What is an order management app?
An order management application is a web or mobile application that enables users to create and track orders with suppliers. The app may enable users to specify the quantities, prices, and shipping information for each item in an order, request confirmation of the supplier’s availability of items in the order, and provide details of any errors encountered during fulfillment. The app typically provides an interface for managing existing orders as well as a dashboard view that summarizes user activity over time.
Order management apps are similar to task, delivery, and transportation rental apps. They focus on tracking the progress of an order in real-time. The two most popular examples of order management apps are GrubHub and Seamless.
Examples of order management apps built with Crowdbotics:
- An app for smart food lockers. App would allow users to buy hot foods from a locker. Users can pay using Stripe or through the app. App could be built for Android, iOS, or Windows.
- An app for a manufacturing company to track and assign production items. Each employee would be only allowed to build one item if they are trained to it. They would then tap a button every time it reaches a certain point in the assembly. They can see how long each process or person takes.
- A Shopify-embedded public app to use on a website. It will be one page that is an auto entry form. When someone enters the SKU and customer name for that order, the price will automatically be uploaded.
What is the typical cost to build an order management app?
An order management app usually costs about $37,500 to build. However, the total cost can be as low as $25,000 or as high as $50,000. An order management app with a low number of features (also known as a minimum viable product, or MVP) will be more affordable than an app that includes all intended functionality.
For example, here are some previous order management app price quotes from Crowdbotics:
How long does it take to build an order management app?
An order management app usually takes 227 hours to build. However, an order management app can be built in as few as 67 hours, or in as many as 467 hours. The exact timeline mostly depends on how complicated your specific app is. As a general rule, it will take longer if you require highly custom designs, niche features, complex logic, or non-standard release platforms.
For example, some previous order management apps build with Crowdbotics received the following hourly estimates:
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Crowdbotics has quoted and built hundreds of applications for teams of all sizes. Browse our historical estimates by industry and app type to understand possible costs and considerations.
How to successfully grow your order management application
An order management app can attract new users by providing a simple user interface, as well as by offering free shipping in order to encourage users to sign up. The app can also increase customer loyalty by focusing on user retention and simplifying the return process. Order management apps should think about how they can differentiate their value proposition from established market leaders like Amazon and eBay. In order to provide a better customer experience, it is important for order management apps to allow users to easily search the catalog of products that are available in stores, and it’s equally important for them to offer specific inventory information about the items that are located in local stores.
Risks and challenges of building an order management application
An application that manages order fulfillment risks being subject to strict consumer protection and anti-discrimination laws. It is recommended that, prior to developing a delivery app, you consult legal counsel to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. You should also create a system for tracking consumer feedback and complaints, as well as an escalation plan for responding to such complaints.
