A user-friendly Grocery app through which one can order groceries online and get it delivered on time is something everybody wants globally. One of the challenges for a grocery app is to ensure faster delivery. Since vegetables, fruits, and dairy products expire soon, it is of utmost importance to ensure groceries are delivered fresh. An online grocery app would basically target the segment of online shoppers who don’t have time to buy groceries or they don’t have any grocery nearby.

In most cases, to build a grocery app, it needs to be built from scratch, unlike e-commerce app development that has the support of various readymade, cross-platform, open-source solutions available in the market. A grocery app on your phone saves your time from actually going to a physical store as you order groceries online and it gets delivered to your home in an hour or so.

Data states that around 80 percent of shoppers use their smartphones while shopping, this is the reason why a mobile grocery app is needed. Mobile app developers need to target this segment of the market. We will be sharing everything about how to build an online grocery app in this blog. Let’s say you’re going to develop a grocery app. Where do you start? Let’s start by introducing the project first.

Grocery App -Project Introduction

The grocery app aims at providing an online platform to users for category-based online groceries shopping including grocery, bakery, dairy products and other everyday household items. The user will be able to order groceries online either once or have a daily or recurring subscription of a selected grocery item, and can add vacation period to stop delivery for a certain period of time or pause the subscription. The user can save grocery items in a wishlist or buy them from the cart using various payment methods or app wallet.

Basic idea of a Grocery App

It is a technology-focused, food, retail and courier marketplace for buyers and sellers, on-demand hyper-local delivery company facilitating doorstep delivery of groceries, food and other home essentials. We have two types of order: Subscription and Non subscription with time slots.

Recommended Reading: How we built a Grocery Delivery App with 100000+ Downloads

Existing Problem Focus of the Grocery App

Today, when people are busy with their jobs, extracting some time to go out to supermarkets to buy groceries is quite hard. Standing in long queues for billing won’t make sense. It’s a time wastage as people are already witnessing a busy going life with long working hours in corporate. People then prefer to go to a grocery store nearby to save time but it again raises a new problem of unavailability of certain grocery items. They often do not find the right ingredients for their recipes at their neighborhood groceries store, and the central supermarket is an exhausting experience.

Business model for Grocery App

It works on an effective and simple business model just like on-demand logistics. It would be for hyperlocals that don’t own any grocery store or any type of shop or warehouse to ensure grocery home delivery faster. They would tie-up with the grocery stores in the city and have the delivery boys who deliver the grocery, fruits, vegetables, and much more daily use household items when they receive the orders. You can place the order through the website or mobile grocery app and after the order is placed successfully, the delivery is made within a certain time period for orders which are within 10 kms.

Tieing up with the local stores or merchants makes the profit of both the merchants and the system owner. Merchants receive more orders through this and this increases the revenue of merchants and system owners charge some commission.

User Persona for Grocery App

USP of a Grocery Delivery App

1. Users can avoid going to market for buying everyday products.
2. Users can make a subscription for a product and avoid making orders again.
3. Users can specify a vacation period to stop subscription services temporarily.
4. Users can share the referral code to earn profits.
5. Users can avail certain offers to get discounts.
6. Users can download the app for free of cost.
7. Users can add items to a wishlist for ordering them at a later period of time.

Analysing The Grocery App/Web

The problem with an online grocery store is dealing with the magnitude of products on offer. Sorting through the different products to find something can be overwhelming.

When shopping in-store, there is an implicit understanding that you are going to spend the time, money and energy to physically interact with the products. There is also an added advantage of familiarity and availability of assistance at all times. On the other hand, the opposite is true for shopping online; there is a perception that the process is going to be quick, easy and hassle-free. Thus, as an online retailer with a large inventory of products, it can be a challenge to create a seamless experience for the user.

The Grocery app employs two methods of finding products: navigation that is similar to the aisles in-store and through the use of a search bar.

The main category page takes me to a sub category page with a long list of product variants, which then takes me to the page that shows the products as a long vertical list. Fresh veggies resulted in a list of products. Without employing the search bar, finding a product can be frustrating.

Research for the App to Order Grocery Online

Most grocery websites and apps employ linking and searching methods. The links are based on the real-world shopping aisles to simulate the pre-existing mental models of in-store shopping.

Linking is the process of filtering through categories to reach the desired product; employed most successfully in online retail platforms. Searching is the process of searching for a product using the search bar; employed most successfully in social networking platforms.

No. of screens in a Grocery App/Web:

1. Splash
2. Welcome screen-1
3. Welcome screen-2
4. Welcome screen-3
5. Set Delivery Location
6. Login
7. Forgot Password
8. OTP verification
9. Reset password
10. Facebook Popup
11. Facebook Login
12. Google Login
13. Google Popup
14. Sign Up
15. Verification page
16. Thank you screen
17. Homepage
18. Homepage-Option popup
19. Search for location
20. All Categories
21. All Categories- open subcategory
22. Search Result-product
23. Recent Search-Product
24.  Best Selling Items
25. Block-Buster Offers
26. Shop By Recipe
27. Recipe
28. Recipe toggle
29. Add Recipe
30. All Brand
31. Notification Empty Screen
32. Notification Screen
33. Main Menu
34. Main Menu_shop by category
35. Main Menu_shop by a list of sub-category
36. Product List
37. Product List-By brand1
38. Product List-By brand2
39. Product List-Filter
40. Product List-Sort By
41. My WishList
42. Subscription_Home
43. Set Vacation
44. My cart
45. MyCart-Subscription
46. Product Detail
47. Delivery options
48. Address
49. Address-recent search
50. Payment Options
51. Order Success Popup
52. Orders- Adhoc
53. Orders- Adhoc-open
54. Orders-Subscribe
55. Orders-Subscribe-open
56. Order Details
57. Subscription Step
58. Confirm Vacation
59. Orders Subscription
60. Send Parcel-Order
61. Send Parcel-Order-popup
62. Send Parcel-Order Detail
63. Package Drop Location
64. Package Pickup Location
65. Settings
66. About & legal
67. Daily Needs
68. Support & FAQ
69. Profile Screen
70. Profile-Help
71. Profile-my Account
72. Edit Profile Screen
73. Change Mobile Number
74. Change Mobile Number OTP
75. Change Password
76. Network Error
77. Offers
78. Refer & Earn-share
79. Refer & Earn-popup
80. Wallet
81. Wallet payment Option
82. Wallet Activity
83. Transaction History
84. FeedBack-Bad/Average/Good/Love it

Grocery App Flow

Guest Login

Guest checkout lets user to shop an without any need of creating an account and registering as a member. Guest check out seem to be important in terms of extremely quick transaction

Homepage

Things that will appear in the homepage -:

• Header
• Logo and Menu Bar with Menu Items
• Images Slider
• Search Box
• Top selling product
• Recipe products
• Recommended product
• Product images.
• Product categories.
• Product Price

Type of Grocery Categories

• Baby
• Beverages: tea, coffee, soda, juice,, etc.
• Bread & Bakery
• Breakfast & Cereal
• Canned Goods & Soups
• Condiments/Spices & Bake
• Cookies, Snacks & Candy
• Dairy, Eggs & Cheese
• Deli & Signature Cafe
• Flowers
• Produce: Fruits & Vegetables
• Grains, Pasta & Sides
• Meat
• Cleaning Supplies – laundry detergent, dishwashing soap, etc.
• Health & Beauty, Personal Care & Pharmacy – pharmacy items, shampoo, toothpaste
• Pet Care

Product Catalogue

• User landed on the product listing page where he can see all products based on search criteria.
• User can select the item which he wants to buy.

Provide comprehensive product details

• The system shall display detailed information of the selected products.
• The system shall provide browsing options to see product details.

Product listing page

• Instead of three tiles, we will use two tiles for better readability, for senior citizens.
• Add the cart icon to the top right bar.
• Add a line carousel to change to other subcategories from one subcategory. and when pressed, the products will be loaded.
• Scroll to see more products.
• How do we display variable products here and single products?

Detailed product Categorizations

• Display detailed product categorization to the user.

Filter option

• Filters enable users to narrow down a website/app selection of thousands of products to only those few items that match their particular needs and interests.

Provide Search facility

• Enable users to enter the search text on the screen.
• All the matching products based on the search
• Enable users to navigate between the search results.
• Notify the user when no matching product is found on the search.

Placing the Order

• Users have to create an account on the website for placing an order.
• Users have to choose pickup time for the available item. Admin will do the counting and cost estimate and update it in the system for tracking.
• Can directly select items and quantity and place orders online.
• Customers can select available items.
• Admin will update order for tracking.

Provide personalized profile

• Display both the ‘active’ and ‘completed’ order history in the customer profile.
• Allow the user to select the order from the order history.
• Display the detailed information about the selected order.
• Display the most frequently searched items by the user in the profile.

Allow Online Product reviews and ratings

1. Display the reviews and ratings of each product, when it is selected.
2. Enable the user to enter their reviews and ratings.

Provide shopping cart facilities

• Provide shopping carts during online purchases.
• Allow users to add/remove products in the shopping cart.

Provide multiple shipping methods

• Display different shipping options provided by the shipping department.
• Enable the user to select the shipping method during the payment process.
• Display the shipping charges.
• Display tentative duration for shipping.

Online tracking of shipments

• Allow users to enter the order information for tracking.
• Display the current tracking information about the order.

Provide online Tax Calculations

• The system shall calculate tax for the order.
• The system shall display tax information for the order.

Allow multiple payment methods

• Display available payment methods for payment.
• Allow users to select the payment method for order.

Detailed invoice for Customer

• Display detailed invoice for current order once it is confirmed.
• Optionally allow the user to print the invoice.

Allow online change or cancellation of order

• Display the orders that are eligible to change.
• Allow the user to select the order to be changed.
• Allow users to cancel the order.
• Allow users to change shipping, payment methods.
• Notify the user about any changes made to the order.

Offer online promotions and rewards

• Display all the available promotions to the user.
• Allow users to select available promotions.

Maintain customer Profile

• Allow the user to create a profile and set his credential.
• Authenticate user credentials to view the profile.
• Allow users to update the profile information.

Current Location

• While the user is placing an order, the user will set his current location for receiving the order.

Provide Customer Support

• Provide online help, FAQ’s customer support, and sitemap options for customer support.
• Allow the users to select the support type they want.
• Allow users to enter the customer and product information for the support.
• Display the customer support contact numbers on the screen.
• Allow users to enter the contact number for support personnel to call.
• Display the FAQ’s upon request.

Specials Offers

• Customers can land on this page by clicking ‘Special offers’.
• Customers can select special items.

 My Orders

• Customers can land on this page by clicking my orders.
• Customers can track his/her current order status.

Subscribe

• Users can subscribe to certain items like milk, curd etc.
• Users can choose the quantity for daily items.
• User can choose the day and time to receive the order on a .daily basis
• Make the payment in advance.
• Can cancel the subscription at any time.

Vacation:

If any customer is on a monthly subscription and wants to cancel milk delivery for 2-3 days as he is somewhere out or he doesn’t want delivery on some specific dates, the ‘Vacation’ feature will help him cancel his delivery on his mentioned days. It will be carried forward to the next dates. Once a customer will click the calendar, the calendar will pop up.

Parcel:

Here something special of the Grocery app –

• User can also send the parcel from one place to another.
• They can just upload the file and add the quantity.
• Prices are same for all type of parcels.
• Parcel could be file, document, item, etc.

 Sharing:

• Customer can land on this page by clicking Share.
• Customers can share on various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc.

Feedback:

• Customers can land on this page by clicking ‘Feedback’.
• Customers can rate the service on various parameters.

Usability:

• A uniform look and feel between all the web pages.
• A digital image for each product in the product catalog.
• Use of icons and toolbars.

Security Measures

Data Transfer:

1. The system shall use secure sockets in all transactions that include any confidential customer information.
2. The system shall automatically log out all customers after a period of inactivity.
3. The system shall confirm all transactions with the customer’s web browser.
4. The system shall not leave any cookies on the customer’s computer containing the user’s password.
5. The system shall not leave any cookies on the customer’s computer containing any of the user’s confidential information.

Data Storage:

1. The customer’s web browser shall never display a customer’s password.  It shall always be echoed with special characters representing typed characters.
2. The customer’s web browser shall never display a customer’s credit card number after retrieving from the database. It shall always be shown with just the last 4 digits of the credit card number.
3. The system’s back-end servers shall never display a customer’s password.  The customer’s password may be reset but never shown.
4. Back-end servers shall only be accessible to authenticated administrators.
5. Back-end databases shall be encrypted.

Admin panel for Grocery App

1. Ability to Manage Account
2. Manage Profile Details
3. Manage Profile Settings, Change Password
4. Ability to Manage (Add/Edit/Delete) Customer Account
5. Admin Management & Activities (Administrator)
6. Manage User Accounts
7. Ability To Add/Delete User
8. Ability To Manage Profile Details, Change Password
9. Manage category
10. Manage booking Details
11. Manage payment
12. Manage order
13. Manage buyer
14. Add/delete/edit category
15. Manage sub category
16. Add/edit/delete sub category

According to a recent survey, “Online grocery sales is expected to be £9.8 billion in 2016, up 13% from an projected £8.6 billion in 2015. Sales will grow additional 73% to be £15 billion by 2020”.“One-quarter of global participants order grocery products online, and more than half (55%) are keen to use it in the future. The milkman is making a comeback, but this time around he may come home driving a digital vehicle.”

If you have a similar idea for an app then feel free to discuss your idea with us. Our team will be more than happy to help you at EngineerBabu. We have been developing similar apps and our mobile app developers can help you build the same as our team has already tested and tried the errors that may come and we have good experience in this field. Do not hesitate for any queries. Feel free to reach out to us even if you are in the initial planning phase. To read more blogs, you can visit our website.

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