Why are grocery apps like Instashop in high demand during the COVID-19 outbreak?

With the availability of millions of software development companies around the world, developing an application for your company has become a bit of a far-fetched task for companies. But there is no simple answer to reveal the cost of developing an application like Instashop, as it depends on various factors and functionalities of the application.

Let’s understand certain things in this post to determine how much it will cost to develop a grocery app like Instashop….

Whether you want to start your grocery business online or create an online presence for your grocery store, developing a grocery app like Instashop has become an urgent need of the moment for grocery businesses of all sizes. , especially in this serious outbreak of COVID-19.

WHY?

Let’s get to the reality behind the growing demand for grocery apps these days:

The number of adult grocery app users in the US is steadily increasing and is projected to reach 30.4 million in 2022 from 12 million in 2017.

(Image source: https://www.emarketer.com/content/grocery-app-usage-to-grow-nearly-50-in-2018)

According to the forecast of the IRI report , it is revealed that 55% of people in the age group of 25 to 34 years buy food online, 45% of people of 34 to 45 years do the same and only 35% of People in that age group 45 to 54 years prefer to buy online through an application.
72% of consumers think that buying food through a store is easier than buying from a general store.

(Image source: https://www.go-globe.hk/shopping-apps-usage/)

63% of smartphone users choose to buy from apps or sites that suggest relevant products or services that users may be interested in buying.
60% of smartphone users communicate directly with businesses by following the call-to-action buttons in the app.
With the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the US, grocery apps like Instacart, Walmart Grocery, Shipt, and others, including Instashop, with approximately 20,000+ downloads daily, have seen a surprising increase in downloads by 218. %, 160% and 124% respectively every day.

(Image source: https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/16/grocery-delivery-apps-see-record-downloads-amid-coronavirus-outbreak/)

Instashop Grocery App Overview

Instashop is a leading grocery app launched in April 2016, with the simple goal of allowing users to buy their groceries from home and get their products delivered by the trusted local supermarket in an average delivery time of 45 minutes depending on their Location. From browsing the extensive product categories to placing a final order in 3 clicks and reordering products, users can manage everything in this app by simply tapping on their mobile screen.

Quick highlights of this app:

Design with over 20 grocery product categories ranging from everyday essentials to prepaid refill cards.
Arrange product deliveries at the door in one hour, and that’s your promise.
Offering additional services to deliver organic food at home, house cleaning and medications upon request.
Compatible to run on both operating platforms, including Android and iOS.
Secure and flexible payment options for Credit Card, online payment through wallet or COD.
24 * 7 product delivery
Payment refund or product replacement in case of any damaged product.
Let’s facilitate the understanding of the basic processing of this application through a simple image:

For the users:

User- Registration Page- Navigation Categories- Shortlisted Products- Order Online- Make Payments

For providers:

Vendor (Register and list your products on the site) – Online grocery store – Administrator (Manage orders and receive payments) – Transfer payment – Vendor

Applications like Instashop keep the operation of the application simple and easy for users. In addition, the Instashop working model is enriched with various filters and search options that allow users to find exactly what they are looking for without problems.

There are a number of outsourcing software development companies available overseas that can help you tailor the solution based on your business goals and product line to help you reach your target audience in real time.

What are the must-have features of the Instashop Grocery app?

Mobile app downloads are reported to be steadily increasing with each passing year and are projected to reach 258 billion in 2022 from 178 billion in 2017.

(Image source: https://mindsea.com/app-stats/)
Now the question is what standard features do you need to integrate into an application to make it stand out in the industry?

Creating an application like Instashop is not as easy as understanding the business model of the leading applications and creating the replica for your business. To win the battle or capture the largest section of the market, you need to add a few additional ingredients to your recipe. And, by choosing mobile app development services , you can easily minimize the hassle of integrating the right choice of features into your app.

Let’s analyze the essential features that

Since the primary goal of creating an app during this COVID-19 pandemic is to provide convenience and shopping efficiency to users, here are the few important features that your grocery app required:

Rica UI / UX

No matter how brilliant your app idea is, if it doesn’t reach your target audiences, or if users will have a hard time navigating, keep in mind that your business is at stake. UI / UX design is the lifeblood of your application. Following the structure of grocery apps like Instashop, they have the simplest, cleanest, and easiest-to-navigate user interface (UI) that enhances the user experience. It allows users to register or log into the application without any hassle.

A strong backend

Even the best apps on this planet don’t work without a powerful backend. It is just the backend admin panel of the app that allows your app to run in sync and have full control to manage stock and app functionality.

Simple sorting of products

To ensure a smooth shopping experience for customers and make your application a high-order application, it is important to classify products in various fields. It will help users to choose the required products quickly by simply tapping the respective button.

Multiple payment gateways

To provide the ease of instant and secure payment transaction to users, it is important to include various payment methods in your application. Second, in the event of payment default and the amount has been deducted from the customer’s account, there is a provision to refund an amount to users on their account.

Some advanced features you should know

Push notification: keep your customers updated with the latest offers, stock discounts added to your store through push notifications in your app. Use this feature wisely though, as users are likely to uninstall your app if they get notifications from your store within a day.

Flexibility to choose delivery time: Allow your customers to place orders in line with their choice of time, location and delivery date. This feature will add immense shopping convenience for users.

Voice Search Option – Whether you hire iOS app developers or use an in-house team of developers, make sure to develop an app with the latest AI technologies and allow your customers to purchase items using the voice search command . Integrating advanced search options into your application will help you quickly purchase the correct product option.

Add Items to Card Without Leaving: Enhance customers’ product shopping and browsing experience by allowing them to quickly add products to the cart without leaving the current page. This will help customers to add the maximum number of products without bothering to revisit to add a few more items to the cart.

Multilingual Installation: Instead of targeting the local market, take your application to the global level simply by integrating the multilingual function into your application.

Loyalty Program – Make sure your app offers redeemable reward points on every purchase to keep them engaged with your app for longer. You can also start a feature to earn additional loyalty points by sharing the app with friends.

What are the benefits of having an app like Instashop for your business?

According to the survey, there are multiple touch points that provide various opportunities for shopkeepers to directly engage users or buyers with the app and be able to expand their business to the next level.

The graphic mentioned below clearly reflects how grocery apps are gaining importance and connecting shoppers and retailers through the app.

(Image source: https: //www.emarketer.com/content/grocery-apps-grow-in-importance)

Another CNBC report says that online grocery sales will hold 20% of the market by 2025.
Second, currently 3 out of 5 grocery shoppers search for coupons on their mobile devices before going to the store, while half of them use mobile apps to shop at the store.
Create direct contact with users: With the help of an app, retailers can create a virtual grocery store for their business and reduce the need to rent a store. This will allow them to contact the users of the application directly and save an amount on renting a store.
Build a strong customer relationship – Launching an app with the ability to submit a review or feedback will help you connect with users and allow you to collect more data. With the help of an online application, you can get direct feedback from customers and be able to implement changes in your virtual store to improve the image of your business.
Hiring the Android application development company is the easiest way to design and develop your application in real time. However, for you to rank first in the competition, you need to know several things that will help you build a great grocery app in 2021.

Here are some points to keep in mind before hiring Android app developers:

Understand what kind of grocery app you want for your business: Aggregator app, Marketplace app, Individual store app, Grocery Chains app, or custom grocery apps.
Establish your target audience: local market or global market.
Determine exactly what your users want access to in your application and design the application accordingly.
Integrate basic and advanced functions to enhance the functionality of your application.
Think about your app monetization strategy to get the most out of your grocery app.
Set the budget for your application development.
The cost of any application depends entirely on the features and technologies that you integrate to develop an application.

The price of the development of the application depends mainly on the factors mentioned below:

What mobile app quality are you looking for?

How complex is your application idea?

How long will it take to develop an application like Instashop?

Will it be a native, hybrid or cross-platform application?

-Better frameworks for developing native applications : JavaScript for Android applications and C ++ / Objective for iOS applications

-Popular frameworks for developing cross-platform applications : Flutter is the best framework choice after React Native.

-Frameworks for hybrid applications : Ionic and Phonegap.

The skills and experience of the application development team (Project Manager, App Developers, Designers, QA Tester, Delivery Manager)

Final note:

To end this article, it’s worth asking yourself whether an app like Instashop is worth launching during this COVID-19 outbreak. The simple answer is YES!

Rather, the time has come to go to market with the grocery custom mobile app not only to capture the largest segment of the market, but also to provide the much-needed convenience of shopping for basic staples without ever leaving homes.

When it comes to grocery app cost and features, I recommend that you contact a software development company who will discuss your requirements, determine your business realities and budget limits, and then let you know the exact cost of application development and time.