"Order ahead" app to skip queues. How to validate the idea, and is it too large for a first-timer?
Hello,
I want to make an app that allows you to order food in advance, and pick it up when you're ready, i.e. to help you skip queues.
I'm confident I can make a working, visually impressive app. It's the business/marketing/business-model validation aspect that makes me unsure.
Things I've thought about:
- Limit it to my home town (At the beginning)
- Target it to students (It's a student town) and town residents
- Much easier to market to a smaller population
- Fairly small area, so less businesses to onboard (Might still be difficult)
- Offer to take good pictures of the food, put in their menu, etc. Make onboarding really simple
- No existing competitors in the area (Aside from Uber eats & delivery services)
- Would people use it? How to find out?
Should I contact local businesses, and see if they'd be interested in this product? How do I do market research on this?
Very new to all this -- still a student. Thanks for any help!
You mentioned you have Deliveroo. Here in Berlin we have Deliveroo and Foodra, which is Deliveroo in pink. I know for sure that Foodra has a order in advance/pick up service. Have you checked if deliveroo does not offer this in Australia?
I would go and talk to the businesses first. If they are willing to talk, that's a good start, and if they like the idea, then even better. I'm sure each conversation will strengthen not only your idea and proposal, but also your relationship with them - so it's a win-win!
Quick question to anyone reading this post (including the OP) : If you are an iPhone user, would you ever consider ordering food via FaceTime? Like a drive-thru but via FaceTime.
A quick yes/no reply would suffice. Thanks!
People have ordered food over the phone since before smartphones even existed. What benefit does video bring? I don't get the thought process sometimes.
You know how you see the other person's face during a FaceTime call. In this case however, you'd see the menu (and the POS display on the bottom). Do you see what I mean?
Just look the menu up on the website and then call? 10/10 this is not problem.
I hear you loud and clear.
What about for older folks?
You mean people who are even less inclined to use new fancy ways of doing things and more likely to just do it the way they always have?
Neat idea, but why does it have to be face-to-face? Can't it just be a phonecall? That way I don't need to look good, and they don't need a webcam.
There are certainly many services like that already; I was just in a coffee shop today that offers this. So, at least there's a market.
How will you differentiate? E.g., lower fees than GrubHub/Seamless, no need for the restaurant to have an ipad, easier setup, student discount, etc?
We don't have GrubHub/Seamless where I am (Australia). We do have Uber Eats & Deliveroo (food delivery services), but they're not "order-ahead" services -- just delivery.
So to differentiate, we just offer an order-ahead service. We'd possibly constrain it to easy takeout food (coffee, snacks, small-to-medium meals) initially, to make things easier.
Should I email local business to see if there's any interest, or should I build an MVP first?
100% talk to businesses before coding. Remember it's a two-sided market place so you also need to talk to the people who would be ordering ahead. Does it actually solve a pain point of either of those parties?