The F&B landscape is rapidly transforming, with the restaurant delivery business booming like never before. As online food delivery continues to grow in the years to come, competing with industry giants may seem daunting. However, the key to making your mark lies in creating a menu that goes beyond tantalising taste buds and actively drives restaurant sales and orders. Read on to discover six invaluable tips for boosting your delivery performance and standing out from the crowd.
1. Create an easy-to–use digital menu
In the digital age, your online menu is the first point of contact between your food and potential customers. Optimising this menu to be user-friendly is absolutely crucial to increasing your delivery sales. Categorise your offerings effectively, be it by cuisine, dietary preference, or meal type. Place your high-profit dishes and best-sellers at the top of these groupings. Just as a well-stocked supermarket shelf, this allows your customers to spot their favourites and tantalising options instantly, leading to swift and easy ordering.
Clear pricing and discounts are equally essential. The price of each item should be transparent, and any applicable discounts should be prominently displayed. These small yet significant elements ultimately help nudge your customers towards hitting that ‘Order Now’ button. Making a user-friendly digital menu is all about making your customers’ journey from browsing to ordering a delectable and seamless experience. No doubt, the better their experience, the better your sales.
2. Provide a limited delivery menu
Imagine a hungry customer, desperately seeking a quick bite, but drowning in a sea of choices. Time is of the essence, and their patience wanes as they struggle to make a decision. There’s a risk they might abandon their order altogether, leaving both their appetite and satisfaction unsatisfied. By honing in on your most popular dishes and streamlining your offerings, you make decision-making easier, resulting in more completed orders and happier customers.
Yet, how do you decide what dishes to include in this limited menu? 2 factors are critical – the dish’s travel friendliness and preparation time. Some dishes lose their taste and texture over the delivery journey, while others take ages to prepare. In the fast-paced world of food delivery, it’s vital to offer dishes that retain their appeal during transit and can be whipped up quickly. Your menu should therefore be a selection of your most durable, speedy, and popular dishes.
3. Update your menu and refresh in-season offerings
Regularly updating your menu not only adds a dash of novelty, but it also aligns your offerings with the changing seasons and customer trends. You might find that certain dishes sell better at certain times of the year, due to seasonality of ingredients or evolving customer preferences. Perhaps, a refreshing watermelon salad is a hit during the scorching summer, or a heart-warming pumpkin soup is a favourite in the depths of winter. Offering specials based on these trends not only boosts restaurant orders but can also make the most of seasonal produce, reducing costs and raising profit margins.
Alongside adding new items, it’s just as important to regularly review your existing dishes. If certain dishes are underperforming or ingredients are unavailable, remove them from the menu. Maintaining an updated menu is the key to preventing customer confusion and order errors. Any out-of-date menu may cause miscommunications and unmet expectations – a surefire way to attract poor reviews.
4. Include add-ons & offering modifications
Upselling through add-ons is a brilliant strategy to improve overall sales. Just like you would ask your customer, “Would you like some perfectly golden, crunchy fries with your juicy burger?” before they check out. With carefully selected add-ons, you’re presenting a way that they can elevate their dining experience and add to your bottom line.
The magic doesn’t stop at add-ons only as offering modifications is equally crucial. Providing the ability to customise dishes helps meet different dietary requirements, be it vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, or keto, making everyone feel welcomed and catered for at your restaurant, increasing customer engagement and loyalty.
5. Capture beautiful food photography
In an era where food is ordered with the swipe of a finger, high-quality food photography, coupled with mouthwatering menu descriptions, can make a significant difference in attracting customers to your restaurant. Here are a few tips for well-shot food photographs:
- 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. Offer strategic promotions & freebies
Limited-time offers and freebies can make your restaurant stand out and encourage customer spending. Utilising phrases such as “Today Special: Free Fries with Orders Over $10” or “Spend $20, Save $10!” helps create a sense of urgency, enticing customers to place their orders and even order more than they usually do.
To maximise the impact of your promotions, strategic selection of dishes and timing is crucial. If you have an excess of certain cuisine, transform it into a promotion to minimise waste while boosting sales. Additionally, consider offering a dish that costs less to prepare as a free side dish, enticing customers to spend a little extra on qualifying for the freebie and ultimately increasing your revenue.
Start optimising your menu
All in all, each of these steps plays a pivotal role in improving your restaurant menu for higher sales and orders. Making a great first impression on every potential customer is key. So why wait? Implement these tips to get ahead of other online food delivery businesses.
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