Yelp Clone Mobile App: How Apptunix Can Help You Develop An App Like Yelp?

What Do You Mean By Yelp Clone Mobile App?

The Yelp application was developed by a US-based company called Yelp Inc. It offers assistance services in finding anything that you need on the map. It does not matter what you’re looking for, whether it is a movie theater or a fine dining restaurant, everything is provided on the application. You can also read reviews and check ratings of the place you’re looking for to pick the best one.

Yelp consists of three types of users:

• Local businesses
• Users who are looking for businesses or services and read reviews for the same
• Content creators or reviewers

Similar to other platforms, Yelp has also transformed with time with new functionalities. Users can now book a table or order food for takeout or delivery through the application. Now, Yelp also has third-party integrations that enable users to complete transactions through the mobile app and website.

Now, a Yelp clone mobile app solution will be an app just like Yelp that you can use to launch with your own branding and source code. As a customer review platform, it will let you launch your interactive business review website. 

Yelp clone mobile app will be like a local online community as it combines social networking platforms with local reviews. It will allow its users to find their required services from the best service providers by checking the reviews and rating updates.

The Way To Success: Don’t Be A Copycat by Just Buying a Yelp Clone Script

The road to success is not always pocket-friendly. To build your business in the online marketplace, you have two options. One is buying an off-the-shelf solution like a SaaS solution and the other one is building a custom software product and having a unique mobile presence for your business. 

While deciding whether you want to invest in custom app development or buy a Yelp clone script, you must consider what features are you planning to include in your app. Getting a custom app developed has benefits of its own. You can add on the features that you want according to the business requirements that will help you stand out in the market. 

Buying a Yelp clone script may get you an idea of how your app should function but what is the point of having another Yelp app? If you need to make money from your platform, you must have a unique selling proposition. The uniqueness of your business model is going to help it stand out in the market and acquire more customers.

Now, imagine the market for your business changes suddenly or the requirement of your customer base alters all of a sudden. What will you do then? You can’t change your platform’s functionalities, in case you buy a script. However, if you go with a customized app solution, you get to own the source code of your application. This means you can make changes to your platform anytime. Your application becomes adaptable to the market and customers’ needs.

There are a lot of reasons why you should not just buy a Yelp clone script and some of them are listed below:

• If you buy a script, your product will lack the freedom of features and design
• With fewer customization options, a clone script may make updating and scaling costly or even impossible
• Safety and security may be a concern
• The solution may face a lot of third-party integration challenges.

Why Create an App Like Yelp: 3 Reasons That Prove This Business Idea Is Profitable

Many people are most likely to trust the recommendations of their friends, relatives or even a stranger over any marketing or advertising agency. This trust issue has always been affecting online businesses. 

Your Yelp-like app must have the ability to solve the aforementioned problem by coming up with a great idea. Your platform must be built on a unique business idea that ensures that all the reviews posted are genuine. Here are 5 reasons to prove that a Yelp-like business idea is going to be profitable:

1. 89% of worldwide consumers prefer reading online reviews before purchasing any product/

According to research, nine out of ten read reviews before buying anything. This indicates that online reviews play an important role in the purchasing process of a consumer. This also shows that so many people have faith and a high level of confidence and trust in the opinion of other consumers. 

Online reviews have so much demand in the marketplace. Launching a Yelp-like marketplace that offers people to upload or read reviews about any product or service is the best opportunity to shine.

2. 79% of shoppers prefer online reviews over personal recommendations

Even though personal recommendations are given a higher priority over online reviews, it continues to have a significant impact on consumers, except for the older generation. 

According to a recent study, four in five believe in trusting online reviews rather than listening to personal recommendations. And many people have indeed stopped believing in word-of-mouth. 

For example, 87% of customers say that reviews are crucial when deciding which restaurants or cafés to visit, as well as which hotels or B&Bs to stay at. Only 66%, on the other hand, believe that reviews are significant for clothes businesses.

As the significance of online reviews is growing higher every day, it is the right time to launch your Yelp clone mobile app in the market. 

3. Almost 47% of all internet users leave a review about any product or service

Consumers are not just reading reviews but they are also leaving reviews about any product, service, company, etc. A lot of studies say that almost half of the worldwide internet users post reviews.

Though this is a typical occurrence among online users of all ages, the younger generation is more inclined to engage in it.

For example, 53% of internet users between the ages of 25-34 publish reviews at least once a month, but only 39% of those aged 45 to 54 do so. In comparison, just over a third (30%) of internet users aged 55 to 64 write monthly reviews on the internet.

5 Key Players Of Online Marketplace Model-Like Yelp

Yelp was launched in 2004 and before that many apps like Yelp were present in the market. Among them, some businesses were Zomato, OpenTable, Angi, Slant, Zagat, UrbanSpoon, MerchantCircle, TripAdvisor, Foursquare and many others. Let’s have a look at the top 5 key players of this market 

1. Foursquare

Foursquare is a local discovery and search service. Many people use this platform to share their recommendations of the places others must visit. The app recommends to users the places that are nearest to their current location. It analyses the browser history, users’ geolocation and check-in history to offer such recommendations.

All users need to do is specify their current location to find locations for drinking, eating, sightseeing, shopping or doing any other activity. 

2. MerchantCircle

MerchantCircle is a platform that allows small-size and mid-size businesses to stay connected and in touch with other businesses. The platform aims to connect businesses with their targeted user base to deliver a better user experience and better services.

With MerchantCircle, users can find discounts and the best deals near their location. Users can also read reviews or get assistance from other users. 

3. TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor is one of the most popular platforms among travelers. It is a travel service platform that allows users to go through user-generated information and comparisons.

TripAdvisor is also known for finding so many tourist attractions and opportunities. This platform helps people in finding famous places to travel, restaurants, hotels and other things.  

4. UrbanSpoon

UrbanSpoon is a restaurant-finder platform that uses efficient functionality to find a random restaurant. Users can add filters like town, type of food, budget, etc. UrbanSpoon may also be accessed through the website, making it a top-notch restaurant list app. 

5. Angi

Angi is a business director platform that allows users to submit reviews about any company. The only difference between Yelp and Angi is that on this platform, users have to submit comprehensive reviews. They have to specify the company’s grades in a report card style (A-F). The review factors that Angi considers are quality, price, professionalism and punctuality. 

As you can see all the applications mentioned above offer the same service but in a different way. We can say that each application has a different USP. Having a USP for your business is going to make your business reach a wider customer base and stand out in the market.

How To Create Your Yelp-like App?

If you are planning to create an app like Yelp, here are some steps that will make the development process smoother. These processes will help in sorting out your ideas, hiring the best mobile app development company, design and developing. 

1. Research The Market

Before moving forward with Yelp clone app development, you should do complete market research. You need to understand what the market needs, what are the things in which the existing solutions lack and how can your business cover those gaps. There are several examples and app solutions already available in the market that will help you with understanding the solution that you can offer.

Before diving into the development process, here are some things to consider:

• The target audience for whom you’re building the application.
• What your audience wants and how they use Yelp and other similar apps in the niche.
• What kind of a solution are users looking for and how will your app benefit them?

2. Find Your USP

USP also known as a unique selling proposition is a selling point that makes your business idea stand out in the marketplace. It is the distinguishing feature that differentiates you from other businesses that happen to be your competitors.

Simply look at your competition and see what they have to offer to choose which aspect of your app should be highlighted. Is there something they’re overlooking, or is there a better way to do something?

2. Finalize Your Tech Stack

Any application should be developed with the mindset that it should be adaptable to market changes or customer needs. Using robust technologies will help in letting the app stand strong in the market and away from any third-party attacks.

We, at Apptunix, use various top-class technologies including Python or PHP along with Ruby on Rails and Java for online solutions. These technologies help in converting your idea into an outstanding product. However, the technology you choose solely depends on the requirements of your project.

4. Hire App Developers Or Buy A Yelp Clone Script

If you already have your in-house app development team then you’re already done with this stage. However, you can always hire the best developers near you to help you with the development process. With your business idea, the team can help in developing a product that is even better than Yelp. You will have a fully customizable Yelp clone solution. 

But it is very important to purchase a solution that is customizable so that you can add on more functionalities as per the market needs. Buying just a Yelp clone script won’t do you any good as it will be just having a mobile presence that may one day fade out, unlike a customized solution that can be changed even after a few decades.  

5. Market and Launch

Once your app is developed, it is time to launch it in the market with the best strategies to attract your targeted audience. Social media marketing can help you in the best way. Bonus point for you, we also offer digital marketing services to gain more and more users to your platform.

How Apptunix Can Help You Develop an App Like Yelp?

Hiring Apptunix to develop your Yelp clone mobile app is going to help you in a lot of ways. With over 300+ tech experts and 2500+ live projects, we have got everything that your business needs.

We take care of your business objectives and mold them into a product that is both beneficial for your app and your services. We use advanced technology to build our solution:

• Elasticsearch
• Facebook API
• Google Maps API
• Google Directions API
• PayPal
• Socket.io
• Node.js
• Angular.js
• AWS

We will integrate excellent features and functionalities into your Yelp clone mobile app. Some of these features include user profile, ratings and reviews, reservation, photo or video uploading, payment integration, chat, a news feed, geolocation, etc. Apptunix is eager to collaborate with any business with such an excellent idea. 

We choose the optimal tech stack that will go with your business requirements and create a fully-featured product.

Final Words

People like to travel and visit new places, be it a new restaurant or a new city. It is a very normal trait of human beings to ask for recommendations. Hence, the future of online directories like Yelp is very bright and this is the right time for business owners to invest in Yelp clone app development. 

We can help in making your Yelp clone app distinctive with unique features for it to directly compete with the industry leader. Hire our expert professionals today!