Ordering food to your doorstep has never been easier, but the convenience can hurt your wallet if you don’t choose the app wisely. Many finance experts around the world suggest that all delivery apps are not made the same way. The food delivery app industry is exploding right now as its convenient to order your favorite meal at your fingertips by using your phone. As of now, the food delivery app industry amounts to more than 3 billion US dollars around the world with large players like Uber Eats, Zomato, and many other regional start-ups, showing no signs of a slowdown. Yet, as mentioned above, these apps are not made in the same way, and sometimes, users have to deal with hidden parameters, so it becomes utterly important to understand all about apps before you

choose one.

The Excessive Hidden Costs

Generally, users are very naive about the fact that it does not matter where they order their food from as, according to their understanding, it all costs the same, but that's not the case. The discrepancy is in the additional tagged-on prices at the end of the deal, these include the delivery fee, parceling charges, and sometimes there are hidden charges. So, before you think about relying on one particular app for all your orders, make it a point to check and compare the prices of all other apps. There are designated websites that can do this for you. You can also call up the restaurant or look up their menu online to check for the original prices of the food item, this way, you will be able to calculate how much extra are you paying in additional charges. Sometimes these discrepancies might hike up to a 30 percent higher fee on the app as compared to the others. Don’t click on ‘order’ just because you see a free delivery offer. Generally, these apps trick you into ordering by providing these flashy offers. However, if an app is giving you the option of free delivery, or providing promo codes for existing users, you must take the offer at once. It is not every day that you can find such offers or codes that can be implemented to cut down the cost of your food. And some of these offers, no matter how ludicrous they seem might just be helpful for your pockets.

Delivery Time and Food Tracking

There has been a lot of analysis and research on this field. Recently, a Wall Street report pointed out the one food delivery app, GrubHub, was consistently the best as compared to others in terms of price transparency and also charging the least when it came to the same order in all different types of restaurants and apps throughout the country, followed by Door-Dash, and then Uber Eats. The most dramatic changes in food apps can be seen locally since the apps are all in the same market, which more or less seems to be in perfect competition, the basic idea of product differentiation marks the competition. All apps try to come up with new and innovative services, offers, and comps to please both the restaurant owners and the consumers. With the advancements in technology and

the availability of GPS (Global Positioning Systems) tracking on all smartphones, it has made it easier for users to know the exact location of the delivery executive, the state of the traffic, and even inform the delivery executive about a better route or way that is not well-documented by the latest positioning systems. All delivery executives try to be on the best behavior as these food delivery apps have a rating system where the customers provide a rating to the executive out of five which will then be averaged out of all their last deliveries. These rating systems help the companies to get better at their delivery strategies and pinpoint professional delivery executives.

To Sum it Up

All food delivery apps are in constant competition to impress their customers and the restaurants, and they want more restaurants to register with them so that they can cater to a broader audience.They need a customer base who will order from their restaurants. As a customer, it is our duty to be completely informed about how these apps work and what kind of services they offer. Opt for an app that serves your interests well and never fear to try new apps as you might find something you are looking for.