Empowering Restaurants with Psychology 101:
Menu Engineering.
We teach you popular menu psychology tactics, menu engineering do’s and don’ts, and how to use the menu matrix, so you can work smarter, not harder, with the menu items you already have.
- Menu Psychology
- Menu Matrix
- Menu Engineering
- Online Menu Engineering
What Is Menu Psychology?
Menu psychology is the study of how a restaurant’s menuorganization affects customer spending. Restaurants use the principles of menu psychology to influence their menu design. The goal is to create menus that prompt customers to choose their order immediately without considering the price.
Menu Psychology Tips
Discover general menu psychology best practices to apply to your menu:
- Limit choices.
- Make your menu scannable.
- Use appetite-stimulating colors.
- Use photos sparingly or not at all.
- Create color associations.
- Invoke nostalgia or humanize dishes.
- Include a separate dessert menu.
- Select an ergonomic menu.
What Is Menu Matrix?
The menu matrix is a technique used to organize and analyze a menu, offering a comprehensive overview of each dish. It aids in gauging the popularity and profitability of menu items, enabling businesses to boost sales and minimize food wastage. Typically, the menu matrix is structured in a spreadsheet or database format, facilitating menu engineers in efficiently implementing the insights into their menu designs.
How to Use the Menu Matrix
Utilizing the menu matrix to map out your menu items offers a straightforward method to determine their performance ranking. This tool effectively monitors both the popularity and profitability of each item. Begin by selecting a specific timeframe to track your menu items. Record the sales volume and profit generated by each item. Plotting this data on a graph entails using the Y-axis to represent the volume sold and the X-axis to denote the profit of each item.
- Power Horse
- Stars
- Dogs
- Puzzles
What Is Menu Engineering?
Menu engineering, following principles of menu psychology, prioritizes the most popular and profitable menu items. This approach utilizes the menu matrix for comprehensive menu analysis. Drawing insights from the menu matrix data, menu engineers strategically craft menu layouts aimed at optimizing restaurant profits.
How to Engineer a Menu
Research indicates that customers tend to choose one of the first items that catch their eye. Given that guests typically spend only 109 seconds perusing a menu, its crucial to design it in a way that facilitates easy discovery of key items. Follow these steps to strategically engineer your menu and enhance your profitability.
- Apply the Menu Matrix.
- Evaluate Pricing.
- Highlight Profitable Items.
- Arrange Menu Sections.
- Arrange Lists.
- Make Expensive Items More Appealing.
- Bracket Menu Items.
- Use the Price Nesting Method.
Menu Engineering Mistakes
Having familiarized yourself with menu engineering best practices, its crucial to also be aware of common menu design pitfalls to steer clear of. As much as a thoughtfully crafted menu can boost profits, these errors can lead to reduced customer spending. Stay vigilant and avoid the following menu design mistakes
- Ending Your Prices with .99 - A price that ends in .99 sounds cheap or gimmicky to many consumers.
- Dollar Signs - Currency indicators remind customers that they’re spending money and can even make them feel like they are spending more than they are. Soften the price by eliminating the dollar sign.
- Price Trails - Price trails are dotted lines that connect your menu items to their price, which is often listed on the other side of the page. This takes the focus away from your dish description and highlights the price instead.
- Price Columns - Placing your prices in a column next to your dishes helps guests easily compare prices and encourages them to choose the cheapest item.
Online Menu Engineering
Modern restaurants rely on a user-friendly website and efficient online ordering systems. However, crafting the perfect physical menu differs from designing an optimal online menu. Explore the best practices for online menu engineering below.
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Mobile Responsive - Create a mobile responsive menu so viewers don’t have to pinch and zoom to view your menu on their smartphones.
Picture Heavy - Unlike in-person menus, studies show that items with photos get more orders on online menus. An interactive online menu that provides a picture when you click on a menu item is ideal.
Few Choices - While you don’t want to overburden physical menus, patrons are more tolerant of expansive menus in person than they are of mobile menus. If patrons have to click through too many pages, they will likely navigate away. Organize items under different tabs so patrons can view the sections they’re interested in without having to scroll through multiple pages. Keep each tab scannable.
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Promote Best Sellers - When patrons click on your online menu, feature a best sellers category full of your most popular, highest profit items at the top.