Running a restaurant is a tough piece of bread and anyone who works in the business knows that. The recent Covid-19 pandemic added a whole new array of problems and restrictions, forcing restaurateurs to change their attitudes and permanently altering customer habits. Nevertheless, there’s still a couple of ways to reach a bigger profit.
We’ll show you some simple examples of what you can do just by tweaking your menu a tiny bit (especially its online version). This is also a part of the Ordering Stack.
Average Order Value (AOV)
Let’s first examine the objective indicator that is your average order value. How do you get it? Quite easy – it’s the summed value of your daily orders, divided by their amount.
Example:
If at the end of the day in your restaurant, all the orders amount is 20.000 USD
and there were a 1.000 of them (orders),
this leaves you with an Average Order Value of 20 USD.
What can you do?
So what can I do to sell more? How can I entice my clients to up what they usually spend? We’ve got a bit of advice and a few easy solutions. It pays off to implement them all! Of course, you should only treat them as your starting point, constantly checking the numbers and changing more accordingly to what works best in your case. Your menu is your and your clients’ communication platform and checking out new options, testing new solutions, and constantly bettering the ones you’re already using makes the average value of your customer’s basket grow.
Up-selling
Happens when you suggest your customer switch to a slightly more expensive version of one of the products – one that’s better than its basic counterpart. An example would be suggesting replacing regular french fries with sweet potato fries for 2 USD or improving your burgers by using a different type of meat for the patty. Overall, it benefits both the customer and the restaurant.
Cross-selling
Happens when you propose an extra item that goes well together with what your guest already ordered. Like suggesting getting a portion of fries with your burger, an additional pack of sauce, a side salad, or a beverage – maybe even all of those, especially if you can make them into a bundle at a bargain price.are of the possibility of the cart value optimization, the new ways of doing business open.
Both of these methods can help you effectively increase your average order value but you need to remember their simplicity is the key to success. They need to feel as natural as possible, needn’t feel forced. That makes the back office menu crucial for you, as it will help you pinpoint which positions on your menu could be this kind of an extra/additional item.
Highlight special offers and limited promos
Yes, it still works. Nowadays, with everyone striving to optimize their budget people want new deals and interesting offers. Create limited-time special offers and holiday deals, push new menu deals and items.
Recommend positions on your menu
Showing off the best and most popular your restaurant has to offer yields results. It’s particularly useful for undecided customers or those in a hurry. You’re helping your guest make a decision and finalize their payment swiftly, while at the same time giving yourself a chance to showcase and recommend those positions on your menu that are already proven to be a hit with previous customers.
Meal Deals
Your customers will often associate food with an entire meal – and for a complete meal, you typically need a starter/soup/side salad, main course, and something to drink. You can keep on adding products that go well together. We’ve all seen it work for global franchises like McDonald’s or KFC. If you can, prepare some meal deals that’ll leave all of your customer’s needs satisfied and will make them associate you with a full, regular meal.
Names and descriptions for your dishes
Keep them clear and simple. You need your customers to know what their order will consist of. Everyone wants to know what they’re getting and it makes the decision process easier. Additionally, it helps you transparently distinguish products. Let’s imagine you’ve got two burgers on your menu, one named Jack’s Burger and the other Mickey’s Burger. Neither of those names gives us a clue. BBQ Burger and Cheeseburger, however – that’s crystal clear. It also helps to add a more complete list of ingredients to your dish’s description, that way your clients can easily avoid getting something they’ll dislike.
Personalized options
When you let the customers personalize their order you eliminate the possibility for discontent by letting them eliminate any ingredients they dislike/have dietary restrictions against. It also gives you room for up-selling – if your client adds some crispy bacon to his favorite burger, he gets a better product and the restaurant earns more. Win-win.
Photos
It’s super important you remember to add product photos to your menu. Everybody wants to know what his dish will look like and customers buy with their eyes all the time. Good, quality photos are the key to awaking your guests’ senses. It has to be a realistic representation though, make sure you don’t forget good lighting and frame it favorably.
Prices
We’ve saved this for last but it doesn’t mean it’s the least important. Psychology does influence sales and can make a huge difference. For a customer, who’s already decided they wanna buy something, going from 15 USD to 14.99 can be that last push they needed. It can mean sort of breaking the last inner barrier that prevents them from clicking ‘Add to basket’.
Summary
If you only look at one single receipt the profit increase doesn’t seem like much, however, when you multiply every additional 2 dollars by 1000 receipts it starts to look like something. Who knows, thanks to all these tricks you might be able to make it additional 5 dollars next time. All of the tips we mentioned above work best if they’re backed up with a good system for building your regular, seasonal, special offer, and deal menus. A functional, intuitive tool to make everything go smoothly and seem easy. Ordering Stack lets you implement all of these things we spoke about. Moreover, it links up with your POS systems, so all the data you want’s available not only on Ordering Stack but also on your POS and food delivery apps you use. A real all-in-one.
