It is hard to deny the ever-growing popularity of food delivery businesses. In today’s period, consumers are valuing efficiency and convenience. The growing desire for easy accessibility of a wide range of food options is dramatically increasing the growth opportunities for businesses in this industry.
Analysis of trends indicates that the UK’s online food delivery market is expected to reach USD 18.9 billion by 2030. Entrepreneurs can harness this golden opportunity to generate high profitability and multiple revenue streams.
The food delivery industry is experiencing a significant surge in on-demand food delivery services. This trend has increased dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic. The easy accessibility of mobile technology and the internet is attracting a larger number of customers to buy from apps and websites.
Through this blog, you can find out the best ways to launch a food delivery app in UK successfully in the provinces of the United Kingdom.
So, are you planning to invest in creating a food delivery app in the UK? Then, let’s dive into this blog to identify step-by-step guidance to start your own food delivery app business.
What is a food Delivery App?
A food delivery app is a tool that connects consumers with various restaurants, allowing them to order food directly from their smartphones. Over the past few years, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of food delivery apps. To save time and effort, consumers prefer doorstep delivery.
The increase in the number of users of food delivery apps has opened doors for entrepreneurs. By creating partnerships with restaurants and eateries, start-ups can have massive digital menus.
Connect with food delivery app development services to keep your operational costs low. This will further facilitate entrepreneurs in overcoming any issues or concerns that can affect app efficiency.
Food Delivery Market Overview
- The growth of the UK’s online food ordering market is expected to grow annually by over 12% between 2023 and 2027.
- In the year, the overall revenue generated by the UK online food delivery market is USD 5.3 million.
- By the year 2024, the food delivery market sector is expected to generate revenue of approximately £48.21 billion.
- The trends show that in the UK, nearly 69% of consumers of food delivery apps are Gen Z, as they have a great understanding of using apps and the internet.
Why Do Businesses Invest in Food Delivery Apps in the UK?
The dramatic expansion of the global food market is making food delivery apps a necessity. In the UK, online food delivery has become an integral part of individuals’ daily lives.
To fulfil the growing demand of consumers and generate high revenue, many businesses are investing in food delivery apps. So let’s find out the actual reasons why companies are investing in food delivery apps in the UK.
1. Increased Customer Reach:
By 2027, the meal delivery segment in the UK is expected to have 50.58 million users. Consumers in today’s period are seeking fast and easy doorstep delivery of their food orders.
As this industry is booming, entrepreneurs have the opportunity to invest in it, offering lucrative growth opportunities.
2. Revenue Growth:
The United Kingdom is considered the third biggest in the online food delivery market. By 2024, this market in the country is expected to reach $ 48 billion.
Food delivery companies like Deliveroo are among the leading apps that have experienced significant growth. This market growth rate is attracting many businesses and investors.
However, you need to partner with the best mobile app development company in UK that specialises in developing innovative web and mobile apps.
3. Rise of the Subscription Model:
It can be said that Millennials and Gen Z are reshaping the growth of online food delivery opportunities, thereby increasing demand for the subscription model.
Offering more diverse options to consumer entrepreneurs by providing value-added services, such as varied food options, discounts, and coupons through apps, can help build a strong consumer base.
4. Changing Consumer Habits:
Improvements in mobile app technology and smartphone penetration, even in rural areas, have significantly contributed to the growth of the online food market.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a considerable shift in customer preference towards online food delivery apps.
With an efficient food delivery app business model, start-ups and entrepreneurs can offer more convenient, quicker, and personalised services to consumers.
5. Restaurant adoption:
In today’s era, restaurants are partnering with food delivery services and apps to reach a broader audience, thereby expanding their delivery radius.
This partnership becomes a game-changer for entrepreneurs and investors, which is encouraging them to launch a Food Delivery App Business in the UK.
6. Minimised Operational Costs:
To build a food delivery app in UK, entrepreneurs need to minimize costs while achieving steady income growth. By connecting with a website development company in UK, start-ups can manage both aspects that revolve around controlling costs and generating profit.
Mobile app development for food startups offers a blend of advanced features that help manage investment costs.
How AI Improves Food Delivery Applications?
By 2025, the majority of businesses in the food delivery market will be leveraging artificial intelligence to drive higher growth. In the food delivery industry, AI-powered tools are bringing language inclusivity.
AI-powered bots and voice assistants are guiding consumers throughout the ordering process. Business owners and entrepreneurs should integrate AI into food ordering and delivery apps to streamline operations and enhance the user experience.
To overcome the competitive landscape of this industry, entrepreneurs must incorporate advanced artificial intelligence (AI). Leveraging personalized recommendations from food delivery app development companies helps unlock endless growth opportunities.
To launch a food delivery platform in the UK, leveraging AI-driven algorithms plays a crucial role for companies. AI is transforming the food delivery sector by allowing it to analyse delivery locations, real-time traffic, and roads.
Key Steps to Develop a Food Delivery App in the UK
Imagine being a business that fulfills the craving for the favorite meal of consumers. To make a food delivery app in the UK, you need to go through the following steps to have a clear overview.
To invest in the food delivery app market, start-ups need to connect with a food delivery app development company in the UK. Through this, they can leverage cutting-edge technology.
1. Market Research & Business Planning:
To start a food delivery app in UK, it is crucial to conduct thorough research. Understanding consumers’ needs and demands is essential, as this market is highly competitive.
You need to seek assistance from a mobile and web app development company to experience personalised recommendations and services from them.
Through this, expert advice can be obtained from dedicated developers, which helps increase the app’s visibility and scalability in the market.
Important Question |
| Why is market research necessary before development? |
| What tools can assist with market analysis? |
| How long should market research take? |
2. Legal and Regulatory Compliance (UK-specific):
To develop a food delivery app in UK, a UK food delivery app startup needs to understand that many UK food standard agency regulations are necessary.
Additionally, laws such as the GDPR and insurance are essential considerations when developing an app.
Food app development companies offer assistance to entrepreneurs in developing their app, taking into account critical UK-specific laws.
Important Question |
| Why is it important to consider legal and regulatory compliance in food app development? |
| What are the costs of legal and regulatory compliance? |
| Is legal and regulatory compliance necessary in app development? |
3. Select key features:
To make a food delivery app in UK, it is essential to focus on selecting innovative and advanced features.
Features like multiple payment options, order tracking, and a user-friendly interface help enhance consumer satisfaction. Consumer-friendly menu browsing, ratings, and reviews features enable entrepreneurs to serve consumers with the best.
However, in this case, taking assistance from a mobile app development company is crucial to undergo a step-by-step procedure to make an app.
Important Question |
| Why is selecting features necessary? |
| Does selecting features affect cost? |
| Is selecting features necessary in app development? |
4. Find a Reliable App Development Company
After selecting app features, the next step to launch a food delivery app in UK is to identify a reliable app development company.
By comparing app development companies based on expertise, experience, and reputation, you can find out the suitable one as per your needs.
Important Question |
| Why is finding a reliable app development company important? |
| What features are essential for a food delivery app? |
| How long does app development take? |
5. UX/UI Design:
Sketch, Axure, Framer, and Figma are reliable UI/UX design techniques that are beneficial. In this, designers create an accessible navigation system that enables users to experience app services easily.
Important Question |
| Why is a UX design important in a food delivery app? |
| What tools help in UX design? |
| How can you test UX early? |
6. Testing & Quality Assurance:
Testing and quality assurance are integral to identifying security issues, bugs, and complexities in the app. Experienced quality engineers assist in conducting testing of the app on various platforms, which incurs additional costs.
Important Question |
| What methodology is best for app development? |
| What features are essential for a pediatrics app? |
| How often should testing be done? |
7. Launch and post-launch services:
To start a food delivery app in the UK, entrepreneurs need to connect with the right mobile app development company to launch the app on the selected platforms such as Android and iOS.
This will facilitate start-ups in complying with trends and technologies that are constantly evolving. This stage helps resolve technical issues and add new features to develop a custom food delivery app.
Important Question |
| What are the platforms to launch an app? |
| Why are ongoing support and updates necessary after launch? |
| How often should updates be released? |
10 Popular Food Delivery Apps in the UK
You are just one click away from finding the best food delivery apps in the UK that offers mobile and app development services at a price-effective range.
App Name |
Rating ⭐ |
Launch Year |
Available Platforms |
| Just Eat | 4.6 | 2020 | Android, iOS |
| Deliveroo | 4.5 | 2016 | Android, iOS |
| Foodhub | 4.1 | 2017 | Android, iOS |
| Gopuff | 4.0 | 2013 | Android, iOS |
| Uber Eats | 3.7 | 2016 | Android, iOS |
| DoorDash | 4.8 | 2022 | Android, iOS |
| Takeaway.com | 4.1 | 2021 | Android, iOS |
| Bolt Food | 4.5 | 2019 | Android, iOS |
| Zappfresh | 4.3 | 2015 | Android, iOS |
| Postmates | 4.7 | 2011 | Android, iOS |
10 Basic and Advanced Features to Build a Food Delivery App
Advancements in the food delivery service industry have changed the basic model of delivering food to consumers. Consumers in this industry are expecting fast, reliable, and trusted services from apps.
To fulfill the needs and requirements of consumer groups, entrepreneurs must partner with reliable mobile and app development companies to incorporate valuable features into their applications.
1. Loyalty points
By adding loyalty points features to your app, you can experience a significant increase in app usage among consumers. This feature enables consumers to collect points that can be redeemed for discounts and free items.
Entrepreneurs can integrate loyalty points collection features by taking assistance from a mobile app development company, which helps attract consumers.
2. Security measures to protect customers’ banking information
To create a food delivery app for a restaurant, the Implementation of data encryption, GDPR compliance, and secure payments plays a crucial role.
Mobile and web app development companies integrate privacy and security features into apps, which help protect the banking and private information of consumers.
3. Payment integration and security
Protecting consumers’ payment history and banking card records plays an integral role. Secure payment gateways help ensure that all transactions between the app and users are safe.
By offering encrypted and protected payment, a food delivery app can protect the sensitive information of users. To launch food delivery platform in the UK, it is crucial to comply with security standards.
4. Push Notifications to send text messages.
Selecting the correct and accurate tech stack for food delivery app development is essential to develop a food delivery app in UK. This helps create a successful mobile app by leveraging a set of technologies, tools, and programming languages.
By collaborating with successful mobile and app development companies, start-ups and entrepreneurs can integrate push notifications that meet user satisfaction.
5. Simple Navigation
To start a Food Delivery App Business in the UK, it is crucial to create an app with a user-friendly experience that is free from complexities. To provide a seamless experience to users, it is essential to present app functionalities and features clearly and effectively.
6. AI-driven recommendations
To create a food delivery app for a restaurant, AI development companies integrate advanced AI-powered technologies that help start-ups and entrepreneurs gain wider popularity.
Success does not happen overnight, but with the right mobile and web app development company, you have cutting-edge technology in your app through which app users can experience AI algorithms to have personalized recommendations.
7. 24/7 customer support with chatbots and live agents
To start a food delivery service in UK, it is essential to increase user satisfaction gradually.
Live chat and chatbots enable the provision of real-time online support to users. Dedicated developers will integrate a chat window to help you connect with consumers.
8. Multiple Payment Options
It is essential to provide secure and multiple payment options to users, offering the finest on-demand experience for food app users. To launch a food delivery app in UK successfully, it is crucial to provide flexible payment options that help maximize convenience.
9. Real-Time Order Tracking
To efficiently launch a food delivery app in UK, transparent delivery and timely updates are crucial. This helps provide regular updates on delivery time, order progress, and delivery status.
10. Schedule orders in advance
To manage peak hours more efficiently, start-ups can partner with a leading mobile and web app development company to integrate the feature of scheduling orders in advance. This helps encourage pre-planned order sales.
The cost to build an Food Delivery app in the UK
To develop a custom food delivery app, several key factors must be taken into consideration. Elements such as UI/UX design, QA and testing, frontend development (iOS/Android), and more are among them. The breakdown of food delivery app development cost in Europe is stated.
App Type |
Estimated Cost |
Development Time |
| Basic MVP App | $8,000 – $12,000 | 2 – 3 Months |
| Standard App | $13,000 – $20,000 | 3 – 5 Months |
| Feature-Rich App | $20,000 – $25,000 | 5 – 6 Months |
| Custom Enterprise-Grade App | $26,000 – $30,000 | 6 – 8 Months |
6 Factors Affecting the Food Delivery App Development Cost in UK
Till now, you have discovered what features are essential to launch a food delivery app in UK through which you can attract a broader base of audience.
However, integrating features affects the cost of app development, as discussed below.
1. App Features and Complexity
A UK food delivery app startup needs to ensure that its app has both basic and advanced features, such as login, checkout, AI recommendations, loyalty programs, and more.
Analysis of these features, with the assistance of mobile and web app development companies, helps in managing future costs more effectively.
Feature Complexity |
Development Cost |
Timeline |
| Basic Listings & Search | $3,000 – $5,000 | 1 – 1.5 Months |
| Intermediate (Chat, Filters, Profile) | $6,000 – $10,000 | 2 – 3 Months |
| Advanced (AI, AR, Blockchain) | $6,000 – $10,000 | 3 – 4 Months |
2. Platform(s) Targeted
Selecting a suitable platform on which the app is going to be launched requires support from a reliable mobile app development company. This process facilitates smooth integration between developers and platform users.
Launching an app on platforms like Microsoft Windows, Apple iOS, and Android affects the cost, as it requires different development platforms, such as Android and iOS.
Feature Complexity |
Development Cost |
Timeline |
| iOS or Android only | $3,000 – $5,000 | 1 – 1.5 Months |
| Both (Native) | $6,000 – $10,000 | 2 – 3 Months |
| Cross-Platform | $6,000 – $10,000 | 3 – 4 Months |
3. UI/UX Design
The User Interface (UI) helps to add visual elements, icons, screens, toggles, and buttons to attract users. The integration of UI/UX design principles for food delivery apps enhances responsiveness, thereby maximizing users’ overall experiences.
However, having custom, responsive, and high-end interactive design will cost more, which affects the overall budget.
Feature Complexity |
Development Cost |
Timeline |
| Basic UI | $1,500 – $2,500 | 2 – 3 Weeks |
| Custom & Responsive UI/UX | $3,000 – $5,000 | 1 – 1.5 Months |
| High-End Interactive Design | $6,000 – $8,000 | 2 Months |
4. Third-Party Integrations
Third-party integration enables you to access features such as a third-party GPS tracking service, which helps maximize the delivery experience without requiring a mapping system.
These features impact cost, as they are related to several aspects of an app, including payment security and communication tools.
Feature Complexity |
Development Cost |
Timeline |
| Basic Backend (CRUD APIs) | $2,500 – $4,000 | 2 – 3 Weeks |
| Scalable Backend + DB | $5,000 – $8,000 | 1 – 1.5 Months |
| Third-party Integrations | $4,000 – $7,000 | 1 – 2 Months |
5. Testing & Quality Assurance
Online food ordering app UK can be significantly maximised with continuous testing and quality assurance. This helps you identify bugs that can affect the app’s effectiveness in the future.
This factor also encompasses elements such as security testing, functional testing, and performance testing, which impact the cost. Let’s find out the cost of testing and quality, which differs based on several factors.
Feature Complexity |
Development Cost |
Timeline |
| Manual Testing Only | $1,000 – $2,000 | 2 Weeks |
| Manual + Automated Testing | $2,000 – $4,000 | 3 – 4 Weeks |
| Advanced Testing + Security Audits | $4,000 – $6,000 | 1 Month |
6. Maintenance and Updates
Logistics and delivery management in food delivery apps involve delivering food to consumers’ doorsteps. After launch, ongoing updates and maintenance help fix bugs and integrate new updates.
This requires entrepreneurs to pay more to resolve issues. By investing more, they can enjoy 24/7 support to optimize app performance and stay ahead of market competition.
Feature Complexity |
Development Cost |
Timeline |
| Basic (Bug Fixes, Minor Updates) | $2,000 – $3,000 | Ongoing Monthly |
| Standard (Feature Updates, Monitoring) | $4,000 – $6,000 | Ongoing Monthly |
| Premium (24/7 Support) | $7,000 – $10,000 | Ongoing Monthly |
How To Make Money From Food Delivery Apps in the UK?
If you are planning to launch your food delivery app in the UK, you might be wondering how leading giants in this industry make money. Mentioned below are some food delivery app monetization models, explained through which money can be generated.
1. Delivery charges:
In a food delivery app, you can have a revenue model in the form of delivery fees from consumers. However, it differs based on order size, high demand, and peak hours.
2. Commission:
In your food delivery app, you can charge restaurant partners with the help of a commission-based business model. This also helps in having marketing support and more platform exposure in the market.
3. In-App Advertising:
Food delivery apps offer entrepreneurs an opportunity to partner with a brand to run their marketing campaigns. This is a low-effort method that allows you to earn money by displaying it.
4. Subscription Models:
UK food delivery app startup can generate revenue with subscription services, in which it can charge consumers for additional benefits. This is also beneficial way to earn money where you increase user satisfaction on the same hand.
Conclusion
According to the above analysis, it is concluded that the food delivery market in the UK is experiencing significant growth, making it an ideal time to invest in this industry. Through this blog, we have learned about the features, steps, and costs associated with building a food delivery app in the UK.
The cost to build a blog differs based on multiple factors, which you can easily find out from the above discussion.
If you are looking to develop a food delivery app in the UK, within budget, then you need to connect with reliable mobile and web app development companies to find out the best solution.
FAQs
Q.1 What’s the average cost of developing a food delivery app?
The average cost to develop a food delivery app ranges from $8,000 to $26,000. This cost depends on factors such as platform choice, third-party integrations, and technologies used.
Q2. How long does it take to build a food delivery app in UK?
The time required to build a food delivery app in UK takes approximately 2-3 months. It mainly depends on team size and complexity.
Q.3 What features are essential for food delivery apps in the UK?
There are several essential features, such as real-time tracking and secure payment options, restaurant search filters, an intuitive UI/UX, and more, that are necessary for your food delivery app.
Q.4 How do food delivery apps in the UK make money?
As an entrepreneur, you can earn revenue from a food delivery app in the form of subscription plans, delivery fees, commissions, and in-app advertising.
