Top Restaurant App Features: How to Select Them?

Can you imagine an app without features?

One of the important elements that attracts users even before downloading an app is its features.

What an app offers is much more valuable than other things, right?

And, when it comes to food, people search for apps where they can find access to multiple restaurants.

They will check the features of restaurant apps from the Play Store, even before they decide to use them.

If you are the one looking for features, just not to make your app clumsy or cluttered, then this guide is of utmost value.

During app development, deciding on the features is one of the difficult tasks. But not anymore.

Here is a list of must-have features for a restaurant app that will serve you right. Along with this, get a prolonged way over the features, needs, and tips.

Let’s begin it together.

Basic Features of a Restaurant App

Here, we have divided the must-have features segment into basic and advanced features.

When it comes to including features, all you need is an effective restaurant app design. Well, before learning about it.

Let’s begin with a list of must-have features in a restaurant app.

► Authorization and Encryption

The authorization process signifies that the app is attentively related to the users’ data safety index.

The data should be safe and encrypted to enhance user trust. This will further result in increased user satisfaction.

► Navigation System

An app with a slow navigation system might result in frustrating the user when using the app. This can result in a bad user experience and may impact the brand image.

Thus, you should ensure that the app contains a simple navigation format that saves time for the user.

A navigation process aims to direct the user towards a specific destination. Simple navigation can enhance user satisfaction and retention.

It also assists users in finding the information they need and can access it quickly.

► In-App Search

You can offer an in-app search process to the user by enabling them to search for what they are looking for.

This is one of the top features of the restaurant app that allows the user to browse for the perfect restaurant, food, or table that they can book in no time.

This feature saves time for users and helps them to enhance usability, which empowers quick access to the content. These are among the key features of a restaurant app that you cannot avoid.

It also reduces the usability timings, ultimately ensuring user satisfaction.

► Online Ordering and Pre-Ordering

Online ordering and pre-ordering features are some of the basic features of a restaurant app that should be considered during the app development process.

With this feature, you will be able to minimize the time guests spend within a restaurant.

Through these features, you can permit the users to add cooking instructions according to their taste.

It is one of the most effective restaurant app features that takes care of people who have specific allergies or have medical conditions such as diabetes and others.

► Mobile Loyalty Program

Mobile loyalty programs are effectively increasing user satisfaction and are the most popular features of a restaurant app that cater to individual businesses’ needs.

These digital programs have attracted many users when compared to old system cards and vouchers.

Loyalty programs are developed to increase user engagement on the platform. Here you can provide several types of loyalty schemes and programs to build trust of the users and encourage them to use the app.

► Table Reservation System

A table reservation system is important to eradicate the frustrations of users who cannot plan to visit their favorite restaurant.

Through this app, users can find a table and reserve it according to their parameters.

This is one of the famous systems for restaurant apps that assists them in managing the customers and helps to reduce waiting time for the users.

Through this system, users can find a prominent place to eat without even waiting for their turn at the table.

► Online Payment

Online payment is one of the core restaurant app features. Through this feature, users can pay for the food without even interacting with the server.

You should ensure that the payment feature is safe and encrypted to gain the confidence of the users.

Users want simplicity in payment with a secure network authentication process. Thus, restaurants need to adopt the latest technology like AI, in their apps that are clutter-free and provide customers the ability to place online food orders.

You should select a secure payment gateway integration to enhance the user experience.

► GeoLocation

Here, you will give users a way to admire and find the restaurants based on their locations.

Ensure that your app contains a GPS-based system that enables users to access the location of the app.

This feature is useful to streamline the reservation procedure. Through this app, users can make table reservations, which ensures a seamless table-reservation procedure.

While booking a table, location is one of the important elements that users evaluate; thus, offering location is a prime need in an app.

► Social Media Integration

Social media integration is one of the main features of a restaurant app that is essential to assist users in sharing their table or food bookings with their loved ones.

This feature can help you connect with more new users by enticing the existing ones to convert into repeat orders.

In the current era, social media platforms are essential to connecting with multiple users at a single point of time. Providing an integration facility over the apps ensures connectivity and improves networking, resulting in long-term user synchronization.

► Digital Menu

Over the app, you can make your restaurant menu available with just one simple click.

It will encourage the user to book a table at the restaurant and increase the overall user experience.

Digital menus provide effectiveness in discovering the latest dish or bestseller.

► Customer Feedback Portal

A customer feedback portal is among the must-have features for a restaurant app. This feature is essential to gain insights from the users for further required changes and improvements significant for the restaurant app.

With such restaurant app features, you can engage the users and create direct connectivity with them.

Advanced Features of a Restaurant App

Basic features are must-have features, although you can decide to choose advanced features based on your requirements for the restaurant app.

After the basic features, here is the list of advanced features that you can implement within the app.

Including the advanced features in the app can help in improving and updating the restaurant reservation system development process.

♦ Voice Ordering

Among the diversified restaurant app features, you can adopt voice ordering. It is one of the significant features that ensures a convenient way for customers to place orders.

This is a feature that eliminates the hassle of typing and searching for their orders.

Enabling a voice ordering feature can assist users in saving time and effort over booking a table or ordering their favorite food from the restaurant.

Voice ordering can simplify the process of using an app that enhances user satisfaction.

♦ Real-Time Updates

Providing updates to the users related to the app and the order’s current status helps them to stay aware of the order, which keeps them in sync with the restaurant.

It develops trust of the user in the app, and they can check their order from anywhere and at any time.

Live updates related to confirming orders, payment, preparing food, or order tracking improve users’ relations and assist them in knowing their current status.

With this feature, restaurants can build connectivity with their end users directly.

♦ Chatbots

The use of chatbots while developing restaurant apps can increase the usage of the platform. It builds user engagement and is useful in addressing the queries of the users.

This tool can work over social media platforms to bring repeat business. You can implement it to provide updates on orders to the customers.

♦ Push Notifications

The use of push notifications can be vital among engaging restaurant app features. It can assist the user in knowing about current offers, updates about their orders, and useful information that can help them to continue with the app.

Push notifications can arrive on the mobile home screen or over the lock screen. These can also appear as notifications on the app icon while using the browser.

Likewise, they provide updates to the users and keep them engaged on the platform.

♦ Multi-language Support

If you desire to launch your app around the world, the multilingual support feature is among the essential features of a restaurant app to be considered.

You can implement this feature by including multiple language processing systems within an app.

This will automatically improve the overall user experience.

♦ Gamification

Gamification is among the restaurant app features that should be considered to prevent your customers from getting bored while waiting for their order.

The foremost reason to introduce this feature to the app is to create a happy customer.

♦ Order Scheduling

Order scheduling is among the list of the top features to consider while developing a restaurant app. Implementing such a feature can allow the user to schedule an order for a specific time.

With the help of this feature, users can place a variety of orders at a particular time.

This feature can assist users in scheduling their orders. With this feature, users can know their order status and schedule it successfully.

You can implement a quick ordering feature to assist the user in adding their favorite items along with the previously ordered dishes.

♦ Sustainability Tracking

Information related to the restaurant’s sustainability tools can result in enhancing operational efficiency.

By measuring aspects including waste production, energy, and water usage over cooking and delivering food, users can make their decision to order from the restaurant.

This can be among the advanced features of a restaurant app through which users can know about the practices adopted by the restaurant for cooking food or sustainably delivering orders.

These practices can help them decide whether to book a table at the restaurant.

♦ Third-Party Integration

The ability to book a cab within the restaurant app while the order gets ready for pickup can be a facility you can offer to the user.

Performing an integration with third-party users can enable the customer to perform multiple tasks even while they wait for their order.

This can be part of your restaurant’s mobile apps to improve user engagement and satisfaction. API development comprises incorporating features, functionalities, and data from an outside source within the existing software ecosystem.

Here is a list of the best restaurant mobile app features to consider. These features can help to develop a restaurant app and can increase its market competitive position.

Well, have you ever thought about why you need to select the right features for your app? The next section may help you in this scenario.

Importance of Selecting the Right Features

Till now, you have learned about the basic and advanced restaurant app features. But why is there a need to select the right features for your app?

Here are certain important things you should consider while selecting the right features for your app.

➤ Contribute to the App’s Aim

Defining the features of an app clarifies the objective of creating one. It provides you with ways to understand the top priority features and the additional ones.

Selecting the right features improves transparency in identifying prominent reasons to invest in an app.

➤ Makes App User-Friendly

The foremost aim of developing an app is to improve user satisfaction and engage them to increase market presence. Selecting the right features can assist in meeting the user demand.

With the right features, you can connect with users’ changing preferences and results to retain them for the long run.

➤ To Attract Users

The right features can draw users’ attention by delivering to them what they seek the most. These features enable us to connect users over the platform and increase the overall value of the brand.

This can further lead to an enhanced app’s market presence.

➤ Provides Clarity Over Resources

Deciding on the right features for an app can help avoid mistakes when creating a restaurant app.

It leads to allocating resources successfully after focusing on what values the most and deciding on features that can be added after the app gets launched in the market.

➤ Helps to Manage the Budget

Identifying the right features can help reduce the development cost of a restaurant app and automatically assist in managing the budget.

Deciding on the right feature can create a lot of hustle that can impact the budget, thus, this activity plays an important role in managing overall costs.

➤ Reach Over Target Audience

The right features can assist in reaching potential users. When you know how to serve the target people, it becomes easy to connect with them.

Including the right features can be helpful to attain such heights by providing users with what they want.

Well, after learning about the importance of selecting the right features for your restaurant app, let’s move ahead with the factors and tips required to keep in mind while selecting features.

Things to Keep in Mind While Selecting Restaurant App Features

Till now, you have learned about the top features to include in a restaurant app and the importance of selecting them.

Now, it’s time to know some important tips to keep in mind while selecting the right features.

Here is a list to consider.

• Know the User

Learning about the user should be your priority.

This can help in understanding prime users’ changing behavior while using an app. This will improve your selection process to decide features for the app.

• Define List of Features

Would you like to develop an app like OpenTable?

Developing a complete list of core and additional features can help here. It will assist you in deciding the right feature by considering the target audience.

• Keep an Eye on the Aim and Objective of the App

Every app has a problem to solve.

Thus, deciding on features that neither match with app’s aim nor address users’ issues is a waste. Decide on features after considering the aim and objective of the app.

• Select Through the Alternatives

Now, you should evaluate the multiple features available with your app.

This can be a difficult task. However, considering the app’s aim, users’ needs, and reasons behind development, it can help to make decisions.

Well, if you are still confused about selecting the best restaurant app features for your app, then consulting a team can help.

Conclusion

Selecting the right features for a restaurant app from a bunch can be a difficult task. However, with a list of basic and advanced features, you can make your decision.

The core features to include in a restaurant app can be a signup feature, authentication, online ordering, app search, geolocation, online payment, and a digital menu.

An experienced team with budget-friendly parameters to meet your demand to make an app rarely exists, doesn’t it?

With Nimble AppGenie, you can convert your dream app into reality. We are the best Restaurant App Development Company with a well-skilled team of professionals.

We are honest in keeping our promise to deliver a successful restaurant app.

Niketan Sharma

Niketan Sharma is the CTO of Nimble AppGenie, a prominent website and mobile app development company in the USA that is delivering excellence with a commitment to boosting business growth & maximizing customer satisfaction. He is a highly motivated individual who helps SMEs and startups grow in this dynamic market with the latest technology and innovation.