that just make their entry into the market. However, with a super app, a new utility can be introduced with almost close to zero costs spent on marketing. The user base has already been established, and the marketing is not a matter of a simple software update or probably a small refreshment to the home screen to announce the presence of a new utility. This makes it extremely easy for the app to get its first set of customers.

This might present an ongoing demand to improvise, add, and fix apps right regularly? Well… The answer is no! There are a lot of app developers who develop micro and mini-applications to fit the Gojek framework. Therefore, Gojek does not have to spend a lot on development. All they need to do is be diligent in finding out which app would be the best extension of the business that they already offer, and simply acquire the app. Therefore, the costs associated with production are also eliminated.

Perhaps the most amazing and the not so obvious advantage of a super app is the richness of data it offers. Data, as we all know, is the most valuable currency today. The growing instances of regulations protecting data and privacy show how important data is. When data is scattered across multiple apps, it becomes challenging to collate to them and arrive at an intelligence. However, with a super app, you can gauge the user from multiple streams of data. This analysis finds practical usage in disbursing microloans. Using the spending patterns, the tastes of the user, the general buying capacity, and various other attributes, an artificial intelligence engine can decide whether a person can be given alone or not. Therefore, an app like Gojek has an extremely high success rate and very low default rate for the loans that they give, and that to come up with the advantage of making the loan amount available in minutes if not seconds.

How to hop on?

It is only natural that an aspiring entrepreneur would want to embark on this lucrative business idea. However, the technology involved in building an app like Gojek from scratch could be quite a cumbersome and daunting affair.

Alternatively, you can go for a Gojek clone app. The Gojek Clone script is easy to customize and can be made to bear the features that you want not only in terms of service offerings but also in terms of your styling and personalization. What makes this even better is that the app does not have any bugs that might interfere with the basic functionality.

Things to look for

It might not be a good idea to blindly buy any Gojek clone available in the market. You will need to test the Gojek clone app for a few features and facilities. It is to be noted that you might not offer all the services that Gojek office. Therefore, you should have a facility to the modular in your approach by enabling the removal and inclusion of new apps/utilities.

It could be quite similar or even congruent to Gojek under the hood, but the front end of the app should not wear any resemblance is that might get people to think you’re going for a white label Clone app. The customization should be perfect at uncompromising.

It is undoubtedly a great idea to have a great app developed and ready-made. It is, however, equally important to ensure that the app makes it to the app stores of both the leading mobile platforms. The company should be able to give you assistance in getting the app in the stores.

Conclusion

It has been, without an iota of doubt, proved that an app like Gojek is a great business idea. Now that you are aware of all the features and advantages of a super app like Gojek, all you need to do is get in touch with the company that specializes in the creation and customization of white label Gojek clone.

They will take care of not only to give you the product but also customize it in a way that it does suck when you super profit with every download and every action!

Top 10 Features that are Required to Develop a Food Delivery App Like Uber Eats

Gerard Zacharias — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 12:55:26 +0000

Online food delivery was once looked at as a mere extension of the food and restaurant industry. Today, however, it has become a vital arm of restaurant businesses across the world. The shift of powers to the hands of the millennials was steadily contributing to its growth. The COVID-19 crisis, however, gave the food delivery on-demand industry the rocket-boosters it required to elevate its relevance, position, and profits as well.

It wouldn’t be a thing of surprise if an aspiring entrepreneur wants to start their own on-demand food delivery business using an app like UberEats. Those who would like to embark on this well-treaded path should understand that mediocrity might not be enough to cut a slice of the market.

One of the most important steps in ensuring success in your food delivery on-demand business is that you will need to be early to hit the market, of course, after choosing the right business model. The technical requirements can be adequately taken care of by UberEats clone apps. Considering the fact that a white label UberEats clone is highly customizable, you will need to ensure that certain features are in place to ensure success and profitability. We have given below, some features that you will need to consider uncompromisingly.

Easy Sign-up And Registration

Let us all admit it! If you are gonna keep the path entry complicated, it is extremely detrimental to your business and its success. It might not be a great idea to keep your prospective customer waiting through a cumbersome sign-up process especially when they are hungry and want to order food at the earliest.

There are two secret ingredients in making this possible: simplifying the process of sign-up/registration, and using technology wherever possible.

The first one can be affected by facilitating logging into your app using existing credentials like Google and Facebook. This does not, in any way, mean that the classic login methods like email and phone number shouldn’t be made available. If fact, giving an option to sign-up using existing credentials help in getting closer to achieving the second secret.

The second one is that the user shouldn’t need to fill up unwanted information. The app can, however, make use of the GPS permissions and with a mapping software like Google Maps or Apple Maps, to find out the location of the user.

All these steps might seem inconspicuous, but they go a great distance in ensuring that a user doesn’t slip off when they’re so close to making a conversion.

Keeping the User Notified

There is always at least an iota of curiosity in every user after they’ve ordered food and made their payment. The only way to satisfy this curiosity is by keeping them updated on every important step, like the acceptance of the order, the pick-up of the order from the restaurant, and inadvertent delays if any.

This can be easily and powerfully put into effect using push notifications. Both the major mobile operating systems - iOS and Android - have facilities using which apps can push notifications. In addition to the usual updates on the orders, push notifications can be used as a medium of promotion.

In all of this, it should be remembered that the customer has the power to disable push notifications for specific apps. Therefore, this feature should be meticulously used. It should be ensured that the push notifications add value to the customer, and do not contain any stray information. They should also be a control on the number of push notifications. Too many notifications can serve more as an irritation than information.

Tracking in Real-Time

An extension of the above feature is giving the user the feeling that they have access to every bit of information. This is done through real-time tracking of the moment of your food order.

One of the greatest innovations brought about by the on-demand spectrum of services is the incorporation of GPS and mapping into everyday activities and services. Using this, the delivery executive can easily navigate to the location of the user. They do not have to depend on vague directions and do not have to depend on the knowledge that the delivery executives have on the locality.

For the user, on the top of the mapping interface, the movement of the delivery can be shown. This makes users feel more empowered. This also means that they do not have to entirely depend on the post notifications to get updates on the movement of their food parcel.

Geofencing

One of the features that can highlight your food delivery app is the commitment that you give for the delivery time. It not on it becomes a service feature but rather a marketing feature that can help you win your customers without any hassle.

At the same time, it is to be remembered that marketing a promise without fulfilling it could be tragic. To ensure that you do not reach people who are outside your scope of service, you can use technology like geofencing. You can also consider using beacons to reach uninitiated customers. You can even float an advertising program where new restaurants can pay your app to increase their popularity.

The beacon technology can be considered the equivalent of handing out pamphlets to people who visit a hangout joint or a hotspot in your locality.

Digital payment options

The entire world is going digital in every walk of life and one of the most prominent areas of impact of digital transformation is in the area of payments. The extent of cash usage has considerably reduced, and it has shown its effect even in some of the cash-intense economies like India.

The COVID-19 crisis has also played a crucial role in reducing human contact, and it directly translates into the delivery executives not wanting to handle cash. Therefore, your food delivery app should be tied up with a versatile payment gateway that can accept payments from multiple methods including but not limited to credit cards, debit cards, Internet banking, wallets like Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Amazon Pay.

Contactless deliveries

The coronavirus has been a major contributing factor to the emphasis on minimizing human contact. Going in line with the regulations of the government, including contactless delivery is an integral part of your app, especially in the time of a pandemic like this.

This protects not only the users but also the delivery executives from catching the virus. The process is quite simple and straightforward. The delivery executive can drop the meal package at the doorstep of the customer and let them know that the package has been delivered. Once the delivery executives have confirmed that the customer has picked up the order, they can update the status of the order.

In the long run, it might become obsolete, but if you intend to launch your app like UberEats, it is not just a good feature to have, but rather a must-have feature.

Integrating chatbots

Chatbots can be considered the most practical and most prominent manifestation of artificial intelligence. AI is slowly catching up. It won't be long before it finds an increased mainstream and option.

Chatbots can not only help in resolving support queries by communicating with users to get mundane information but also help in suggesting dishes for users based on their order history and a host of other factors.

Since chatbots constantly learn from the activities of the user, in the long run, they can even be used to personalize communication.

Personalization

That brings us to the next point of personalization. One of the demands of the millennial generation is that they should not be provided with the same things as it is for everyone. With the personalization feature in place, the app takes into consideration the activities, the orders, the wish list items, and the trend of ordering around the location of the customer. Considering these parameters it can personalize the interface according to what they might need.

The elements of personalization include the restaurants that ensure quick delivery, restaurants that comply with safety standards, especially during the coronavirus times, and even top-rated restaurants. In addition, adding promotions, discounts, and offers elevates the experience of personalization for the user. It is these elements that keep the user coming back to the app time and time again.

Loyalty programs

The profitability of an app lies in its ability to retain customers without spending extra. If you are looking at long-term customer value, you would need to introduce loyalty programs that benefit customers. It is not surprising to find out that about 40% of the customers are always on the lookout for deals and discounts when they order food. On top of this, about 20% of the users use a food delivery app only because they can earn loyalty points.

Given these factors, it is important for your food delivery on-demand app to have a loyalty program that entitles users to special deals, discounts, and offers. It is proven by the success of global giants like Starbucks increased their sales by about 80% after they launched their loyalty program. In fact, Starbucks openly credits 40% of its sales to the loyalty program.

Review and rating system

The last but not the least among the features that you should uncompromisingly consider is having a review and rating system. It is one of the best ways in which you can get feedback from customers without being intrusive. This system also helps you rate restaurants and curate your list of restaurants based on the star-rating that they get from customers.

In short, this review and rating system helps keep the food delivery ecosystem democratic. Indirectly, it also puts the pressure of quality on restaurants because they cannot afford to lose out on the reviews and ratings. It might even end in customers not trusting the brand, and there's a good possibility that the online image also percolates into the offline space.

Conclusion

The reliability and profitability of a food delivery application has already been established. If you are one of those aspiring entrepreneurs who would like to embark on this exciting journey, the above pointers will help you build an app that is brimming with features bound to delight your customer irrespective of you building the app from scratch or customizing an UberEats clone app.

How to Build A Grocery App like Bigbasket?

Gerard Zacharias — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 15:47:37 +0000

The on-demand model has successfully crept into almost all walks of our lives. It all started with transportation, but now you can order almost everything based on your demand, including but not limited to food, household work, handyman services, babysitters, pet walkers, courier pick up, and even dating.

In all of this, it should not be forgotten that most of the apps cater to needs beyond the basic, a grocery delivery app has only given an online dimension to the existing consumption ecosystem. It can be inferred from the fact that ever since cab booking applications came in, the number of cab users has increased but when it comes to grocery, it is only a matter of displacement of users from the traditional local grocery shops to the app.

It was unimaginable for a market like India to embrace this new technology. India thrived on local vendors for their grocery consumption, endearingly known as ‘Baniyas’ in the North and ‘Annachis’ in the South. Defeating all the odds, an app slowly but steadily established its supremacy in the app-based grocery delivery market in India. It was none other than Bigbasket.

Bigbasket has grown up to be a household name, and its relevance and profits have only increased ever since the COVID-19 pandemic changed the lifestyle of people forever. What was once never thought to be a candidate for an online revolution has now already stepped into the digital realm.

Considering the sheer population of India and the steadily increasing smartphone penetration, now would be a perfect time for any aspiring entrepreneur to build an app like Bigbasket. An on-demand grocery delivery app is the need of the hour, and needless to say, it has a market scope wide and open.

Why build an online grocery delivery app?

A grocery delivery app brings a lot of benefits that are extremely relevant in today's world commanded by millennials.

Millennials are short of time, and even if they aren't, they would like to save whatever time they have from not engrossing themselves in traveling to the supermarket and engaging in a time-consuming activity of selecting groceries.
They do not have the time or patience for bargaining. They are, in fact, better off giving the price that is being asked for rather than negotiating with local vendors.
They have more access to the Internet using their smartphones, and it might not be an exaggeration to say that people are constantly connected.
They do not buy groceries for the entire month as the previous generation used to do. Most of them shop for groceries on a weekly basis, and some of them even more than once in a week. This means that they will have to frequently go to supermarkets and grocers which they do not want to do.
It saves them a lot of money. On one side, there are discounts and offers that pamper them with the choice to buy more. On the other hand, they also keep themselves away from impulse buying a lot of unwanted things.
Overall, a grocery delivery app like Bigbasket offers them convenience in terms of both time and money!

The Different Business Models

Before you go on to build your grocery delivery app, you will need to understand that there are different types of business models.

The aggregator brings all the grocery shops in your vicinity to an app. They, in essence, create an additional avenue for these grocery shops to suit the consumption patterns of millennials. It should be remembered that the responsibility of delivering the groceries to the user falls on the store and not on the app.

The marketplace model is quite like the aggregator model but the responsibility of delivering does not fall on the store but on the app. The app employees gig workers or delivery executives to pick the groceries up from the store and deliver it to the customer.

Single store applications are just a simple online avatar off an existing physical store. The store takes the responsibility of every aspect of the app, including but not limited to maintaining their menu, collecting the money, delivering, and resolving the issues faced by the customer.

The last one is the grocery chain model which is used by an already-established chain of groceries like Walmart. They take care of both the mobile app and on-demand delivery. Some of these chain models use warehouses to ensure timely delivery and updated availability.

The essential features

A grocery delivery app like Bigbasket found its success because it had brimmed itself up with a host of features that made it easy for the newer generation. Your grocery delivery app also needs to reflect these features if you need to find success.

The app needs to be extremely user-friendly. The user-friendliness is determined by the simplicity of the app, the navigability, and the interactive and intuitive nature of the app. It should keep them engaged and increase the possibilities of them visiting the app again.
The app should facilitate online payments. The possibility of you finding cash in the wallet of a person today has considerably decreased. The COVID-19 crisis has further brought down the extent of cash usage. Therefore, your app should facilitate online payments by tying up with a payment gateway that can support almost every digital payment method. It is an added advantage if your app has a native wallet that makes it easier for processing refunds and for making quick payments.
Communication and interaction are important for any business today, and it has been adequately taken care of by social media applications. However, when it comes to the app space, instead of shuttling between social media and your app, it would be great if your app itself can feature an in-app chat or even making a phone call, so they can talk to the delivery executive or the partner grocery store.
One of the most significant features that made the on-demand business model a runaway success is the tracking based on GPS. You should be able to track your order at every step and in real-time, and it is surely a delight for the user when they can see the movement of their grocery order over a map.
As much as millennials are impulsive, they also have their own idea of being scheduled and planned. Therefore, your grocery delivery app should have a feature to schedule delivery.

Enhancing your operations and customer satisfaction

The features that have been mentioned above culminate at customer satisfaction, without question. In addition, however, there can be a few more features that go the extra mile in delighting a customer.

Delivering the groceries on the same day is a great feature that you can bring in to benefit and delight your customers. It is to be remembered that when it comes to impulsive buying of groceries, people buy it only because they need it on an urgent basis. If you can deliver the groceries within hours of ordering, it surely brings a lot of joy for the customer that translates into loyalty.

Customers should be engaged in a way that merges interaction and profit. Using data collected from the app, the app should create bespoke promotions and offers for the customers. They should also take into consideration the pattern of spending, and also offer additional items for the customers to purchase or try. Having a feedback mechanism for customers with heightened engagement is also an added advantage.

The default features

In addition to all the features mentioned above, there are a few features that can be considered bear essentials for your grocery delivery app.

Your app should feature a search bar that searches products by brand-name, the specific product, and if possible, even a scanner that can look by scanning the barcode. The search results should be able to pass through a filter in terms of price, availability, estimated time to deliver, and even the ingredients. The search should also start suggesting as soon as the customer starts typing.
The customer should have access to coupons and discount codes that can give them value on an ongoing basis. These discounts and coupons go a considerable distance in retaining customers and enhancing loyalty.
The checkout process should be made simple and straightforward. People should be able to add items to the cart, check out, choose a delivery slot, make a payment, and be updated on the progress of their order.
The customers should also have a wishlist or a list of items that they intend to buy later. This not only helps the customers remember what they wanted but also helps the app push promotions specific to what they have been looking for.
The customer should be able to input the default address and also mark the position on the map, so the delivery executive can make use of that marker and navigate easily to the delivery location.
The customers should also be able to avail express delivery for an additional cost. This helps both the business and the customers during a time of an inevitable emergency.
The customers should be able to grade that experience with the grocery vendor and the delivery executor. This will help retain the democratic nature of the app.

Conclusion

It is quite evident that the grocery delivery app space is here to stay, and it is strengthened by the fact that people do not want to move out of their convenience even if it is totally against their traditional habits. Therefore, an app like Bigbasket would be a great business idea for an emerging market like India.

However, building your app from scratch by figuring out all the technical elements might be a cumbersome undertaking. Alternatively, you can use a white label Bigbasket clone. These Bigbasket clones are extremely easy to customize and can be made available in a really short time. This ensures that you can launch your business without waiting for a long time and, that too, without having to worry about the bugs and glitches that you might encounter when you build your app from scratch.

All you need to do is get in touch with the company that specializes in the creation and customization of Bigbasket clone apps. They will take care to understand the requirements, build the app in line with your needs, and present it to you, so you are all set to deliver delight to customers and profits for yourself.