How much does it cost to make an app like Postmates? By https://www.cleveroad.com/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-make-an-app-likepostmatesWe are living in a wonderful time. In a time when a food delivery app replaces a trip to the restaurant, when we can put the entire shop in our pocket having no need to go to an ordinary mall, when we can watch 3D movies without leaving a sofa. Digital products are no longer locked up in our devices. On the contrary, they extend beyond the screens and start moving forward, gradually catching up with the demand for physical services. It is a kind of evolution. This digital evolution gives us new products that, in turns, encourage the development of specialized delivery. That's because everyone wants to get their stuff as soon as possible and digital services open up new opportunities for that. A word about Postmates What is Postmate app? Actually, it is a courier service. The concept of goods delivery is not a new one. However, everything goes digital and our connectivity through the technologies allow to bring a new life to the logistic industry. That's what guys from California did. Having combined technologies with shipping, they got a digital version of on-demand delivery. Their distinctive feature is that everybody can have a try in working as a courier. All you need to do is to fill in a simple form on their app or website. Moreover, the presence of a vehicle is irrelevant since the company is ready to hire different people from pedestrian to van owner. Diving into features, the process of ordering is as simple as the app itself. After an order is made and paid for - one of the nearest to the place couriers accept it and start working. All the shipping details are straightened out directly with a user by means of a call or a text message. What's new? The company has managed to build a food delivery app creating well-paid workplaces with a flexible schedule and providing its users with doorstep delivery within 1 hour. Building the skeleton or MVP of your app The success of any app depends on the set of features it offers. Let's consider the primary components of the app, split them into features and find out an appropriate cost of Postmates. Sign up to get your food Registration is an integral part of majority apps. Especially, of those ones having built-in payment systems or in-app purchases. Modern apps could have a dozen ways to sign up - from ordinary login & password method to registration via social networks or phone number. Registration is not enough. Learn about new authentication methods that shape the future of mobile security Postmates did very smart step here. Since their business is currently working within the USA, they implemented an opportunity to register via the social network where 58% of Americans already have an account in - Facebook. Those ones without a profile there or a desire to link it with Postmates are welcome to register through the good old-fashioned email. Thus, they have saved some money on development. Before converting everything abovesaid into dollars, it is worth mentioning that the price fully depends on the number of development hours. Accordingly, the more methods you would like to add - the more money it will cost you. For our estimation, we will take an average price - $50 per hour. Basing on the Postmates methods we will get the following. Development hours: up to 125 hours Development cost: up to $6,250 Geolocate your food Creating an app connected with logistic, it is essential to conduct a proper work with maps and geolocation. You need to think through all the possible features allowing your users to make and track orders as convenient as possible.
Considering the example of Postmates, we can see that users are able to track their order immediately after the payment is made. To be exact, they see all the movements of a delivery guy even before the food was taken from the restaurant. Also, basing on the location this food delivery app calculates an approximate time needed to get to your place. This feature demands interaction with a built-in GPS chip in order to locate the courier by means of satellite data and keep calculating until the destination is reached. Worth to mention that tools for geolocation features differ depending on the platform. Android uses Google Maps while iOS - MapKit. Thus, development hours for it may vary a little. Development hours: 57 hours Development cost: $2,850 Pay for the goods The process of payment is vital for any on-demand service. It is in your best interest to provide users with a quick and convenient method to pay for their hamburgers and salads. However, integration of a payment system is a serious task since the safety of your users is at stake. In order to secure their transactions, it is necessary to follow data security standards and to be PCI DSS compliant. Is your project about selling something? Then learn more about the payment gateway integration If you are going to sell physical products, both Android and iOS platforms recommend using ready-made solutions like PayPal over building your own. It allows not only to apply trusted and secure gateway provider but also to cut on hundreds of development hours and reduce the cost of Postmates-like app as well. In Postmates there are several ways to pay for purchases - via credit card, Android Pay or Apple Pay. Keep in mind that you must think through the delivery fee. In the variety of apps, including Postmates, it depends on a distance. Also, let your users an opportunity to leave tips. All that needed to be paid for in one transaction. Development hours: 100 hours Development cost: $5,000 Get your food at a discount Discounts and different bonuses are always nice. Being a successful marketing trick for physical businesses, such things as gift cards and promo codes (also known as coupons) have gradually migrated to digital shopping. In delivery apps like Postmates, users may send promo codes to their friends. As a result, both sides get a free delivery. Such widespread thing in the world of shopping as gift cards are also present within the platform. Development hours: 6 hours Development cost: $300 Building additional features What does it mean? During the time of your app development, different situations may happen. Some problems with a budget or a lack of time to deliver a product are common practices in IT field. Thus, we have already discussed features forming the quinta essentia of this app and now let's consider those ones that are quite interesting but not vital. Share the heart of your app Do not be confused, I am talking about API. Roughly saying, it is a set of readymade code that can be adjusted to certain needs by developers and communicate with other programs. Practically each of delivery services like Postmates offers its own API versions with different aims. What is it for? Of course for mutually beneficial cooperation. Integrating an API of delivery service into someone's e-commerce product able to increase the number of orders for the one side and the number of purchases for the another.
Talking about Postmates' API, it is offering their delivery service within another company's website or an app. Among big companies using their delivery service with the help of API are Apple, Starbucks, Curbside, and others. How does it work? During the order process, users may choose in shipping details 'courier delivery'. That's it. Development hours: 350 hours Development cost: $17,500 Two apps are better than one Companies like Postmates should think not only about their end user but employees experience as well. Thus, they have implemented an assistant app for couriers. This app allows delivery guys accept or skip orders, inform clients when the order is taken and show the way to the destination. You may say that this is mandatory for such kind of a service and cannot be regarded as 'additional'. Well, you are right but in the case of a strict budget, the courier side of an app may be integrated into the main one. This way, you may cut on development hours for this feature. Does your project demand a lot of work with GPS? Then learn more about locationbased technologies in our related article However, talking about a separate app for this purpose, we got estimations that you can see underneath. Development hours: 110 hours Development cost: $5,500