In the ever-evolving world of the F&B industry, optimising your menu is pivotal for driving restaurant sales and orders. The food delivery business is in full swing, experiencing massive growth like never before. Getting an edge over the big players might seem challenging, but an artfully crafted digital menu could be the solution, setting your restaurant apart from the crowd. Let’s dive into 6 key tips for improving your menu to increase business revenue.
1. Craft a user-friendly digital menu
In this digital era, capturing your customers’ attention and providing a seamless experience begins with a user-friendly interface. It’s crucial to optimise your delivery menu for easy navigation, allowing customers to effortlessly explore your offerings. Strategically highlighting high-profit dishes encourages customers to try them, elevating their journey and fostering a swift and effortless ordering process. Embracing this approach will create an environment that delights your customers and leaves them eager to place their orders.
Efficient grouping of dishes, clear communication of prices and discounts, and strategic placement of best sellers can make a significant difference. Imagine your online menu as a virtual buffet table where delicious high-profit dishes take centre stage, instantly catching the users’ attention. By creating a visually appealing menu, you entice customers to explore and indulge in your irresistible offerings. Let your online menu become the key to unlocking a world of increased delivery sales and repeat customers.
2. Offer a Limited Delivery Menu
While variety is the spice of life, an overwhelmingly extensive menu can often lead to decision paralysis for your customers. Instead, hone your focus on the most popular dishes that can travel well and be prepared quickly. It’s vital to consider aspects such as how well a dish maintains its temperature or how the texture might change during delivery. Streamlining your offerings in this way helps to increase the likelihood of orders being completed and ensures the food arrives in the best possible condition. This helps enhance the consistency and quality of your offerings, potentially leading to increased sales and greater customer satisfaction.
3. Update and refresh your menu effectively
Regularly updating your menu to reflect seasonal trends and new offerings can create excitement and anticipation among your customers. Imagine the joy of surprising mothers on Mother’s Day with a delightful treat or satisfying sports enthusiasts on game days with a hearty combo. By catering to evolving tastes and aligning with special occasions, you keep your menu fresh and set your restaurant apart from the rest.
Regularly phase out dishes that fail to hit the mark or those that, for some reason, can’t be consistently available. It’s far more preferable to serve a curated selection of beloved dishes than a sprawling menu of sub-optimal options that don’t translate well to a dining-at-home scenario and may cause customer dissatisfaction and negative reviews that impact your business.
4. Customise add-Ons & offering modifications
Upselling is a powerful tool that can significantly drive your overall sales. Suggesting menu items during guest checkout based on their preferences or past purchases allows for a personalised experience. With the help of recommendation engines and machine learning, you can autonomously suggest upsells and cross-sells as guests checkout via your restaurant app or ordering website.
Additionally, allowing modifications to dishes can greatly enhance customer satisfaction and engagement. Whether a dish needs to be vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, or keto, accommodating these needs shows your customers that you value their choices, catering to a broader audience and not losing a potential sale.
5. Capture delicious food images
In the online food delivery world, visuals matter. Beautiful food photography and enticing dish descriptions can make all the difference in attracting customers. Ensuring that the photos of your dishes are vibrant and the descriptions are mouthwatering can give that extra push needed for the customers to place their orders. With some thoughtful planning and a touch of creative flair, these elements can significantly enhance your menu’s appeal. Here are several golden tips for capturing eye-catching food images:
- 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.
6. Provide delivery specials & freebies
The strategic use of time-limited promotions and freebies can positively impact customer behaviour. By creating a sense of urgency and encouraging repeat orders, you can stand out from the crowd and motivate people to spend with your business. For instance, phrases such as “Offer ends soon!”, “Limited time offer!”, or “Order now to get a free dessert!” can entice customers to make immediate purchases or even place larger orders.
Being strategic about what dishes you put on promotion and when can also be crucial to maximising your profits. A good example is offering a low-cost item as a free side dish, which can encourage customers to spend a little more to qualify for the freebie, whilst subtly nudging up the average spend per order.
Maximise your food delivery sales
A well-crafted menu not only makes a striking first impression on potential customers but also guides them smoothly through their food ordering journey, ultimately increasing your food delivery sales and orders. So, whether you’re revamping your existing menu or starting fresh, keep these tips in mind to ensure that your digital menu stands out and is a hit with your customer base. Intrigued about opening a cloud kitchen at one of our facilities in Malaysia? Fill out the form below or contact us today.