Some of the best software solutions and applications to hit the market are those which arise out of filling a specific need. All kinds of devices, which became smaller and smaller from the days of the personal computer, require a standardised operating system for instance, which is why the likes of Bill Gates is still spoken of as one of the richest people in the world to this day.
While the OS effectively forms the basis for computing across all consumer and commercial devices, it’s the applications which run on those devices that highlight visible value.
Food ordering software comes to the fore as the focus of our case study today, with an exploration of the development trajectory of the best of this type of software on offer.
Flex Catering probably comes to mind as a leading brand in ordering software for restaurants and food businesses, but what exactly led to it eventually finding its way to the cutting edge of what would naturally be a competitive space? A bigger-picture analysis comes down to the conclusion that the developers simply catered to some very specific needs that come together to make up the process of the operation of a food ordering and delivery business very easy. It is likely that companies will need to collect a lot of information from customers regarding their food preferences to streamline their food business processes. As an example, someone who typically orders keto salads can see unique keto salad dressings as a pop-up once the salad is added to the cart. By doing this, the individual may be able to get the best salad with a delicious dressing. It would enhance the customer’s experience and it is likely that the customer will return to the app for any future food ordering needs.
In this industry, the software is a big factor, yes, but there is also the main side of any type of food business, and that is the creation of all of these dishes for delivery. This means that things like refrigeration (more here on this), as well as other essential food equipment, will be needed and kept updated throughout the running of the business, otherwise, there is no point in creating a food delivery business if behind the scenes there is no structure and care.
In light of that, there are some distinct areas we can isolate to piece together the emergent bigger-picture, and while a technical look at the way they operate points to a shining example of OOP (Object-Oriented Programming), the magic is contained in the mastery of the procedures (procedural functionality).
So what exactly does all of this mean?
The answer resides in taking a look at the core capabilities of the food ordering software. A procedure would be exemplified by something like what happens when a customer places an order, while an “object” of the software is basically just the source code that simulates and handles the data flow of that same process of a customer placing an order.
So what you’d see in your dashboard as a notification of a customer order is handled by what developers refer to as an object.
These types of technicalities are only important to give a bit of background as to what exactly makes one solution such as this so much better than most others. Otherwise it simply comes down to creating functionality for each action that would be taken by a customer and then streamlining that with every action that the service provider would have to complete in response to the customer’s action. However, emerging technology is bringing in better ways to respond to customer actions quickly, by incorporating event driven architecture in real-time applications; read this article from Vantiq to understand this more in detail and see how it may be useful to your business.
The data put through the customer portal has to be synched with dynamic data such as inventory, pricing, timing, minimum order thresholds, etc. These are the types of “problem” definitions developers relish and you can tell that some of the best worked on Flex Catering, as their food ordering software solution exists in a form akin to the soul of any restaurant or other type of food ordering business.