The pandemic in 2020 left the economy in debt and losses. Whether it is the retail or restaurant industry, it affected them all. With the lockdown imposed in almost every country, the outbreak caused restaurant visitors to stay home. The dine-in option was removed, but the expenses remained the same. For the restaurants to cope-up with the new normal and boost their profits, they adopted digital ways.
Some restaurants offered takeaway options and contactless deliveries and shifted their paradigm towards the cloud kitchen.
Cloud kitchen, also known as Ghost kitchen, is specially designed for deliveries and take-out orders. It helps restaurant owners to focus on quality food with less investment, effort, time, and resources.
Read the blog, as it offers complete information on how the cloud kitchen works and why you must develop an app for the same.
Difference between a Cloud and a Conventional Kitchen
To begin with a conventional restaurant, you must have good capital to invest in, an attractive place, different marketing strategies, and a lot of staff that includes chefs, managers, and more. A good infrastructure, ambiance, and furniture are a must to attract the right customers. It indicates that a conventional kitchen requires a lot of investment, resources, and time.
But when it comes to cloud kitchens, you do not need any such kind of investment. Cloud kitchen requires minimal staff, and you can operate it with minimum investment. Switching to a cloud kitchen ensures less stress and less rent, and maximizes your revenue!
A glance at the few statistics
- During the pandemic, bars, and restaurants were closed because of health and safety issues to customers.
- In the year 2020, restaurant diners declined by around 50.31 percent.
- The third-party apps would charge extra for the orders, so consumers prefer to order directly from restaurants.
- Online food delivery is expected to grow by a 16% annual compound rate within the next five years.
- As per USB reports, the online food delivery market is expected to grow 10 times in the coming years, from $35 billion to $365 billion in 2030.
How does Cloud Kitchen Operate?
Starting your cloud kitchen and the steps included can be categorized into different categories. Let’s go through all the steps and understand the operations of cloud kitchen:
1. Accept orders through Phones
It is the first step towards the proper functioning of the cloud kitchen. Either you need to have your app or register with other aggregators like Zomato, Swiggy, and more. Collaborating with popular aggregators allow your platform to gain popularity instantly, and once it gets a reputable name, you can have your app.
It is vital to create an app with simple UI/UX. So that users do not face issues while operating the app.
2. Preparation of food
Once the app is finalized, it comes to the menu. Fixing your menu is crucial, and you must focus on your customer's likes and behavior for the same. A proper market analysis will help you resolve that issue. Stocking up the stuff and inventory management is other requirements that help in the seamless preparation of food.
Ensure to hire the best chef and do not compromise the quality of food. Follow all the hygiene protocols because it is not to be compromised.
3. Food Packaging
Packaging is another crucial aspect that helps in your customer retention. Ensure that you use proper airtight containers and bags that make the order looks clean and tidy. Also, this helps to keep the food warm and fresh. A good presentation of the food always makes your customers happy, and they will get back to you always!
4. Food Delivery
After finalizing the packaging, you need to partner with the delivery agents who are responsible & help your parcel to deliver on time.
Benefits offered by Cloud Kitchen
1. No Risk on Investment
As already discussed above, unlike conventional kitchens, cloud kitchens do not require any hefty investment. So there is no risk associated. It allows you to save money on your staff, rental costs, furniture, and many other resources. That is why it is considered the best business idea for startups.
2. Expansion Opportunities
As the cloud kitchen does not require much investment, you can focus on the exciting and unique menu options to develop a vast and loyal customer base. Therefore, within a less period, you can expand your business over different cities. Besides, employing a menu maker enables the efficient crafting and customization of menus to suit various locations, preferences, and target demographics, thus facilitating effortless expansion and scalability for your restaurant.
3. No Overhead Expense
The overhead cost of hiring waiters, managers, and other essential staff is reduced, which helps in the easy management of the kitchen. With the decrease in the resources required and other staff, you can save a lot every month.
4. Low Rigidity
Cloud kitchen works as a flexible model. It only works when there are orders from customers. Therefore, delivery is optimized which helps them to boost efficiency.
A step-by-step guide for a robust cloud kitchen app development
1. Create a business plan
For a robust cloud kitchen app, there are many things you need to focus on and define beforehand. It includes your target audiences, geographical location, and menu.
The target audience refers to your potential customers, so you need to understand them efficiently and serve them the best. Geographical location is the place where your deliverables will reach, ensuring your orders reach them timely. And the digital menu you offer to the customers must be different from the conventional one.
2. Build a Tech-Savvy Mobile App
Building a tech-savvy mobile application is one of the most vital factors that help to bring more users to your platform. A robust app with a user-friendly interface, simple design, easy navigation, unique features, and functionalities is a must for users to stay for a longer period.
And for all of this, you must collaborate with one of the robust mobile app development companies. And ToXSL is one of them. We have helped several businesses to create food delivery solutions and seen their growth. You can check out the portfolio for more details.
3. Getting Infrastructure in place
While beginning your cloud kitchen, you need proper capital, space for preparing food, and proper packaging. You need to ensure you follow health and hygiene facilities and unspoiled packaging, and collaborate with the best delivery service providers.
4. Accept orders, packing, delivery, and repeat
After finalizing the packaging, you need to partner with the delivery agents who are responsible & help your parcel to deliver on time. It is time for an order accepting, packaging, delivery, and more. Cloud kitchen is based on your app only, so ensure it is free from errors.
5. Marketing
Creating brand awareness is the most crucial aspect of app development. It is done via different marketing strategies that include awareness through social media marketing and campaigns. Social media is one of the most robust and widely accepted platforms that displays your brand voice, engages your target audience, and helps to generate more customers.
The essential feature list for a customer app includes the following elements:
- A customized menu with different and unique food items and drinks.
- Meal images, pricing, and more.
- Cart where the customers can add their food items.
- Address where the courier has to be delivered
- In-built payment gateways for payment processing.
- Real-time tracking of the order by the users.
- Estimate time for the meal arrival
- Review section where the customers can share their experience with the restaurant's food and delivery services.
How we help you to go for Cloud Kitchen App Development?
As cloud kitchens have already gained popularity and reshaping the restaurant industry, it is time for businesses to invest in cloud kitchen app development.
ToXSL is one of the most reputed and has an experienced team of developers working for over a decade. Our experts will help you develop an app with the most advanced features and functionalities and help your business grow. We would be happy to assist you in case of any queries! Hire us now!
