Himanshu PatelWhat’s the biggest nightmare you could ever have- when traveling to a place that’s too far away?
Your vehicle runs out of the fuel!
Your vehicle unfortunately stopped.
Your vehicle’s tire gets punctured.
Nothing is more disastrous than it if any of these things have happened in the mid-way, where there is no access to the services in the close vicinity.
One more point in the case: Frequent visits to the fuel station and long wait add a lot of inconvenience to the individuals, trucking companies, or office buildings.
The annoyance is perfectly answered by the on-demand fuel delivery start-ups that deliver fuel anytime, anywhere. In addition to 24/7 fuel deliveries, other services like- vehicle repair, maintenance, tank sales, rentals, and inspection services are also offered locally and worldwide.
It has become the hottest trend across the globe. Increasingly, the new start-ups are trying their hands in the niche industry with a unique range of services.
Let’s take a look at the popular fuel delivery service providers that have made a big hit in a short time:
Booster – Fuel Delivery App for Fleets and Commuter
The USA-based on-site and off-site fuel delivery service provider has made the lives of the people easier with effortless car fueling service. The service refuels the tank at the same price that the fuel station is charging along with added convenience. They help in emergency cases as well when people stucks somewhere because the fuel reach the rock bottom of a fuel tank.
The users need to park the vehicle, select the location, order the quantity of fuel required, and keep the fuel tank hatches open. When the truck arrives, it fills the vehicle’s fuel tank, and the users are notified for the same. The company has refueled the car even during pandemic times in a contactless way.
The fuel delivery app that’s generating more than $200K million daily has begun its venture in 2015 with $3.1 million funding. Later, the company raised $20 million in 2017 in funding led by conventional capital followed by $56 million in 2019 to expand its service- gas station on wheels.
Filld: Gas delivered to your car
Since 2015, the start-up has started offering its services in the Washington and Bay Area with a unique delivery model. The on-demand delivery mobile app has created its distinctive niche with working hours, that’s they deliver the fuel overnight between 10 PM to 5 AM. This strategy helps them to deliver the fuel in reduced time because there is comparatively less traffic at night time.
The users require to download the mobile app, complete the registration by providing the mobile number, and the app asks you daily whether you need fuel or not. When the user gives their consent, the fuel truck arrives and refill the tanks. The delivery fee is associated with the local average price of the fuel.
The company earning nearly $5 million revenue daily has raised a total of $28.3 million in funding. Initially, the company raised $3.25 million in seed funding in 2015 and then raised $9.65 million in series A funding in 2019, that’s followed by $15 million in Series B funding in 2020.
Cafu – Petrol & Diesel Delivery in UAE
The first fuel delivery start-up that has made its way into UAE is CAFU to step in with the digitalization trend. The service provider delivers fuel to cars, motorbikes, boats, and fleets, in addition to a car inspection and maintenance services.
The company employs two models- on-demand and subscription to refuel the vehicles’ tanks. Under the on-demand model, the users have to pay 18 AED for every fill-up service. For subscription, the users have to pay 26 AED where they receive the benefits of getting unlimited fuel deliveries. The delivery charges are eliminated after the Corona outbreak to encourage the people to favor on-demand delivery services.
Read More: How CAFU – On-Demand Fuel Delivery App Take Rapid Strides In Less Than A Year?
The business with 80 custom-built trucks began its international fuel delivery services in 2018 followed by multiple rounds of funding. The removal of delivery charges during the pandemic has helped the business to increase its active users to 75% along with a marginal increase in ROI.
Yoshi – Freedom is a Full Tank
The Silicon Valley-based start-up is born to address the problems that people face at the gas stations. It allows the people to book the fuel delivery service for now or for a later date. Under the Yoshi membership fee of $20 per month, the users will get unlimited deliveries where the delivery fee they don’t need to pay.
The company takes a wide step ahead by providing a bouquet of services like- 24/7 doorstep fuel delivery and car maintenance services that include oil changing, car washing, wiper blades changing, tire checking, engine cleaner, and pretty more.
The business founded in 2016 has raised a funding of $15 million to start the fuel on the wheels business. Later, the company raised $2.1 million to expand its gas delivery and car wash service. In series B funding, Yoshi raised $23 million in 2020 for on-demand car maintenance services.
Gaston – Fuel delivery and refueling of small services
The European fuel delivery start-up has expanded its services to the city of dreams, that’s Paris. No matter where you are and where your car is parked, the Gaston app refuels the tanks just at a single tap.
The service provider has helped in cutting the long queues at the gas station and helped the people who ran out of the fuel in the mid-way. The user needs to select the location, order the quantity of fuel, make the payment, and even they can leave the car while keeping the hatch open, the truck driver comes and refuel the tank, and the user will get the notification for the same.
Read more: Guide For On-Demand Fuel Delivery App Development Cost
The maintenance, cleaning, and repair services are also offered in addition to the car fueling services when requested by the users.
Flyers – Bulk Fuel Delivery Service – Gas & Diesel Delivery
The start-up is famously-known for the bulk fuel delivery for businesses across California, Arizona, and Nevada. It aims to meet the fuel requirements of large enterprises, trucking businesses with a fleet of trucks, or independent gas stations with the help of nearby 17 warehouses.
The bobtail trucks leveraged to deliver the fuel for the orders ranging between 400 to 14000 gallons. The company boasts of competitive pricing, customer service, and huge deliveries (approx. 2 million gallons per day).
FleetFuelz: National Fuel Delivery – On-Site Fueling Solutions
The company is known for providing a range of products- gasoline, lubricants, diesel, and aviation fuel to meet the different fuel needs of the users. They facilitate on-site deliveries for the construction industries, mining industries, transportation and fleet vehicles, and the wet-hose services for trucks, machines, and generators.
The company has also launched the first fuel card for on-site and on-demand services that help businesses to get fuel at the discounted rates.
Popular Fuel Delivery App Business Models
The successful fuel delivery business like- Booster, Filld, Yoshi, CAFU, and Gaston enjoyed incredible success with immense popularity, high userbase, and huge ROI. However, what made them different and unique is the business model that they inculcated in services and sales propositions. They are:
- Buy fuel from the fuel stations in bulk at a lower cost and zero infrastructure cost allow them to sell the fuel to the users at a comparatively lesser cost.
- Leverage specially designed vehicles that allow them to receive gas directly from suppliers and pump fuel into the user’s cars, which cuts out middlemen.
- Facilitating on-demand car wash, oil change, and car maintenance services, in addition to fuel delivery.
- Offering fuel delivery subscription plan where the users get the benefit of unlimited car refueling service.
- Providing the service between 10:00 PM to 5:00 AM that results in more deliveries in less time due to comparatively less traffic or no traffic.
- In the B2B model, the fuel delivery business partner with corporates where the fuel delivery, car wash, and car maintenance services are offered in office buildings that results in massive orders and sales.
The Monetization Model for Fuel Delivery Business
Irrespective of the business type and size, every entrepreneur expects a constant stream of revenue after doing all the planning, investing huge bucks, and spending a lot of time. For the new players on the on-demand block, here we have enlisted a few ways that the successful fuel delivery businesses employ to generate revenue.
- The fuel delivery businesses directly partner with fuel suppliers that help them to get fuels at a quite lower price, which they sell nearly at the price that petrol stations offer.
- Delivery fee is the primary source of revenue, where expedite deliveries increase the charges, thereby generating extra profit.
- The membership fee that includes an annual subscription plan for unlimited deliveries, generates huge bucks.
- Partner with nearby fuel stations and allow them to run a mutual business in the exchange of a certain amount for providing a digital space on the application.
- With mobile app development, the entrepreneurs at the later stage can charge registration fees for doorstep fuel delivery at the fingertips.
- With the B2B model, the business can gain a large volume of services even with trivial marketing investment as the orders in bulk generate revenue faster.
The Technology Stack for Top Best Fuel Delivery App
The right mix of technologies, tools, and tactics helps in building a successful fuel delivery app like- Booster, Filld, CAFU, and Yoshi at ease. Let’s dive in!
Front-end technologies that make the app perform to the par.
The phenomenal app’s UI and UX makes the user repetitively use the same application in the sea of apps of the same genre. The mobile-responsive design includes optimal graphics so that the app’s performance won’t get negatively impacted.
The latest programming languages- Java, Kotlin, and Flutter used for Android app development. The optimal languages- Swift and Objective C, iOS design themes, HTML5, CSS3, JS, Bootstrap, and Angular leveraged for iOS app development that raises the bar of utility and convenience in the application.
Back-end technologies that set the stage
The back-end technologies are the backbone of the app that makes the app perform flawlessly in the real world. They hide the ugly reality of the app and display functionalities to the users in the easiest form to understand.
The popular scripting programming languages- Ruby, Python, and Node.JS, cloud-based back-end servers- AWS, Microsoft Azure, database- NOSQL, MySql, and MongoDB, and JSON API, REST API, GraphQL, and XML APIs leveraged to build the robust back-end.
Third-Party Integrations with Fuel Delivery App: All You Should Know About Them
The readily available third-party APIs eliminate the need to engineer every functionality from scratch. They are available in the plug-and-play form, so no coding is required from development to integration. Various third-party integrations that are popular in fuel delivery apps are:
- Using social media APIs, you can enable registration or sign-in directly through social channels without needing to enter the credentials every time.
- Allow users to make the payment the way they want through multiple payment gateways like- Braintree, Authorize.Net, Stripe, and PayPal integration. The payment gateways not only execute and manage transactions but ensure data security from start to finish.
- GPS integration allows the users and drivers to track each other location in real-time to stay up-to-date about the truck’s location, and easily arrive at the destined location respectively. Google map and Apple map integration also help in viewing the location on the map and getting directions for the optimized routes.
- Push.io is a well-known push notification API to easily integrate an in-app notification feature in the app that keeps the user informed about every progress made in the fuel delivery booking.
- Zoho, Salesforce, and Microsoft Dynamics-like CRMs are leveraged to better understand the customers and improve customer relationship management.
- Embrace KISSmetrics, Piwik, Hotjar, and Woopra-like analytics tools for identifying all the touchpoints that negatively impact the performance or ruin the customer experience.
Conclusion
The fuel delivery at the doorstep is the most effortless, efficient, and eco-friendly way to get the tanks refueled. Presently, the new start-ups are launching the day after another, but there is a lot, which is not yet explored. You should make the choice prudently before selecting any service provider for getting your car tanks refilled every day or every week, depending on your need because the services delivered by every fuel delivery business vary greatly.
My two cents: Before you narrow down the choice to one fuel delivery business, you should check the availability (Time at which they serve you), the services they offer in addition to fuel delivery, and the overall fuel delivery price so that you never need to repent on the decision made.
