Apps for catering business. Pros and cons

What Is a Food Catering Business?

The concept “food catering business” refers to a company, social, or home catering service that offers food and other services for a gathering, event, or private residence but refrains from selling food or drink to specific customers.

The catering business goes beyond serving food to a group of people. It may include venue selection, entertainment, décor, seating arrangement, and event planning. Overall, the value of an app includes its ability to organize key processes. It can improve communication between the customer and the catering business. At the same time, catering apps simplify planning, procurement, and payment components.

There are several types of catering: Mobile, Delivery, Hotel, Restaurant, and Private Full-Service Caterers. All of them have their characteristics, and accordingly require slightly different applications, such as food truck catering apps. The topic is quite relevant, especially in those places where such points are popular.

Naturally, catering apps offer a competitive advantage; but there are also caveats. Let us consider the advantages and potential deficiencies of catering software apps and the ways to address them.

Pros of catering business apps

Service provider side

Procurement. Includes comparative analysis of available pricing, discounts, and planning. Such a feature is particularly valuable for growth and business continuity. New employees get access to databases containing critical data and information.

Organization and planning. The features include calendars with assigned responsibilities. They may also contain Gantt charts representing plans and completion stages. Such a feature also enhances budgeting by providing information about payments.

Finance function. Supports the budgeting function. It also enhances the analysis of the current revenue and expense streams and allows controlling liquidity.

Customer relationship management (CRM). The CRM function offers critical value from the standpoint of developing long-term relationships with customers (either B2B or B2C).

Customer side

Ease of engagement. The first contact offers the customer critical company information. It includes the scope of services it is providing and the next point of contact. It is common to integrate AI chatbot software. It prompts first contact from the app or website visitor.

Service and product selection. May include the menu of items. The pricing element allows selecting food items and other services in a catering app. This feature may also contain a customization alternative: products and services that are not on the list.

Progress tracking. The customer may be able to watch the preparation process. It ensures that the event follows the initial plan.

Push notifications. Timely notifications support communication between the customer and the catering company. It is also possible to extend the notifications to the guests. Such a feature is particularly relevant during conferences and round tables.

Cons of catering apps

As we saw, the main benefits of catering apps stem from the features they offer. At the same time, the cons of the catering apps are mostly associated with the lack of customization. If the app is more standard than tailored, it may be unable to meet the requirements of a particular catering business.

Standard catering apps usually have limited functionality. Customized apps, such as booking apps by TRIARE, offer a broader range of features. When you decide to get a custom catering app, it is critical to correctly communicate the business needs to the developers. These are vital when creating, implementing, and testing specific solutions.

The drawbacks of catering apps may also appear during the post-development stage. Such products need consistent maintenance and improvement. These efforts pose extra challenges for entrepreneurs. The support of developers is critical in this regard, so make sure to talk the matters through with your company of choice.

Smartphone Apps Transfiguring the Catering Industry

The modern world is undergoing many changes, and this is happening all the time. Now it is very easy to order something home simply through a smartphone application, call a taxi or order another service in this way. These changes do not bypass the food industry either.

We all often use food or grocery delivery. Apps for catering businesses can be quite different. It all depends on the goal. Perhaps, the client needs an application to regulate only internal processes. Or the existing customers demand it for easier communication and making choices. However, options for catering apps will depend on the purpose of creation. For example, in an application for mobile catering, it would be nice to have a map with calculations of distance, time, and more.

Most Popular type of Catering Apps

Сatering is gaining popularity again, especially after a rather long break due to the pandemic. Many people want to catch up, and the pressure of orders has increased on the catering business. Such an influx of customers forces us to optimize the process faster. This is where various applications help. The most popular are those that help maintain communication with the client and fully display a set of services.

Here are some types of Catering Apps. There are applications that help you calculate how many products you need to buy, allow you to manage recipes and calculate the exact cost of dishes. Other applications are aimed specifically at monitoring employees, helping to plan work schedules, vacations, salaries, and more.

Here are some of the most popular apps for catering services:

• HoneyBook
• Rentman
• Curate
• When I Work
• Deputy
• Tripleseat

To summarize

We have reviewed apps for catering business and ways to develop them. There are specific features as well as pros and cons. There are also multiple options for catering apps. Despite your choice, we recommend taking this investment seriously.