The trend of using food delivery services to get our favorite meals delivered to our doorstep has been popular in recent years. Most families prefer receiving ready-to-eat meals on special occasions and in times of need or emergencies. People are getting busier, so they seek immediate dishes to cater to their hunger pangs at reasonable prices. Food deliveries are popular among working professionals, who find it challenging to cook meals for themselves on hectic work days.
Whatever the need or occasion, we all have ordered food online using on-demand delivery apps on our mobile devices. However, to ensure a smooth food ordering experience, you should ensure your app offers the latest features and benefits. So, while choosing the best food delivery app, here are a few things you need to keep in mind.
Features to Look for in an Online Food Delivery App
Here are some vital features to look for in a food order online delivery app to enhance your ordering experiences and receive fast food deliveries on demand.
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Smooth UI
Check whether the app’s user interface (UI) is smooth, easy to use, and easy to navigate. You should be able to scroll through different cuisines and restaurants seamlessly without lags. Because food ordering is a necessity, and it should not take you through complicated steps.
Let’s say; you are starving and need to order a meal urgently through the food delivery platform. If you are required to go through a number of steps before finally placing an order, there’s no point. Your app should let you search for your preferred dish quickly, without much hassle, to satisfy your cravings and hunger pangs on time.
Ensure that the food order delivery service allows you to select your preferred order type: whether it’s a delivery or a takeaway. After adding your favorite items to the cart, the app should prompt you to the next steps, like choosing your delivery location, adding delivery instructions, adding your contact details, and finally proceeding towards the checkout process. Also, check whether the app is able to store several addresses, such as that of home and office, and contact details, which you can switch between depending on your preferred delivery location.
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Real-time Order Tracking
Any food delivery service should have a real-time order tracking feature. It allows users to know the exact time when their meal is going to arrive. The feature can update the customers about their order statuses, such as ongoing food preemption, the precise location of the driver, and the number of minutes the meal will be arriving.
However, you should switch on your app’s GPS to take full advantage of the real-time order tracking feature. The feature benefits both customers and delivery agents, who can get accurate directions to reach the destination without delays. Besides, customers can track their assigned delivery personnel in real-time to help them avoid long ways, heavy traffic, or accident-prone areas.
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Instant Push Notifications
After placing an order, you need to be notified about its status, right? So, choose an app that offers real-time status updates through push notifications. Although most food delivery apps offer this feature nowadays, it’s good to make sure. Apart from notifying you about food preparation status, the location of the driver, etc., push notifications can also update you regarding the latest deals and discounts offered by different restaurants from time to time.
By staying updated on the latest deals and offers, you can save a few bucks on your food orders, especially if you are a regular customer. For example, if a special ‘Buy 1, Get 1’ offer is going on, or some eatery launches an exciting combo, you surely don’t want to miss such offers. So, push notifications can help you save up while keeping a tab on your order status.
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Advance Orders
This is probably the best feature a food delivery app can have. With the “Advance Order” feature, you can get the liberty of choosing your pickup or delivery time while placing the order. You can either choose your food order to be delivered immediately or schedule it for a later date and time. The app passes on the information to the restaurant, which prepares the order accordingly on the chosen date and time.
This advanced ordering feature is a boon for busy working professionals who hardly have the time to scroll through multiple items to find a suitable meal during peak office hours. So, busy customers can create and schedule an order comfortably during off-work hours, such as at home or while traveling.
For instance, Swiggy has launched a special ‘Swiggy Schedule’ feature that lets users get their favorite dishes delivered on their preferred date and time. By scheduling meal deliveries, customers can gain complete control over their delivery. They can even reschedule them if there are changes in their routine or even cancel the order entirely. To avoid last-minute hassles, users can place their food orders two days in advance using ‘Swiggy Schedule’.
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Fast, Secure, and Simple Payment Options
One of the major factors influencing users to choose a particular food delivery app over another is its payment system. Modern-day customers look for faster, easier, and safer payment options. That’s why many users don’t prefer ordering their meals through phone calls. It keeps their confidential data safe and secure, and therefore, they prefer secure payment modes.
Apart from security and privacy, users like having more payment options, such as UPI, cards, cash, net banking, payment apps, e-wallets, etc. So, check whether you are getting multiple payment modes for easy and fast ordering experiences.
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Filter System
Some food delivery app users order only specific kinds of dishes. So, by having a filtering system, you can choose from a large variety of menus from different food outlets. Using the filter feature, users can sort their desired food items, restaurants, food categories, diet, locations, and others.
The filter system also enables them to filter and choose the latest promotions and offers, such as special discount coupons, free delivery, etc. As a result, users can find what they want quicker and easier. For instance, if you are craving desserts within a specific budget, you can filter ‘ice cream’ or ‘pastries’ within your specific price range to get tailored search results.
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Food Customization
Many customers look for an option to customize their meals by adding special cooking instructions. The restaurant can add or remove certain ingredients based on the user’s personal preferences, diet, allergic conditions, etc. Also, some restaurants allow users to add their desired toppings (such as, for pizzas), sauces, extra cheese, extra chicken/mutton, etc.
So, with the food customization feature, you can personalize your order by specifying certain preferences and making the necessary modifications. You can make special requests, demand add-ons, and mention cuisine preferences. For example, you can mention dietary preferences, such as vegan, Jain food, extra toppings, no onions, and so on.
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Bonus for Old Customers
Although this is not mandatory, it’s good to have such a feature in your food order online delivery platform. Some apps have a cumulative bonus feature through which old customers, who have been using the app regularly for a long time, can get special rewards or bonus points. They can use these bonus rewards to pay for their next purchases, thus saving a few extra bucks.
Final Words
In conclusion, we hope the above tips will help you to choose the best online food order application. Ensure that the app has all or most of these must-have features to experience smooth and hassle-free food ordering and delivery. After all, your app should be able to fulfill your hunger attacks on time, allowing you to stay worry-free!
Read more: Exploring Pune’s Delicious Food Culture