How Much Does It Cost to Build an App Like Starbucks?

Restaurant owners dream of the day all their tables will be booked, guests will arrive on time, without rush jobs or disgruntled customers, without complaints about delivery times or the quality of the product being received on time, which may sound utopian but has already happened for Starbucks when they launched their digital transformation and introduced the mobile app. It's always recommended to get help from the best Starbucks app development company.

If a Starbucks-like app is exactly what your company needs and you want to learn the details on how to develop one with comprehensive feature lists, strap yourself in for this journey!

Starbucks App's Popularity

There's a good reason we chose the Starbucks App as our centerpiece: it is among the most widely-used mobile applications in the restaurant industry, with more than twenty million monthly users in the US alone as of April of 2016.

Starbucks app users all around the world enjoy using it due to its simplicity, easy ordering system, and variety of perks available through it. Notably, the Starbucks app does not contain an extensive set of functions; instead, it only contains the necessary features to reduce weight while offering some fun additional options that make the experience even better!

Let's examine the core features you should integrate to develop an app like Startbucks.

MVP

These elements are key to building your mobile app from its inception. A minimum viable product (MVP), also known as your MVP, serves as the basis of its sustainability and viability. These essential features may include:

Registration

Users can gain more value from creating engaging profiles within your app rather than quickly registering via social networks. Profiles provide customers with personalized perks while simultaneously improving data security with multi-factor authentication. In addition, profiles facilitate tracking rewards programs so that users are aware of exactly how many stars they possess and when they qualify for something like free coffee—something social networks simply cannot do!

Accessing detailed personal information about your users could allow you to easily identify their targeted audience, including residence addresses, age ranges, occupations, and ages. Such data will highlight any flaws in your targeted strategy and help improve targeting to achieve optimal success with each target audience.

Mobile Payments

Starbucks customers love its app because mobile payments make the ordering experience simpler and quicker, saving both stress and time by expediting the delivery of their orders.

Starbucks' electronic wallet has made payment even simpler, enabling users to transfer funds between credit or debit cards, making joining its loyalty program and collecting points (stars) even simpler for non-bank account holders like teens who do not yet own bank accounts. This method also makes joining discounts or rewards programs possible!

Just like you'd be more apt to offer multiple payment methods if your teen population were smaller, customers today require greater freedom when choosing their method of payment and need options to choose what's most comfortable for them. This is why offering additional forms of payment, such as debit and credit cards, are vitally important.

Menu

A menu can be an effective way of drawing customers in and making them hungry. When opening the Starbucks app or any restaurant app, customers will see delicious, juicy, freshly prepared food and beverages that instantly make them thirsty or hungry—or both! Your menu should only feature exclusive photos of what it serves.

Starbucks' app menu is delicious and informative! We've organized all menu options into two groups: must-have and extra. Here are the must-have features you'll find in applications such as Starbucks:

• Food Catalog, including subcategories

• Photos and titles for item descriptions and titles are shown here.

• Search Option

• Customizability allows customers to tailor their experience—choose size and toppings; add or delete elements as necessary.

• Click to initiate action (purchase, add to cart, or add to favorites).

Here are a few additional features you should keep an eye out for on the Starbucks Menu app:

Nutrition information covers proteins, calories, carbohydrates, fat, and vitamins.

The social share button allows you to quickly send information about an item directly to someone in your circle of acquaintances.

Information regarding allergens that could trigger allergic reactions.

Locate a Store

Customers deciding where they dine will often factor location into their decision, which is why maps must be included as part of your app. If your business owns multiple stores, users may need some assistance finding their nearest one and getting there safely.

Starbucks implemented a loyalty program to improve user engagement with their customer base and increase user loyalty, serving as an effective tool to gain and retain new clients. If you still need convincing, check out our blog post about the various types and benefits of loyalty programs for businesses.

Your loyalty program must be designed with your mobile application in mind, and to do that, you'll require the following functions:

Program Terms of Reference. Clearly outline all the rules associated with your program. Make the collection process for stars and points as straightforward and seamless as possible.

Tracking points requires your users to remain aware of the total points, stars, coupons, or bonuses they possess in their accounts and whether or not these can be redeemed.

Earn points. Users should be able to spend their bonus money on drinks, food, or merchandise items such as gifts.

Pre-Order for Pick-Up of Orders Starbucks' app makes pre-ordering easy. Simply order online in a matter of seconds to collect their pre-paid and prepared order—no long lines, no payment issues, and no unsatisfied customers!

Make sure that customers can still customize their orders through your app in the same way they would in the restaurant to ensure they don't notice the difference between ordering through it and in person.

Starbucks allows its customers to receive their pre-orders quickly; however, Dunkin' Donuts gives customers more control in terms of when their coffee will arrive. Customers using the Dunkin' Donuts app may place orders up to 24 hours in advance and select an option that best meets their individual needs.

Push notifications have evolved beyond their roots as an attention grabber into self-contained bits of information that help customers complete a particular task. A helpful and enjoyable notification provides your app with an opportunity to build strong customer relationships and forge long-term partnerships.

There are various push notification techniques you can utilize to retain customers, increase conversion rates, enhance the customer experience, track key metrics, and more.

Notifications that utilize audio and visual-rich content—music videos or images—tend to be the most successful and engaging. By adding sound and image components to your notifications, they become even more compelling and captivating.

Push notifications can be very powerful tools, but be wary that their misuse could cause irreparable damage to your brand's image and customer engagement. Too many notifications are often the primary factor behind consumers leaving brands altogether.

So it is essential that only when there is something significant happening should people know. Ads and spam don't give your business credibility!

How much does it cost to create an app like Starbucks?

The Starbucks app offers a myriad of features to its users, but are you wondering how much it costs to develop an app like Starbucks?

Creating and launching an app akin to the Starbucks app involves a cost ranging from $35,000 to $120,000, covering the entire development process. However, this range varies based on factors such as desired features, launch timeline, and platform availability (Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or both). It also depends on which app development company you choose.

To help you better gauge the expenses for your business's app, let's break down the cost estimation:

Prototyping

The initial step involves constructing a no-code prototype, a preliminary version of your app, for testing and planning. Prototyping costs are more time-dependent than budget-related. Investing in tools like Zapier (approximately $20/month) may be necessary for testing various aspects of the app.

MVP Design and Build

Should you decide to proceed after the prototype phase, the next step is creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), a functional version for investors and users. Before moving forward, assess your assumptions, gather feedback, and ensure a sufficient budget.

MVP Cost Breakdown

Road Mapping Sessions: These discussions and research sessions, costing around $3,500, lay the foundation for a successful app development process. They provide a product roadmap, user flow diagrams, fixed prices, and a timeline.

Design and Building: Following road mapping, the development team begins the design and app-building process. This entails sketches, wireframes, mockups, and extensive development steps. The design phase may take around 200 hours. The initial MVP version could cost approximately $70,000, with subsequent updates adding an additional $49,000–$50,000 for an app like Starbucks.

Ongoing maintenance and support

Post-MVP, ongoing maintenance and support become crucial. This ensures the prompt resolution of issues. The cost typically ranges from $2,500 to $5,000 per month, reflecting the complexity and potential challenges associated with maintaining feature-rich apps.

While these figures may initially seem high, they align with the intricate nature of feature-packed apps like those offered by Starbucks. The investment in ongoing support ensures swift resolution of any issues, given the complexity and extensive functionalities involved.

Are you prepared to create an app similar to or even better than Starbucks?

Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Domino's Pizza, and Pizza Hut have transformed the restaurant industry with innovative applications that revolutionize how customers experience them.

However, that doesn't equate to oversaturated markets; on the contrary, only a handful of vendors exist. Reach out to a reputed mobile app development company and get your work done with perfection.