How to Build a Restaurant App Without Coding

Last updated on August 30th, 2023 at 03:10 pm

Using a mobile app has statistically proven to help restaurant businesses bring in more profit. With a growing number of places to dine, customers are more spoilt for choice than ever before. A mobile app can encourage customer loyalty and ensure your businesses benefits from repeat custom. 

Developing a restaurant app doesn’t require coding, as many people assume. The days of coding, and even low-code, are behind us. While you could still pay a professional app developer to build your restaurant’s app from scratch, it’d be a waste of time and money (we’re talking hundreds of thousands). You can produce a legitimate app that looks and behaves just the same as a coded-from-scratch app, and you only need basic design skills to do so.

No-code app-building vs coding: a comparison

Let’s consider you wanted to make an app with coding. You have a long and complex road ahead of you! First, you need to analyze what you’re looking for and gather your requirements. You’ll then need to draw up a prototype, before making an application design. Next comes the coding, then the testing, and finally, the official launching and publication. 

It’s time-consuming, and above all, tricky. Learning to code isn’t something most of us can do in our spare time. It takes real technical skills.  

Building an app with no code

We promise that building an Online Food Ordering System with no code is so much easier. Here’s exactly what you need to do. 

1. Choose your app-building platform of choice

There are a few out there, and some are better than others. Choose wisely. You need a platform that will give you the flexibility to make the app that best suits your business, and amend it easily when needed in the future. Compare costs, too, and find a platform with a monthly price that makes sense to you. 

2. Click “get started”

… or whatever other button prompts you to begin. You can then fill out your business’ basic details, including your name and your industry sector (restaurant and food). 

3. Choose you design layout

There are a number of templates that you’ll be able to choose from. They’re designed specifically for restaurant businesses, so they’ll have features and quirks that have proven to work well for the most popular businesses in your industry. Pick the one that you like the look of the most. 

4. Select your color scheme

Some app-building tools are cleverer than others. If you’ve picked well, you’ll be given an option to take your color scheme directly from your website or social channels, to ensure that your app is cohesive with the rest of your online branding. You can also take images from your website, such as images from your menu, to save you the needless job of manually transferring them onto your app. 

5. Make changes

Though you may have selected a template as your base, you don’t have to leave it exactly how it is. Most app building platforms will let you add to your app using a drag and drop function. You can also type in any relevant information that will allow a customer to have the best ordering experience on your app. 

6. Publish and promote 

And that’s it – you’re ready to publish! You don’t need to worry about any of the technicalities of publishing – the tech team at your app-building platform will handle that. You can focus on the more important task of promoting your app and encouraging customers to download it. A good idea here is to offer customers a generous discount on their first app order, or perhaps a free side or dessert if they’re eating in.

Why build a restaurant app?

So, building an app for your restaurant business sounds like a lot of fun. But is it really worth it? What’s in it for you?

• Increased customer orders

Your customers only have to tap a button to make a repeat order with your business. If they’ve done the “hard” work and downloaded your app, they’ll be tempted to order from you in the future, just because it’s easy. 

• Improved team productivity

Having a mobile app can greatly speed up your servers’ jobs, as they’ll spend less time accepting and managing orders. Once everyone is familiar with how the app’s interface works (and it’s really simple, by the way), productivity will skyrocket. 

• Bigger profits

When people make orders from a restaurant’s mobile app, that restaurant gets 100% of the profits. There’s no middleman to take their cut of every order. Over time, these saved profits can really add up. 

• Additional marketing opportunities

Mobile apps allow restaurant businesses to communicate with their customers – and effectively ensure that nobody forgets their existence. As a business with an app, you can send push notifications straight to your customers’ devices, letting them know when you have a good offer and encouraging them to visit you soon. 

• Client base for study

You can use a restaurant app to study your customer base carefully, analyze statistics, and pick up on any trends that may indicate customer preference. Then you can do more of what works, and less of what doesn’t. When your customers realize you’re catering to their needs, they’ll love you even more.