Introduction:
We might have heard about some of the buzzwords like on-demand food delivery services, on-demand taxi booking, salon booking, and many other services that are available on-demand, like domestic chores too. But ever heard of an online fuel delivery business? Yes, you got that right! Nowadays, even the android app developers are working hard to make no tables unturned while the on-demand fuel delivery app development process is on. Our android apps development service got you covered.
In the past couple of years, these services have gained much attention from the on-demand service users once they start getting more knowledge about them. The people who have already started utilizing these services are now finding it the most convenient way to get their engines fueled up with a smaller number of clicks on an on-demand services app. According to the users, there are two main advantages of using these services, one being less time to wait in the queue at the fuel station, and the other being the less amount of fuel wasted in getting your ride from home to the fuel station. Hence, it saves time and money both!
The applications that enable these services for their users have also gained strength in the market as many customers are ready to accept this. Also, most IT companies have upgraded their android apps development service according to the business model of the on-demand fuel delivery apps.
Certain business firms like Field, Yoshi, Booster, Fuelster, Gaston, MyPetrolPump, and so on mainly focus on mobile fueling services and have also attracted emerging entrepreneurs to start with their own on-demand fuel delivery app.
Hence, in this blog, we bring a discussion on how to start a fuel delivery business, with reference to on-demand android applications.
Want to start an online fuel delivery business? Here’s how:
The fuel delivery startups have emerged a couple of years in the past, supplying necessary fuels for locomotives and industries, residential buildings, corporate offices, etc., for their effective utilization. Hence, it can said that the online fuel delivery business market has been growing rapidly, and to provide the users and the suppliers of the fuel an interface to communicate, the IT companies are providing their best android app development services to launch these types of applications.
With much-gaining popularity, the number of targeted end-users or the customers for this business would also keep increasing. Hence, before starting the business, it recommended that the entrepreneurs choose the relevant location of operating it, instead, where more customers can engage in the business.
For example, if you are willing to start your on-demand fuel delivery app in India, choose a location where there is a considerable demand for fuels, like metro cities, and you can easily reach out to the customers when they put a demand on your app.
Also, it recommended that you start your business on a smaller scale first. As you would be a newbie in the competitive market environment, it is good to start with less and then grow. For example, you can start with a supply of petrol first, and then expand your scope with diesel, LPG, and so on. With this, your business might gain remarkable momentum and also lets you survive in the market competition.
So let us see what it takes to start with an on-demand fuel delivery business. Before consulting an android app developer for on-demand fuel delivery app development, one should keep some essential points, regulations, and a few critical norms in mind, which are as follows:
1. Licensing:
Taking an example of a Bangalore-based fuel delivery startup, MyPetrolPump had faced some regulatory issues after its launch of the fuel delivery business. Even though the company has managed to back the fund of 1.6M USD, there were certain regulatory and licensing issues in accordance with the norms mentioned by the government. Also, this type of business concept was rare in India, and hence there was less clearance on both ends.
As a result of these issues, one of the government agencies, PESO (Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organization), had put a ban on the company and had also instructed the fuel supply dealers not to deal with the company. This had caused adverse effects on the company’s growth in the initial phase.
So, the point to note here is that if you want to run a successful fuel delivery business, stay updated with the rules and regulations defined by the government with respect to the fuel supply.
Hence, while supplying fuel to the customers, for safety purposes, get permitted and register for the required license from the government authorities. For instance, the companies that operate in the USA have to follow the regulations defined by EPA and PHMSA.
2. A fleet for commutation:
For any successful transport of fuel or gas, a perfect locomotive plays the most crucial role. For instance, at the initial phase, if you are dealing with the supply of petrol and similar fuels only and you don’t have a backup for investing in heavy load locomotives, you can supply it using your two wheeled or three-wheeled vehicles only. The only thing you need to attach with your mini fleet of locomotives is the mobile fuel dispenser that you can use for refilling the vehicle’s fuel for your customer anywhere.
Also, a GPS tracker can make a lot of tasks easier for the commutation of the supply vehicles to lesser-known areas in the vicinity.
3. Hire experienced drivers:
It becomes the utmost responsibility of the business owner to make sure that the people involved in the commutation of the fuels are safe, as these fuels may sound hazardous. Hence, experienced drivers, categorized as HAZMAT (Hazardous Material) drivers, need to be recruited. These are trained individuals who have expertise in commuting with hazardous fuels to different locations easily. These drivers are trained for driving safely in heavy traffic with vehicles loaded with tons of liters of fuel.
Hence, the business owner needs to conduct thorough research for finding these drivers and having a mutual agreement for the supply of fuels.
4. Collaboration with the dealers and providers:
The baseline of the business is to get the link of getting the fuel from the dealer or the supplier. You will require a rigorous survey of the fuel stations about the information from where they are getting their fuel getting filled. Also, choosing one right supplier out of multiple options available is an important point to note.
Suppose you have limited resources for collaborating with the suppliers. In that case, you can also opt for a choice where you can make a partnership with a local fuel station or any fuel delivery dealer. This won’t let your supply chain pause in the middle while fulfilling the customers’ demand.
So, these were some of the important points that you need to keep in mind while planning to start with an on-demand fuel delivery business. Now, how would the customers reach you to put their fuel requirement to the company?
Hence, following the recent trend in the market, an on-demand fuel delivery app development can do wonders. The customer just needs to install the app, log in to it, and bang! They are ready to order the amount of fuel required, and you would be gaining a customer for the supply of their required fuel!
With this, many companies have started with their android apps development service for this business. They are also helping the fuel delivery business owners gain momentum over the market with their digital marketing ideas.
Advantages of these android app development services can be:
- Fully featured, meeting customer requirements
- Dynamic UI and UX
- Backend, frontend, and web panel can be separately operated to create ease of operation.
- Update, addition, deletion of a customer, pending orders or payments, invoices, fuel stock management, tracking of driver activities, etc., can be managed by the web admin panel on a single platform only.
- Saves customer’s time for traveling to the fuel station and waiting in a queue for getting the chance to refuel the vehicle. Just place an order on the app, make the payment, and the fuel will be at their doorstep.
With these advantages, if you have decided to go with the on-demand fuel delivery app development, here is a list of must-to-have features for the same.
1. Location tracker
Ensure that your app has a GPS location tracker functionality, which will be helpful for the drivers to get to the location and get the information about the density of traffic on the way, estimated time of reach, and so on.
2. Choice of selecting the fuel, quantity, etc.
If your business deals with multiple fuel variants, make sure your customer can select which fuel they want to order. Also, they must have the provision to select the quantity of fuel they require. For this, there should be a functionality that tracks the amount of fuel available in stock in the admin panel.
3. Calls or texts within the app:
Integration of the calling and messaging features in the app itself will enable the customers to communicate with the company and the delivery person, even if there is no contact detail of the same is available with the customer. This not only saves time but also it will create satisfaction among customers towards the android apps development service provided by the company.
4. Promotional Codes:
Ensure that you send some promotional discount offers and their codes periodically to retrieve them to the customers to keep them engaged. Remember, customers love discounts!
5. Subscription and membership:
Like every other e-commerce platform, you can offer subscriptions to your customers at an affordable rate, which can be renewed monthly, twice a year, or once a year. You can prompt your customers for these subscriptions by providing the features like more cashback, discounts, fastest delivery of fuel, etc., in return.
Also, you can set a feature like a customer can set the amount of fuel he requires in a month, and that can be delivered to him weekly. This will ensure the customer need not take efforts to order the fuel every time he runs out of it. The company will timely, weekly in our instance, deliver the fuel to the customer in that subscription period. An interesting feature, right?
6. Payment gateways:
The feature of online payment is the most important feature for any on-demand app. Once the customer confirms the order, he will be redirected to the payment gateway home page to continue with the payment for the consignment. Once the payment is successfully done, the order placed, and accordingly, the invoice can also be generated.
7. Real-time tracking:
One of the advantages of a GPS tracker is that the customer can see what the delivery status is and where the delivery person has reached and how much time the order will be delivered.
So, these were some of the must-to-have important features of an online fuel delivery business app. Some other good features of the app include the wallet functionality to manage the payments and cashback, push notifications, multilingual features, RTL, etc.
Now, when the decision to opt for the android apps development service for your fuel business is made, the next thing observed after making a list of required features is the budget of development. Any business person would be interested in knowing how much the development and deployment of the application cost would be before deciding to invest funds in the same. Hence, let us see what the costs are involved in the on-demand fuel delivery app development process.
Any mobile application developer decides the cost of the application based on the type of platform for development, the complexity of designs for UI/UX, the features and functionalities to be included, the country in which you want to launch the app, etc.
For instance, if you choose an iOS platform for developing your application, it might cost you around USD 25000. On the other hand, an android developer may charge you USD 23000 for the same app development process as decided in iOS with the exact requirements.
One more option is available for creating a mobile app for your fuel delivery business, which is to opt for the hybrid app development, which is the concept of code once and run on any platform. Hence, the developer does not need to develop two different apps for android and iOS, respectively, having the same set of features and functionalities. Instead, hybrid app development saves time as well as budget, as the overall app development cost might not exceed 15000 approximately.
Please note that the figures mentioned above are the cost of the android apps development service only. You will have to invest more for licensing, fleet, partnership, etc., when you start your fuel delivery business.
Read also: 3 Leading On-Demand Food Delivery Platforms for Achieving Success in the Restaurant Industry
The Bottom Line
Start your on-demand fuel delivery services app to make your business successful by consulting the companies providing the best android apps development service. Start your journey towards being the pioneers of this business, with very limited competition in the market to date. Feel free to contact us for details.
