It is a known fact that 3rd party food ordering apps like Zomato, Swiggy &amp; Uber Eats have become the first choice of people looking to order food online. And while these 3rd party apps are a good platform for gaining exposure to new groups of audiences, but they also have 2 major disadvantages. One, extremely high commissions, and the second one poor customer retention.&nbsp;
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High Commissions
One of the most significant disadvantages of working with 3rd party food aggregators is the high margin that it takes from individual restaurants per order. These 3rd party apps charges anywhere between 10%-35%* of each order depending on the service provided and the area and hence is difficult for the restaurants to do the business. These 3rd party apps might give you more visibility and a good volume of orders, but&nbsp;what matters at the end of the day is - REVENUE.
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Poor Customer Retention
Since there is an endless variety to choose from, customers ordering from 3rd party apps will not actively look forward to ordering with the same restaurant again. So, 3rd party aggregators do little in the way of customer retention.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586329189.jpeg" />
A restaurant cannot possibly earn back the investment they made in acquiring a customer with just one order. It will at least take a few orders from a single customer before they recoup the original marketing expense that made the customer order.
Even though, restaurants have been giving out huge discounts on 3rd party platforms in the hope that it will encourage new customers to try out the food and expecting that a good percent of them will come back and convert into regulars. But will any restaurant be willing to have their entire customer base come out of 3rd party apps? Not in their wildest dreams.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586329168.jpeg" />
And, while more discounts are offered by the restaurants, there is no bearing on the reduction of commissions. The visibility is the barter offered by aggregators to provide more visibility and in turn generate more orders.
Get Your Own Customized App
While having a presence on such 3rd party online food ordering platforms helps you increase your reach, it is always good to have your own <a title="Zero Commission Online Ordering for Restaurants" href="https://www.uengage.in/online-food-ordering-website" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zero Commission Online Ordering for Restaurants</a> that will let your customers order food online. Know why?
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586329299.jpeg" />
1.) You don't have to share profits or pay any commission to 3rd party food aggregators.&nbsp;
2.) You can give a discount on the first order varying from&nbsp;10&ndash;15% to motivate your customers to try your app.
3.) You can come up with app-only specials exclusive for your app customers.&nbsp;
4.) All the customer data is captured while ordering from your brand app. Thus, you can market directly to them. You can reach out to the customer directly on their birthdays &amp; anniversaries or send them push notifications regarding festival offers.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586329338.jpeg" />
Of course, a restaurant cannot expect business from day one on the app. Building the audience on the app is a slow and steady process, but it&rsquo;s worth every minute of your time in the long run.
Uengage develops android and iOS apps for restaurants, such that you can build your brand and increase customer retention.&nbsp;With no percentage commissions, you can save&nbsp;1000s of rupees each month by converting 3rd party app customers to your mobile app customers.

Create a successful food ordering app with uEngage. Get expert tips to build a platform that drives sales and enhances customer experience. Start today!

Reduce The Commissions And build Your Own Food Ordering App

Reduce The Commissions Of 3rd Party Food Ordering Apps

The significance of a well-crafted brand app can't be overplayed in today&rsquo;s digital-driven landscape. The development and promotion of a brand app have become a crucial element of an efficient &amp; effective brand marketing strategy. As businesses strive to fabricate a distinctive online presence, the role of mobile apps has become utterly important as they allow customers to interact with brands. Therefore, in this article by <a href="https://www.uengage.in/">uEngage</a>, we will tell you about the Top 6 Effective Strategies For Building Your Brand App.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1697607754.jpeg" alt="Top 6 Effective Strategies For Building Your Brand App" width="800" height="600" />
<h2>Why Building Your Brand App is Important</h2>
Before telling you the Top 6 Effective Strategies For Building Your Brand App, it is crucial to understand that why building your own brand app is crucial. Mobile apps are fast overtaking websites as a means for raising greater revenues and profits in aggressively competitive spaces such as restaurants and food service. Mobile apps are being adopted by a fast-growing number of customers, especially in the food ordering/ delivery space, because of the following reasons:
<ol>
<li>It is easy to use and navigate &ndash; a few clicks, taps, and swipes will do the job</li>
<li>It is portable and mobile &ndash; orders can be placed from anywhere, at any time, and for anyone by the customer</li>
<li>It offers comfort &ndash; Menus, offers, etc. are at the customers&rsquo; fingertips, several payment options exist and the food gets delivered to their doorstep without the hassle of interaction, miscommunications, etc.</li>
</ol>
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586327709.jpeg" alt="Why Building Your Brand App is Important" width="450" height="450" />
When small/ medium/ local offline food service/ restaurant businesses develop and maintain a dedicated brand app, instead of depending on purely offline business/ mobile and telephone for orders/ aggregator platforms and third-party portals, they stand to gain a wider reach in a cost-effective manner and direct access to customers without having to worry about losing potential orders to competitors.
Also Read: <a href="https://www.uengage.in/spotlight/benefits-of-food-delivery-app-for-restaurants">Top 5 Benefits of Brand App in the Competitive Food World</a>
<h2>Top 6 Effective Strategies For Building Your Brand App</h2>
The ever-changing digital world and technological advancements have completely changed the way people interact with brands. Thus, mastering the art of creating a unique and effective brand app that meets the audience's requirements has become a must. So, stay with us till the end to find out about the Top 6 Effective Strategies For Building Your Brand App:
<h3>#1 Focus On Creating Value</h3>
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586327717.jpeg" alt="Focus On Creating Value" width="450" height="450" />
Before building the brand app for your restaurant/ food service business, you must assess what are the pain points for customers and core challenges for you that you are looking to solve using the app. For instance, is it a single platform to take pre-orders, make reservations, order food, get offers, etc.? Do you lose customers to competitors on aggregator platforms? Are you seeking faster ordering and delivery and expanding your customer base? Are you looking to amplify your brand voice? Once you have clarity on pain points and core challenges, strategize on how to address these and create greater value for the customers and your business. &nbsp;
The mobile app is a powerful tool to help build trust and relationships with customers and nurture customer loyalty. Annoying notifications, junk, irrelevant content/ notifications/ offers, etc. will only make the customer uninstall and block your app. So, ensure that your app is creating great value for the customer. Provide only relevant and customized push notifications, engaging content, and compelling offers to prod them to come back for more. For such reasons, focusing on creating value is listed at the first place among the Top 6 Effective Strategies For Building Your Brand App.
<h3>#2 Emphasis on Customer Experience</h3>
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586327724.jpeg" alt="Emphasis on Customer Experience" width="450" height="450" />
Focus on crafting unique, seamless, and cohesive customer experiences through the app. Customization, automation, integrated and speedy processes, live support through conversational bots, rider tracking, customer feedback collection, etc. are indispensable components to include. Such tactics will enhance the customer experience and also improve the brand's goodwill in the market.
<h3>#3 Focus On Functionality And Ease-of-use </h3>
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586327731.jpeg" alt="Focus On Functionality And Ease-of-use" width="450" height="450" />
Focusing on the functionality and ease of use is next up among the Top 6 Effective Strategies For Building Your Brand App. While it is tempting to concentrate on elaborate designs and colors, functionality and ease of use are most important. Some points to keep in mind:
<ol>
<li>Focus on creating a user-friendly, hassle-free, and easy-to-navigate User Interface (UI).</li>
<li>Keep the designs clean, crisp, and non-distracting.</li>
<li>Integrate filters but not too many. Remember that the idea is to make the choice easier for the customer, not hard. Include filters such as location (if you have multiple locations), price, course classification (starters, main, rice, bread, dessert, signature dishes, etc.), meat/veg, etc.</li>
<li>Include mouth-watering photos of your dishes. Try to include simple descriptions of the dishes.</li>
</ol>
<h3>#4 Some Features That You Cannot Miss </h3>
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Apart from the strategies mentioned above in the article, there are few crucial features that you cannot afford to miss as a brand. These are:
<ol>
<li>Have <a title="https://www.uengage.in/digital-checkin-app" href="https://www.uengage.in/digital-checkin-app" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Check-in App</a></li>
<li>Live order tracking and customer support are a must.</li>
<li>Integrate your loyalty rewards and referral programs into your app.</li>
<li>Integrate easy payment options including a secure payment gateway.</li>
<li>Let your app reflect your unique brand voice.</li>
<li>Simple customer feedback forms</li>
<li>Collecting performance analytics is a must</li>
<li>Integrate social media platforms on the app and coax customers to post on their social media to give you organic reach.</li>
</ol>
<h3>#5 Ensure You Get The Best ROI</h3>
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586327745.jpeg" alt="Ensure You Get The Best ROI" width="450" height="450" />
Achieving the best ROI (Return on Investment) is of greatest importance in brand app development. Thus, brands need to prioritize those features that especially align with the brand's essence while keeping development costs in check.
<h3>Build Your Brand App with uEngage and Attain Success</h3>
With subscription-based platforms like Uengage, it is feasible and cost-effective for small and medium businesses to build, operate and maintain their own dedicated app for food ordering. You save on hefty commissions that third-party portals and aggregator platforms charge, you get direct access to customers and maximize your reach, sales and profits. You also save immensely on having an in-house tech team as platforms like Uengage has an entire team of tech experts working on the technology part of the app while you can focus on your core business. Try <a title="uEngage Edge" href="https://www.uengage.in/edge">uEngage Edge</a> and attain success in the digital realm.

Building your brand app is a challenging task. So, here are the Top 6 Effective Strategies For Building Your Brand App of your restaurant explained by uEngage.

Top 6 Effective Strategies For Building Your Brand App

While the nation is battling the sudden lockdown with the intent of practicing and ensuring&nbsp;social distancing,&nbsp;the concerns over gathering essential items and groceries&nbsp;have continued.&nbsp;But now we can ease our worries a bit. &nbsp;
For resolving the delivery of essential services during the 21 day lock-down Uengage has taken up the onus and developed an essentials delivery platform for Govt of Punjab with emphasis on the stay at home. This would not only discourage venturing out of the houses but also limit the spread of Coronavirus/Covid-19 by sending all the essentials at your doorstep.
&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586155498.png" alt="test" width="450" height="450" />
How Does This Work? 
For Customers/ Citizens: Daily Needs Ordering App Embedded in Punjab Govt Cova App
For District Administration:&nbsp; Onboarding and Management Dashboard 
For Shops: Order Management and Catalogue Management Dashboard
For Delivery Rider: Rider App for order Tracking (android only)&nbsp;
&nbsp;
For Shops
Download &amp; Register - Shops have to download Cova Punjab Android/IOS App and register as an authorized shop by filling all required fields such as Business Details, Essentials Categories, and Rider Details. 
Manage Operations - Once the shop is approved by District Administration, the shop can login to Uengage dashboard to manage operations such as accepting and rejecting online orders, add menu items or mark out of stock, manage rider details and status, access customers data, and more. 
Manage and Track Riders - Shop can add/manage riders from the backend dashboard and can allocate multiple orders to the same rider. The shop can also view/track rider location via real-time GPS tracking from the Dashboard. In case the rider is disabled or removed, the rider will be forced logout from the app to ensure security.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586155521.png" />
For District Administration
Approve/ Reject Application - District Administration can view all submitted forms in their respective logins and can reject/approve the application. 
Create Store - Further, the approved application will create the store in the system and send login details to shop owners over SMS.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586155531.png" />
For Customers/ Citizen
Download &amp; Register - Customers can download Cova Punjab Android/IOS App and select the nearest store using options like - City level, Locality level, or Store locator.&nbsp;
Add items - After selecting the nearest store, the customer can add the items to be delivered in the cart and choose from the Delivery or Self-Pickup Option. 
Features - For the ease of customers Uengage has designed the app with features like &ndash; High-speed menu loading, Item &amp; section images, advanced search option, separate popular sections &amp; items, active order tracking, saving multiple delivery addresses, item-level GST calculation, and many more.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586155541.png" />
Add Address - After adding the items in the cart, the app would auto-select the added address or last used address and will calculate delivery charges through automatic distance calculation for delivery radius. 
Cart Flow - A list of promo codes if applicable would be visible on the cart screen. There would also be a special instructions box on the same screen, in case someone wants to make a delivery time request or any other request. The app would also prompt for minimum order value and minimum order value for the free delivery option. 
Payment Options - After ticking the delivery address confirmation box, customers can place the order and can initiate the payment for the orders via any of the preferred payment modes - Online payment or COD.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586155550.png" />
SMS Alert - The customer will receive an SMS alert on placing the order and a separate SMS alert when the order is accepted or rejected. 
Track Order - The customer can also track their order/rider delivering the order in real-time and the delivery status of their order.&nbsp;
OTP Based Delivery Confirmation - The customer will receive an OTP and has to furnish the same to the rider on the delivery of the order. 
Contact Numbers&nbsp; -&nbsp; The outlet contact numbers based on the order placed will be available in case of any feedbacks or queries.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586327467.jpeg" />
For Riders 
Download &amp; Register - Riders have to download the Rider App on their android devices. 
Availability - Rider can switch on/off his availability&nbsp;
Real-time GPS Tracking of Rider Location - Shop can view/track rider location from the dashboard and also the customer can track the delivery status of the order. &nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://static.uengage.in/uploads/1/image-1586155572.png" />
During this time of lockdown, when everyone has limited access to local shops, Uengage is not only offering convenient deliveries of all essential goods but is also helping every citizen in the fight against the unseen reasons for spreading the virus.

To smooth the supply of critical services amidst the COVID-19 lockdown, Uengage built a delivery system for Punjab government. Get Cova Punjab app now.

Blogs By uEngage

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Reduce The Commissions Of 3rd Party Food Ordering Apps

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How Uengage Has Developed Essentials Delivery Platform For Govt Of Punjab During Coronavirus Crisis

Enable Your Restaurant's Online Ordering For Free, Without Any Commission

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Enabling Local Businesses with Subscription Based Technology Solutions

The World is Talking About uEngage

“uEngage becomes the first tech platform from Chandigarh to join ONDC,” marking a regional and tech-first milestone.

“uEngage is liberating F&B sellers from the high-commission trap,” reports Inc42, spotlighting how the platform empowers owners to save costs and boost margins.

“Chandigarh‑based uEngage aims to be Shopify for restaurants in India…,” notes Entrackr, positioning uEngage as a unified platform for F&B brands. Hindustan

“uEngage becomes the first tech platform from Chandigarh to join ONDC,” marking a regional and tech-first milestone.

“uEngage is liberating F&B sellers from the high-commission trap,” reports Inc42, spotlighting how the platform empowers owners to save costs and boost margins.

“Chandigarh‑based uEngage aims to be Shopify for restaurants in India…,” notes Entrackr, positioning uEngage as a unified platform for F&B brands. Hindustan

“uEngage becomes the first tech platform from Chandigarh to join ONDC,” marking a regional and tech-first milestone.

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