Bengaluru-based Swiggy leads the stack with a 35%-38% market share, followed by Zomato at 25%-30%, according to RedSeer. UberEats, the food delivery business of cab major Uber Inc., which was already operational in the US, entered the segment in India last year. India’s online food ordering sector saw a strong growth rate in the number of daily orders, an average of 400,000 during the September quarter.

Here’s a list of top 10 food delivery apps in India that you can download on your smartphones or handheld devices.

1. Foodpanda: One of the best performing restaurant search and delivery apps in India, Foodpanda operates 26,000 restaurants in 450 cities. It features a live tracking feature allowing you to see the location of your food. Foodpanda users can also set up a profile within the app which allows them to save multiple addresses and bookmark their favorite places they are most likely to order from.

2. Zomato: Founded in 2008 by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Bhardwaj, Zomato is one of the fastest restaurant searches and ordering services in India. Currently, Zomato operates in 23 countries, including India, Australia, and the United States. Zomato offers restaurant information such as scanned menus and photos sourced by local street teams, in addition to, user reviews and ratings. Zomato also provides cashless payment, online ordering, white-label apps, table reservation, and point-of-sale systems.

3. Swiggy: Based out of Bengaluru, India, Swiggy was inspired by the thought of providing a complete food ordering and delivery solution from the nearby food outlets to the urban foodie. A single window for ordering from a wide range of restaurants, Swiggy has its own exclusive fleet of delivery personnel to pick up orders from restaurants and deliver it to customers. Having their own fleet gives them the flexibility to offer customers a no minimum order policy on any restaurant and accept online payments for all partner restaurants that we work with.

4. FoodMingo: One of the most popular food delivery apps in India, FoodMingo operates in top Indian cities like Hyderabad, Pune, and Mumbai. The company was founded in 2012 by Pushpinder Singh. FoodMingo app allows customers to order food and book tables at restaurants and food joints. It also offers coupons and arrangements from its accomplice eateries in those urban communities. Customers of FoodMingo application can track their order status.

5. TastyKhana: Founded in 2007 by Sachin Bharadwaj and Sheldon D’ Souza, TastyKhana is one of the hottest food ordering apps in India. Available on Android and iOS platforms, the app gives instant access to its database of over 7,000 restaurants across India. You can also create profiles, save restaurant locations and your earlier orders. You can choose to pay through net banking, cash on delivery or credit/debit card. TastyKhana was acquired by Foodpanda in 2014.

6. UberEats: UberEats, the latest venture by Uber (one of the leading global app cab operators) uses its existing infrastructure to deliver food. Once you place an order, an Uber driver delivers it to your place.

7. JustEat: Just Eat, one of the fast-growing food delivery apps in India, operates in 9 Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai. JustEat is known for its strong network, listing as many as 3,000 restaurants. You also get discounts for online payment or via various coupon codes. JustEat offers both online payment and casino delivery option.

8. Freshmenu: Freshmenu, another well-known food delivery app, is available in limited metro cities and offers reasonably good food delivery service. They offer food from their kitchen itself and many people have appreciated them for their quality of food and delivery service. Though a newer player, Freshmenu is fast gaining popularity. The company has also started its own membership program called the FreshClub in which users get an exclusive menu to choose from and an extra 10% discount along with free delivery.

9. Fasso’s: A brainchild of Kallol Banerjee and Jaydeep Barman, Fasso’s hit the market in 2011. The app is compatible with Windows Phones, Android and iPhones. Unlike other food ordering apps, apps, Faaso’s delivers food from their own kitchen. You can also customize your order in multiple ways to get the food made the way you like it. Also, the Fasso’ app allows users to track their order live when they are done with ordering. It is mostly used in Mumbai, Ahmadabad, Bengaluru, and Pune.

10. Domino’s: Domino was one of the first companies in India to come up with a mobile-friendly food delivery app. The food delivery is compatible with Android, Windows Smartphones and iOS platforms. The best part about Dominos’ Pizza delivery app is that it allows users to apply coupons to their orders and also choose the mode of payment as per their convenience.

Read my earlier post on restaurant app trends to follow.

The food delivery or food technology app market is showing visible signs of growth. In August 2018, the country’s leading food-delivery platform, Swiggy acquired Mumbai-based Scootsy for an estimated ($7.3 million. Scootsy delivers food from premium eateries, and also other items like gifts and clothes. This is the second acquisition by four-year-old Swiggy and marks the 11th M&A deal in the food-delivery space in India since January 2017, data from startup tracker Tracxn showed.

The growth in 2018 is expected to continue at the same pace. Also, Ola, India’s largest taxi-hailing firm is planning to buy Foodpanda in 2019. Ola wants to invest $200 million into Foodpanda over the next few years. Assuming there is healthy competition among the food ordering brands, expect more pocket pinch, as price war continues to grow.

According to a 2017 orderTalk survey, around 45% of U.S. adults are expected to increase online ordering in the next 12 months. As per a recent McKinsey report, online delivery will grow by 25% per year from 2015 to 2018 in key markets, after which it will show a steady rise up to 14.9% per year until 2020. According to an eServices report published in 2018, the worldwide revenue for online food delivery is expected to increase from US$81.7 billion in 2017 to US$146.7 billion by 2022.

As online ordering moves full steam ahead in 2018 with growth and innovation, we offer the top five trends in online food ordering platforms:

1. Ordering and Delivering on the go:

Customers can log in to restaurant apps, browse through the menus and order. Remember an easy way to add options and express check-out. It improves the ordering experience and also increases the amount each customer orders. The Taco Bell app, for example, reported 20% higher app orders than their in-store orders in 2015. Third party food delivery apps like Deliveroo and UberEATS have emerged as supporting partners for better delivery solutions for particular restaurants.

2. Mobile POS making a mark:

Mobile POS is contributing largely to streamlined food ordering and improved customer experience. Also known as mPOS (mobile point of sale), Mobile POS is a smartphone, tablet or dedicated wireless device that performs the functions of a cash register or electronic point of sale terminal. A smartphone or tablet can be transformed into a mPOS with a downloadable mobile app. CAKE Restaurant Point of Sale System, for example, has customized workflows as well as on-the-fly menu and table adjustments. This cuts down on the delivery time and also reduces the number of trips between the table to the counter and the kitchen. The server boys can make use of the time for better customer relations, taking part in informal chats, inquiring about the meal or simply filling up glasses in between.

Some of the popular mobile POS vendors include PayPal, Square, Intuit, and VeriFone.

3. More Options for Mobile Payments:

Despite the prevailing security concerns and a limited number of compatible vendors, mobile payments continue to increase and have vastly impacted interaction between businesses and customers. Having a mobile pay feature in your restaurant app, helps you keep your customer in your app ecosystem. In addition, it would also let you observe customer behavior and thereby find ways of niche marketing through. Mobile wallet options like ApplePay, GooglePay, and SamsungPay are gaining acceptance among restaurateurs.

4. Customer Loyalty Programs:

Loyalty programs help restaurateurs improve one-on-one relationships with their customers. Sending a coupon for a birthday or a reminder about the celebrations going on for your fast food joint’s first year anniversary can be easily automated and yet makes a lasting impression. According to PR News Wire, 81% of customers are more likely to return to an establishment if there’s a reward in play.

Loyalty programs have moved way ahead of punch cards and 50% discounts. Involving your customers in your marketing programs like word of mouth referrals are in. Also, consider a free drink and extra loyalty points for customers who bring in a new patron (also willing to sign up for your loyalty program).

5. Location-based marketing:

The year 2018 will see more and more restaurants to tap into the opportunities enabled by geolocation technology to attract customers. The new functionality, allows restaurants to embed their menus in their search results, providing higher opportunity to target diners nearby.

Restaurants are also using social media as a means to target potential customers. Location tagging on social media makes it possible to serve users ads for a limited amount of time when they are in a specific area. Say, for example you are in Connaught Place, Delhi, posting an update about meeting an old family friend, the location-based app will track your current location and thereby help nearby restaurants send you app notifications (like 20%off on Aloo Parathas at a well known Punjabi dhaba) or if you are hanging out with friends and posting pictures on Instagram, you may be notified of the nearest pizza hut store (and its new range of pizzas).

Quickzy.com, a food delivery apps by Pixel Solutionz are few of the promising food tech startups in India. With a set of winning feature, quickzy will soon hit the market.

Bahrain-based restaurant booking app Eat has recently secured an estimated funding of about $1.2 million from Dubai-based Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP). Eat was founded by Bahraini entrepreneur Nezar Kadhem in 2014 after he moved to his home country from Paris. Till date Eat has seated more than 3.5 million customers generating over $250 million worth of orders for restaurants across Bahrain and the U.A.E.

The overall food market in India is believed to be worth $193 billion and is poised to cross $540 billion in the next three years. From Swiggy’s aggressive acquisition, funding and growth push, it is clear it intends to keep a strong hold on its large market share. In 2017, Swiggy grabbed $100 million in Series F funding from Naspers and Meituan-Diaping, taking the total funding raised to over $255 million for a valuation of $650 million. Swiggy accounts for 25 percent of the total funding raised by food-tech startups between 2015 and 2018.

Watch out for more appetizing apps in the platter!