Creating a Food Ordering Application Research Paper

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This report is the first of four parts when it comes to a broader proposal. The proposal is for a mobile application for smartphones and tablets that is going to be called Pocket Chef. That application will allow someone to input various foods that are in the refrigerator or pantry of a homeowner. Those base ingredients are then synthesized and analyzed. The recipes that can be crafted using those ingredients are then supplied to the user. Before getting into more of the specifics of this application such as how it will be crafted, how it will be managed, and how it will otherwise come to exist and function, there will first be a focus on the wider industry in question. The questions that will be answered include when the relevant genre emerged, when the genre started, how useful or “essential” the applications and services are held to be, how large the genre has become, how many users are currently in the relevant paradigm, the forecasting that exists when it comes to the future, and the overall sales volume that exists both historically and presently. A small collection of charts and graphs will be used to drive home and explain the statistics and facets of the industry.

2.1 The Emergence of The Genre

Before getting into the details noted in the introduction, it is important to note that the food services mobile app industry is rather expansive and varied. It can range from the apps of particular restaurants to the apps of delivery services of facilitators such as GrubHub, UberEats and so forth. It can include apps for food networks (e.g. Food Network) or it can include those of celebrity chefs (e.g. Rachel Ray). A lot of the time, there can be a blurring of the proverbial lines between one or more of those examples. For example, McDonald’s food can be delivered through a blend of Uber and McDonald’s. Another example would be cross-promotion between certain apps and certain celebrities. Before looking at the food industry in particular, it would be wise to look at the mobile app industry as a whole. 91% of the adult population in the United States owns a cellular phone. Of that, 61% own smartphones. The number of units out there at least doubles that of personal computers. The aggregate market is about 268 billion app downloads with there being about $77 billion in total revenue. Just over half of all app users have not paid for apps. However, 46 percent of users have reported being willing to pay for apps or have already done so. These apps normally go for five dollars or less. In some instances, the apps cost $20 or more, although less than a fifth of all users have been willing to spend that much. The most commonly used types of apps include search/portals (e.g. Google), entertainment, communication, commerce/shopping and productivity tools 1.

2.2 Historical and Projected Sales

It is slightly different than what Pocket Chef will be designed to be, but the mobile food app industry is growing quite large. The UberEats (and similar) industry, by itself, is mushrooming in size and scope. It is to the point that it can cause a restaurant to be “left behind” if they are not making use of the mobile revolution. There has been a tremendous growth in online food delivery and ordering. The industry has been growing at a steady pace of 3.5 percent annually over the past five years. This trend is projected to continue in the next five years with most orders being placed over the weekends. Online food ordering is projected to be a $38 billion industry by 2020 [endnoteRef:1]. There are already situations where a tenth of all food sold at a given chain is from mobile ordering of some sort. The mobile ordering can enable and facilitate delivery (e.g. UberEats). It can also be pre-ordering so that the food or drink is ready to go when the person arrives rather than having to arrive and then order. Starbucks and Pizza Hut are examples of firms that are doing just that. This is not a huge adjustment for firms that have done delivery in some form for quite a while. The just-mentioned example of Pizza Hut would be an example. However, it is something that is fairly new to some firms. Starbucks would be an example of that [endnoteRef:2]. [1: Clifford, C. (2014). By 2017, the App Market Will Be a $77 Billion Industry (Infographic).[online] Entrepreneur. Available at: https://www.

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entrepreneur.com/article/236832 [Accessed 17 Feb. 2018].] [2: Taylor, K. (2016). The biggest change in fast food isn't about food — and it should terrify chains that can't keep up. [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/mobile-orderings-major-fast-food-impact-2016-4 [Accessed 17 Feb. 2018].]

Based on the survey that we conducted, 60 percent of the people interviewed indicated they are willing to use an app that offers suggestions for what they can cook from what they currently have in their fridge or pantry [endnoteRef:3]. In comparison, the number of people who would rather order take out or eat out because they do not know what they can cook is 71 percent. This is a clear demonstration of the potential for having a phone app like Pocket Chef. With the numbers we have identified, the usage of the app is estimated to grow on a monthly basis as the popularity of the app increases. Therefore, we project that sales for additional products offered by our partners are likely to increase. Partnering with stores like Walmart or other grocery stores will ensure that users have an easy way for accessing and purchasing some of the ingredients that would be suggested for complimenting what they currently have in their fridge or pantry. Although there is potential to increase revenue for the company by having in app advertisements, it has been noted in the past that these advertisements have the potential to put off users. Therefore, we propose that we will only have non-intrusive advertisements for complementing the user’s current groceries. This way we can always have the app being free and still get revenue by offering suggestions that users will be more willing to accept than would be possible with intrusive advertisements. The advertisements will be charged on a per-click basis, and also get a commission for directing users to the store. [3: Wypychowski, Calvin. “Pocket Chef.” Survey. 8 March 2018]

Figure 2.0 Survey Response

Wypychowski, Calvin. “Pocket Chef.” Survey. 8 March 2018

Figure 2.1 Survey Response

Wypychowski, Calvin. “Pocket Chef.” Survey. 8 March 2018

Sales for the food app genre do not lie on selling the app, but rather on offering additional services and advertisements. Historical data has shown that selling the application results in decreased number of users, and this would not be a viable option for Pocket Chef. With an aim to promote healthy eating, Pocket Chef will have nutritional information integrated into its app and this is beneficial in increasing the number of users. Advertising for healthy options and meals that can be prepared using what a user currently has will be beneficial to the growth and increase in number of users. Considering that a majority of other applications do not have a comprehensive recipe generator, Pocket Chef could benefit by filling this void.

2.3 Implications for Mobile Food Services

With that in mind, there are plenty of people that are of the “foodie” persuasion. This can obviously include people that like to dine out. However, there are plenty of others that like to use their mobile devices and apps to make their own food. This could be something that they saw Rachel Ray or the people on The Chew prepare. It can also be something that takes advantage of what food and ingredients are on hand rather than necessitating more food being bought. This keeps pantry and refrigerator contents efficient and it saves times. This is where Pocket Chef comes in. There are a lot of people that are pushed for time or money due to other commitments or limitations. There are also people that are just curious what they can make with their favorite ingredients. Regardless, the depth and breadth of what is currently being offered, not to mention what is to come, is important to explore and review in terms of industry, current trends and so forth.

Statistics have shown that once users sign up for a particular platform they rarely leave for another platform. Therefore, there is need to ensure that Pocket Chef is able to drive users to its app from other apps. Users already using other platforms will be more willing to try out something different, which Pocket Chef will be offering. Going from the traditional food app platform, to a platform that interacts with what the user currently has will be more appealing and thee app can grow its number by over 80% in the first month of launching. The speed for delivering recipes will be….....

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