Ways To Grow Restaurant Revenue Using Your Online Menu

Who doesn’t want a substantial increase in their profit margins?

Presently, every restaurateur is yearning to win customers and achieve more.

The food industry is around the clock discovering unique ideas and developing new electrifying ways to grow its sales so that it can keep pace with its competitors. And for this, the thing that matters the most is a restaurant’s Menu. People are curious. They want to know and have a look at what they’re going to order.

From an analysis, 77% of the guests visit a restaurant’s website before dining in or ordering out. And here, your digital menu plays a paramount role in their decision. When your customers decide to order digitally, they’re spending time exploring your menu. Therefore, to get your guests’ heed, you must make sure to creatively design a genius menu.

It is a common fact that an appealing menu directly affects a restaurant’s revenue. Many food houses are gaining popularity and becoming prosperous. Yet, still, there are some restaurant owners, who are struggling to flourish or startups that are new to this food business world. If you’re one of them, then this inventive guide is here to bestow you with an insight into what you can do to escalate your sales with the help of your online menu!

Step-Up Your Game With Our Guide

Follow the below guidelines that will aid in jacking up your eatery’s revenue.

1. Create Specific Labels for Menu Items

When you begin to write an item description, think of a catchy name to instantly grab your guests’ attention. For example, headlines like ‘Grandma’s Cheese Cake’ or ‘Freshly Harvested Berry Smoothie’ can elicit a satisfying feeling in the guest. Your customer will feel comfortable in making a prompt dining decision. The more your menu provides details, the more your brand can become impressively different from its competitors.

A lot of people look for sustainable dishes. For those, you can use words such as ‘organic’, ‘gluten-free’, ‘zero-sugar’, ‘dairy-free’, or ‘vegan’ to meet their needs.

2. Apply Strategic Upselling

According to one survey, customers take around 109 seconds to read a menu. While ordering online, servers can’t communicate with guests, there’s yet another way to interact with them. And that is to craft your menu to upsell digitally. For instance, suggest an addition with captions like ‘Tastes Better With’ or ‘Complete Your Meal’.

The additional items that you want them to buy should be low-cost such as drinks, desserts, appetizers, sauces, or toppings. This is an incredible way to act as a server and suggest additions or extras before even asking. It will greatly help your guests customize their order, leaving them happily satisfied!

3. Push Complimentary Items

Drinks, desserts, appetizers, or any item that doesn’t involve an entree can be considered ‘complimentary’. When your guests buy a drink, you may offer these items at a discounted price or even for free. You can also create a combo that your guests may purchase at a discounted price.

4. Sell High-Margin Items

One best way to drive revenue is to sell items that will bestow you with a handsome profit. Simply create a category like ‘Favored Items' at the top of your menu and include the most gainful items in that category that your patrons love.

There are some menu items that sell better than others and some that have higher profit margins. If you manage sales manually, it can be tricky to decide which menu options to keep and which to eliminate. Here, you can use a restaurant POS system that will let you track orders, view sales, and analyze reports. It will help you optimize your menu, leading to improved sales and profits.

When you combine that restaurant's POS system with an online ordering system, it is possible to accept, process, and prepare both pickup and delivery orders. There’s a myriad of ordering systems, but the best online ordering system for restaurants is the one that offers easiness and does everything at a rate of knots.

5. Highlight Menu Specials & Trending Dishes

Structure your menu in such a way that it highlights festive items. In seasonal events, like New Year’s Day, highlight your new specials as ‘New Year’s Eve’ while labeling the menu to encourage diners to order.

6. Take High-Quality Photos

Capture your diner’s attention with eye-catching pictures of your menu items! Staying within your budget, look for the best photographer. Still, if you can’t find one, you can use your smartphone as well to capture some tempting clicks with close-up shots of your menu items. On top of that, it would be best to take shots of items plated as it looks more enticing.

Taking good-quality photos will bring new customers through the doors and get existing customers to visit your page more often.

7. Revamp Your Menu Design

The reason why new customers are not being captivated by your menu may be its old design. Many restaurateurs are using creative designs to update their menus. Trying new designs will give your menu a fresh perspective and your customers the sense that all food categories have been updated, too.

8. Make Personalized Recommendations

Let’s say, one of your diners frequently orders desserts worth 40$. Using this guest’s order history, your staff can begin recommendations in that price range, then go up from there.

9. Describe Your Photos in Detail

Putting details in photos will lead you to repeat business. Keep the description as concise as possible yet more detailed. It is observed that dishes that have more detailed descriptions are likely to get ordered more than those with less detailed descriptions.

People nowadays prefer and respond to descriptions that contain an element of fun. That’s why, what I would suggest is that use a description that looks funny, sarcastic, nerdy, or academic yet kind.

With a little procedure and work, you can give your menu a boost by using the above efficacious strategies and earn better profits.

Closing Thoughts

Thus, what you have to do is just upgrade your online menu to reach new diners and influence existing ones, keeping in mind their preferences and cravings. This way you can effectively maximize your restaurant’s revenue and run your business successfully.