Have you ever imagined a platform that helps people share or donate their extra or unused food to nearby people? If yes. Then no need to imagine; wake up to reality. An app like Olio allows users to share their extra food items, household items, and others with nearby people and other connected people.

As per the global survey, the food market was valued at around $260 billion in 2022. It is projected to grow around $360 billion by the end of 2028.

The above data reveals that investing in the food donation app is a massive opportunity for businesses to generate a higher return on investment.

In this blog, we will explore how to develop a food donation app like Olio and how it can be beneficial for today’s businesses.

 

What Is Olio?

Olio is a popular food donation app that allows users to donate their extra or unopened food items to people who need them nearby. It is used to reduce food wastage, which can be useful for those who need it, and allows organizations and businesses to connect with those who have the extra food to donate.

Users can take a picture of their leftover food and upload it on the app with detailed descriptions to make it easy for people to pick up food items. If you want to develop an app like Olio, consult a mobile app development company.

• It has a simple user interface allows users to interact with all the services and features easily and makes it easy to search for nearby food items.
• This platform also focused on other non-food items for donation, such as household items, clothing, books, and others.
• Olio is free to use, and it mainly focuses on helping communities and organizations that help people who do not organize food items.
• People who want food items can schedule a time with donors to pick them up.

 

10 Best Food Donation Apps

Are you looking to build a food donation with higher functionality? Then, you have to consider the various popular food donation apps to understand the working process. So, here is the list of the food donation applications to use their working process in your application:

 

 

Applications	Downloads	Ratings	Launch Year	Availability
Too Good To Go	50M+	4.8	2016	Android/iOS
Food Rescue US	1M+	4.5	2011	Android/iOS
Feeding America	500K+	4.6	2008	Android/iOS
MealConnect	100K+	4.5	2017	Android/iOS
Karma	1M+	4.6	2016	Android/iOS
ShareTheMeal	10M+	4.7	2015	Android/iOS
FoodCloud	100K+	4.5	2013	Android/iOS
Zero Hunger	100K+	4.3	2019	Android/iOS
Spoiler Alert	50K+	4.6	2016	Android/iOS
ChowMatch	500K+	4.7	2015	Android/iOS

 

7 Key Steps To Develop A Food Donation App Like Olio

Developing an app like Olio can be a lucrative opportunity for businesses, but first, you have to understand the development process. We provide robust development steps that help developers to build a food waste management app without exceeding errors and mistakes. So, here we provide the food donation development process:

 

 

1. Market Research and Detect Needs

In the first stage of development, research in this competitive market about the existing food donation apps that are successful in the market. Observe the popular apps to understand their functionality and specifications for implementation in your food donation app.

After that, prepare a list of project requirements that must be added to your app.

 

2. Identify Core Features

Moving to the second stage of development, observe the essential features that are installed on the existing food donation apps. Hire dedicated developers to identify the core or basic features that must be installed in your food donation app.

It includes various features, such as account management, order management, and more. Identify the ideal users of your app from the targeted audiences.

 

3. Select Best Tech Stacks

In the third stage of the development process, tech stacks can be a very crucial task in overall app development. You can also analyze the tech stacks from the existing food donation apps, and it can lead to the app’s success.

There are various robust tech stacks, such as advanced programming languages, databases, cloud storage, APIs, and more.

 

4. Design UI/UX

Let’s come to the fourth stage of development. First, make sure that you know what types of design must be installed in your app. Designing is one of the most important steps for every development because it is the first user interaction experience.

Hire mobile app developers to design a user-friendly app that allows users to easily interact with all the services and functionalities.

 

5. Develop an App

The fifth stage of development includes various robust implementation phases that need careful installation. It involves various resources such as third-party integrations, modules, classes, functions, in-built features, objects, and more.

Developers need to pay more attention when installing all the integrated resources and making sure the services are successfully implemented.

 

6. Testing and QA

Coming to the sixth stage of development, after the successful app development, it’s time to test the app under various conditions. Ensure all the functionalities are working correctly and update the unfunctional features to the latest version.

Android app developers for hire by a food donation app development company to fix all the bugs and glitches that are found during the testing. Check the app’s quality and pass all the quality assurance stages in the QA process.

 

7. Publishing and Marketing

Let’s move to the last stage of development: assemble a highly skilled development team with enough experience to release the app successfully. The app is published on selected platforms such as Android and iOS.

After that, the marketing phase includes various strategies such as email marketing, affiliate marketing, blogs, advertisements, and content marketing.

 

 

10 Must-Have Features of Food Donation Apps

To create a mobile application like Olio, you must consider the robust functionalities that must be installed to make it more attractive and unique. So, here we provide the list of advanced features that can motivate the users to connect with the app continuously:

 

 

1. User Registration

This platform allows users to create their accounts via social media platforms, email, and phone numbers. Users can also sign up as guests for early access.

 

2. Create Listings

The food donation app allows donors to create a list of donated food or other items and give a detailed description of them.

 

3. GPS Integrations

Develop an app like Too Good To Go allows people to find the food items in their nearby locations and contact the donor for pickup scheduling.

 

4. Pickup and Delivery Services

This platform provides third-party delivery services that allow users to schedule their food items for pickup and delivery to their doorsteps.

 

5. Filter and Search

It provides search and filter features that allow users to view only their filtered food or other items and easily search for the individual item.

 

6. History

Users can show their past donation history with dates and times. Contact an iPhone app development company to integrate this feature into your app.

 

7. Push Notifications

A food donation app like Olio sends alert messages to users when new food items are listed and various order delivery status messages.

 

8. Security Measurements

This platform provides various strong security restriction protocols, such as encryption and two-factor authentication, to protect users’ sensitive data.

 

9. Multi-Language Support

It provides many languages that enable users to set the app’s language according to their comfort and flexibility.

 

10. Customer Support

The cloth donation app development includes a customer support service that is available 24/7 to solve the user’s problem as soon as possible.

 

The Cost To Develop A Food Donation App Like Olio

The cost to build a food donation app like Olio involves a wide variety of factors such as development team, features, function, size, and complexity. The cost can fluctuate due to the high number of features and functions, which can change the overall budget for app development.

It also includes additional factors such as infrastructure, design, testing methods, security measurements, quality checks, etc. The food donation mobile application development cost is around $8,000 to $25,000 or more.

 

So, here we provide the cost chart for a detailed explanation of the estimated cost:

Food Donation App Development	Estimated Cost	Time Frame
Simple App Development	$8000 – $12000	2 to 4 Months
Mid-Complex App Development	$13000 – $20000	5 to 8 Months
High-Complex App Development	$25000+	9+ Months

 

The app maintenance cost is between 15% and 20% of the overall food donation app development cost. It includes different types of resources that can increase maintenance costs, such as user support, software or hardware, security methods, updation of high-end features, and more.

 

How To Make Money From A Food Donation App?

Are you looking for the best monetization techniques to generate revenue streams? Then no need to go anywhere. We provide the right monetization techniques that help businesses who have no idea how to generate revenue streams from a food donation app. So, here we provide the list of the monetization techniques:

 

 

1. Subscription Plans

Let’s begin with the monetization technique; food donation apps offer various paid subscription plans to allow users to access the app’s full functionality. If a restaurant wants to sell its unsold food items at reduced prices, it must purchase a subscription plan to list its items.

So, these subscription plans have the ability to generate new revenue streams for businesses.

 

2. Transaction Fees

In this second monetization technique, some of the popular food donation apps allow restaurants and organizations to donate their unused foods. They must pay small transaction fees to list their food or other household items.

As we discussed earlier with Android application development company, these extra transaction fees can create a new income source for businesses and increase the overall valuation.

 

3. Advertising

Moving to the third monetization technique, professional businesses or agencies can display their products via your app. You can earn an acceptable income by showing their products or services as advertisements.

There are various types of advertisement formats or techniques, such as native ads, image ads, video ads, display ads, banner ads, and pop-up window ads.

 

4. Freemium Model

Coming to the fourth monetization technique, food donation apps allow charity organizations to create a free account with basic functionality and access limited services. To receive more food donations organizations need to purchase additional features to receive more donations and access all the app’s premium services.

According to the on demand app development company, these freemium models can increase the company’s overall valuation.

 

5. Partnerships

Let’s enter the last monetization technique: partner or collaborate with related agencies and vendors to sell their products via your app. You can earn 5% to 10% on every sale of their products. These partnerships can help businesses create a new income source to increase their overall valuations.

 

Conclusion

We are at the end of the blog; we provide detailed information about how to develop a food donation app like Olio. We hope that reading this blog has cleared all your doubts regarding the cost to build an app like Olio and its functionalities. After that, we provide the various monetization techniques that help businesses generate new revenue streams and increase their overall valuation.

Are you planning to create an app like Olio? Then what are you waiting for? Share your project requirements with our charity donation app development company to deliver robust mobile apps within your fixed budget.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How Much Does It Cost To Build An App Like Olio?

The food donation app development cost is around $8,000 to $25,000. It depends on crucial factors such as features, functions, size, and complexity.

 

Q2. How Long Does It Take To Make An App Like Olio?

For a successful Olio like app development, it takes around 3 to 8 months. It is based on the project’s requirements, features, and complexity.

 

Q3. How To Develop A Food Donation App Like Olio?

Here, we provide the successful development steps that can easily develop a successful app like Olio:

• Identify Requirements and Research
• Select Core Features
• Best Tech Stacks
• Design of UI/UX
• Development of app
• Testing
• Launching and Marketing

 

Q4.  How Can I Monetize My Food Donation App?

We offer the various monetization techniques that can easily generate the higher profits:

• Freemium Model
• Advertising
• Collaborations
• Subscription plans
• Transaction Fees

 

Q5. Why Businesses Invest In Food Donation App Development?

Businesses invest in food app development to receive a higher return on investment; here is the list of benefits:

• Competitive Advantage
• Increased Sales
• Higher Success Rates
• Market Demand
• Globally Reached