In today’s bustling F&B industry, a well-optimised menu is a secret sauce that can significantly improve restaurant sales and orders. With the food delivery business experiencing a massive boom, competition has never been fiercer. Getting a leg up on the big players is about creating a strategic menu that offers tantalising options and appeals to the customers’ palette and wallet, ultimately translating to increased restaurant revenue. In this article, we’ll delve into 6 key tips for improving a menu that stands a cut above the rest, so you can see your food delivery performance soar like never before!
1. Create a user-friendly online menu
User experience is king in the digital age. To create a positive impression and entice your customers, your digital menu should be easy to navigate and aesthetically pleasing. Imagine your delivery menu as a well-curated, virtual buffet table, where the delicious high-profit dishes take centre stage, effortlessly grabbing the users’ attention. Your customers should be able to glide through your dishes like a breeze and find what they crave without hassle.
Creating an artful organisation of your offerings can significantly improve the overall experience for your customers. You can facilitate swift and easy ordering by strategically grouping dishes and effectively communicating prices and discounts. Moreover, consider placing your best sellers at the top of the menu to guide customers towards satisfying choices that are also profitable for your business.
2. Offer limited options on your delivery menu
Less is more when it comes to a delivery menu. By narrowing down your options to popular and high-profit dishes, you not only simplify the decision-making process for customers but also guarantee that your offerings travel well and are prepared promptly. This commitment to high quality and fast delivery can increase sales and customer satisfaction.
Besides offering a better user experience, a streamlined menu also increases operational efficiency. With fewer dishes to prepare, your kitchen staff can perfect their craft on a select few recipes, ensuring consistency and quality. This operational ease can lead to quicker turnarounds, increased sales, and happier customers.
3. Update and change your menu seasonally
Staying current is vital in the fast-paced food delivery business. Regularly updating your menu to showcase seasonal delights, specials, and new offerings keeps your restaurant top-of-mind for customers. For instance, the winter months may inspire a ‘holiday brunch’ section, while October may see the introduction of a range of festive Halloween desserts. Special occasions can also be an excellent opportunity to offer unique dishes. A strategic approach to refreshing and modifying your menu not only helps meet your customers’ evolving tastes but also sets your restaurant apart from the rest.
In the same vein, if certain dishes are underperforming or ingredients become unavailable, phase them out of your menu. This helps streamline your operations and prevent customer disappointment, minimise order errors, reduce confusion, and safeguard your reputation from negative reviews.
4. Provide upsells & offering modifications
Upselling additional items during guest checkout can significantly boost your sales. By leveraging recommendation engines and machine learning, you can automate upsells and cross-sells based on guest preferences and past purchases via your restaurant app or branded web ordering system. Personalising your offerings based on data analytics and allowing modifications that cater to dietary needs greatly enhance customer satisfaction and engagement, while also catering to a broader audience.
Whether it’s vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, or keto, accommodating these dietary needs can be a game-changer. Besides, providing the ability to customise dishes doesn’t just improve customer satisfaction; it shows your customers that you value their choices and needs.
5. Incorporate eye-catching food photography & menu descriptions
In a world where first impressions count, high-quality food photography and eye-catching dish descriptions are your secret weapons. Follow these pro tips to shoot beautiful food photographs for your menu:
- Tip 1: Harness the Power of Natural Light: Capture your menu items in bright and vibrant hues by shooting in natural light when the sun is not too harsh.
- Tip 2: Consistency is Key: Set a reminder to conduct your photo shooting sessions at the same time, ensuring that your menu items exude a cohesive and enticing appeal.
- Tip 3: Background Brilliance: Choose a unique and vivid background that complements your dishes, adding visual intrigue to your menu photos.
- Tip 4: Angle Magic: Showcase the texture and layers of single dishes with captivating side-angle shots. For a feast for the eyes, an overhead view is perfect to present a variety of dishes, ideal for showcasing mouthwatering combos or delightful pairings of main courses and sides. Let your menu photos tantalise and entice customers with every glance.
Offer special discounts & freebies
Time-bound offers trigger positive customer behaviour, helping your restaurant stand out in a crowded marketplace. The allure of a deal or a free item provides an added incentive that encourages customers to spend more with your business. For instance, if you have prepped too many daily specials, you can use this excess in a promotion to reduce waste and maximise sales.
Strategic promotions and freebies aren’t just about driving sales. They’re also about building relationships with customers and creating a dining experience they’ll remember and want to repeat. So, why not surprise your customers with a free dessert on their birthday or a discount on their next order? These gestures show your customers that you value their patronage and can encourage them to become repeat customers, contributing to your restaurant’s long-term success.
Boost your food delivery sales & orders
These steps to optimising a restaurant menu for improved sales and orders may seem challenging, but the rewards are worth it. A great first impression can be a deciding factor in a customer choosing your restaurant over another. At Chef Collective, we provide the perfect platform for you to implement these strategies. Ready to start your own CloudKitchen® delivery kitchen in Australia? Complete the form below, or feel free to reach out to us.