Munch is a food delivery service in Zimbabwe that provides food options from many fast foods or quick-service outlets. Those who have seen my opinions on the eCommerce space in Zimbabwe know that I get excited about aggregators – businesses or services that are not producers but rather bring together things produced by others. Munch Zimbabwe has an app that is available for both Android and iOS devices and we gave it a spin to see just how good it is. We tested both versions of the app but the images included are from the iOS app. Let’s go through the Munch Zimbabwe mobile app.
Munch Zimbabwe is the work of founder Tendai Jakarasi who just wanted an easier way for people to get their favourite food. Today Munch serves Harare and Bulawayo with a host of food outlets and their services for grocery, liquor and convenience are also bundled in the app. Munch has a few neat tricks up its sleeve but showing is always better than telling so let’s walk through the app.
You are greeted by a screen asking you to select your city. As mentioned before you have a choice between Harare and Bulawayo at present.
Once you have selected the city you will see what is available. The app uses location data if you allow it to show you options that are closest to you.
You can scroll through the list of restaurants until you find the one you are looking for or use the search bar to keyword search for pizza, burger or whatever you’re looking for.
Once you’ve selected the desired restaurant you will see their menu and you can scroll through that until you find what you want. Click on the item to expand it.
Choose the quantity of the item you want using the +/- and it will be added to the cart. You can add multiple items to the cart to make your complete order.
Once you’re happy with the order click on the cart icon at the bottom of the screen to see your order. You can adjust quantities or remove items from this view. You can empty the entire cart if you need to as well. Once you’re satisfied with the order click Proceed to Checkout to complete your order.
Here you will add the recipient’s name, phone number, address and any additional delivery instructions. Once you have filled all this in you can proceed to the payment method.
The choice of currency will determine the payment methods available to you. If you look at earlier screenshots you will see the currency selector at the top right corner, clicking on this will cycle through the currency choices. If you choose US Dollars you have your pick between Card, PayPal and Cash on Delivery. For Zimbabwean dollar payments, those options change to ZIPIT and Ecocash.
Once you have selected the payment method you proceed to the delivery screen. This allows you to select delivery and will add the delivery charge based on order, vendor and delivery location. From there you move to the penultimate screen in the order process which will ask you to enter the sender details. Munch has a keen focus on allowing people to buy for others, regardless of where they are.
The final screen will confirm order details including delivery and allow you to enter promo codes. Once you confirm your order is in progress.
Thoughts on the app
Munch Zimbabwe’s app is one of the leaner ones I’ve used in terms of interface and I like that a lot. The minimalistic design places the focus firmly where it should be, on the food. It’s a clean and smooth running app and it’s always a bonus for me when the Android app feels the same as using the iOS app and vice versa. The order fulfilment process is very smooth and they deliver on their promise. The payment options are adequate and they’ve gone about organising them well. I’ve written on many occasions about Zimbabwe lacking a dominant food delivery player but Munch Zimbabwe may be well on their way to being just that!
