The on-demand segment has transformed the face of the service industry, globally. Nearly every segment from cab providers to salon services has transitioned to an app-based on-demand delivery model. The on-demand industry has been on a progressive rise in recent times. With the increase in demand for on-demand services, entrepreneurs are also exploring innovative business models like on-demand fuel delivery services with high hopes.
Rise of On-demand Economy
According to a survey, U.S. consumers were spending $75.7 billion annually on the on-demand economy. As per PwC, the on-demand industry will generate a revenue of $335 billion by 2025.
(Source: https://bit.ly/2Tekeal)
Benefits of On-demand Fuel Delivery Apps
One of the most promising segments in on-demand industry is the on-demand fuel delivery domain. On-demand fuel delivery apps function just like Uber for gas and petrol delivery at doorstep. Users place a delivery request and a petrol tanker comes to their place for refueling their vehicles.
In a world run by fossilized fuel like petrol, the concept of an on-demand fuel delivery app sounds lucrative. The growing number of vehicles on the road and demand for convenience is giving startups high hopes. Here are some of the benefits of the on-demand fuel delivery app for the end-users:
Support in Emergency Situations
On-demand fuel delivery apps allow you to get fuel for your car like petrol or diesel, anywhere, anytime. This is especially beneficial in cases where you are stuck somewhere – maybe on the road, highway or in a remote location and cannot reach the nearby fuel station
Saves Time
On-demand fuel delivery services deliver fuel to a customer at his/her doorstep. This means one doesn’t have to spend his/her time waiting in a queue or driving down to a fuel station, which saves time.
Low Maintenance
When a user has on-demand fuel delivery app installed on his/her mobile, he/she doesn’t worry about regular refills which reduce the maintenance efforts associated with owning a car of bike.
High Quality
On-demand fuel delivery apps deliver high-quality fuel which passes several quality tests and regulations, promising best fuel.
Steps to create an on-demand fuel delivery app
If you are planning to launch on-demand fuel delivery services, you need to plan your moves diligently to ensure you do not face hurdles at any stage. Creating an on-demand fuel delivery mobile app is an important aspect of starting your on-demand fuel delivery business, but you need to take care of the following aspects too at the same time:
1. Develop an Infrastructure
Before moving ahead with anything, it is important to create a reliable infrastructure which basically includes finalizing on the fleet of delivery vehicles. This would involve hiring fuel truck drivers and finalizing on the design of fuel tanks based on the regulatory provisions. You must ensure that on-demand fuel delivery is a sensitive industry and you might require to get different safety and fire approvals while building your fleet. Take care of all the regulatory and safety measures while building the infrastructure and then move ahead with planning on your product mix.
2. Develop an IT Infrastructure
For your fuel delivery startup to succeed, you need to have a strong IT infrastructure that can support your fleet, end-user requests and the delivery operations. Unlike other on-demand startups like cabs startup, you need to go beyond the generic IT infrastructure.
For example, in on-demand cab services domain, just the on-device GPS might be enough for operations. But for achieving efficiency in on-demand fuel services, you would need a robust analytics platform that can provide real-time information about various parameters due to security concerns. You need to build a compliant, future-ready and scalable IT infrastructure that can support everything under a simplified interface and reliable backend.
3. Reporting and Analytics
You need to be fixated on perfecting your delivery model for the success of your venture. For this, you will need to focus a lot on your fuel trucks as well as on the power of analytics. As the commodity you will deal with is highly volatile in nature, you need to invest in smart IoT sensors and reporting tools.
Your trucks should always be meeting the required safety standards. To make your fleet compliant you would require checking various parameters inside the fuel truck/delivery chamber. This includes keeping an eye on the fuel chamber’s pressure, volume, temperature and other parameters. You can think of installing smart sensors and integrating them to a cloud platform that can transmit the data to a central reporting dashboard. Based on the findings from insightful reports, you can perfect your delivery model and continuously improve your operations, on-the-go.
4. Software development
Once you are done with backend and hardware planning, you would need an expert mobile app development team to integrate everything and help you realize your idea. A capable team will help you build a mobility solution for the end-customers, delivery agents and the operation administrators. The team should be able to take care of the front-end, back-end, UI/UX as well as capable of integrating the features for a successful on-demand fuel delivery app.
Critical Features for on-demand Fuel Delivery App
For your on-demand startup to succeed, you need to take care of the expectations of different stakeholders through your mobile apps. You need to have separate apps for end-users, delivery agents and business administrators for streamlined operations. Essentially, you would need separate apps for different stakeholders in the form of the following:
- 1. Customer Panel
- 2. Driver/Delivery Agent Panel
- 3. Admin Panel
Here are some basic features for dedicated app panels for users, delivery agents and administrators:
Challenges faced by on-demand fuel delivery startups
On-demand fuel delivery service segment is quite young compared to other segments. Moreover, owing to the hazardous nature of the goods delivered, the segment poses significant challenges for a startup looking to foray in this particular industry.
1. Safety-related challenges
Safety is one of the foremost concerns in a fuel delivery startup because fuel can lead to fire hazards. For a startup to effectively run operations, it needs to invest in high-quality fuel transportation tanks and several safety measures to avoid any accidents.
It is always better to get the necessary approvals and get your setup inspected by fire hazard department for eliminating chances of a fire.
2. Authority-related Challenges
Fuel delivery startups have received a lot of flak from authorities, governments and legal circles around the world. The main reason is the lack of any standard regulations regarding on-demand fuel delivery. Authorities are stricter owing to safety hazards associated with fuel handling.
On-demand fuel delivery startups can connect with regulatory authorities and concerned ministries to get required approvals and no-objection certificates to ensure no legal hurdles fall their way once they commence operations.
Cost of creating an on-demand fuel delivery app
The actual cost of developing an on-demand fuel delivery app depends on a lot of factors. This includes the kind of features you want in your app, your business scope and expansion plans and your deployment decision. Whether you are looking to build an app for a single platform or you are planning for cross-platform app development will also determine the cost of app development.
On top of it, the kind of UI/UX you want, the choice of app platform, and the development team would also have an impact on overall cost.
If you are planning to build an on-demand fuel delivery app, you should always contact a professional app development company to get an idea about the costs involved. Get in touch with our experts developers today who can guide you about the cost of developing an on-demand fuel delivery app.
The on-demand segment has real potential to make a startup enter the unicorn club. By investing judiciously towards app development, it can achieve the desired level of success. If an app is intuitive and user-friendly, users will get engaged to it soon owing to the growing demand in the sector. If you are planning to build an on-demand mobile app, get in touch with our experts now.
