How To Enhance Your Menu and Pricing Strategy for Online Orders

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A table with silverware set for a meal, showcasing a menu

Even with the best restaurant online ordering system in place you still need to know how to make it work for your business. As your customer base increases it is crucial to incorporate a worry-free online ordering system for your business. Here is how to take full advantage of software for meal prep industries and improve your profits.

Creating Menu Appeal

What grabs your customers’ attention? Create menus that capture the eye and offer selection.

  • Food that Travels Well – Online food orders should travel well and arrive at their destination in an aesthetically pleasing form. Cold items like salads, cheese, and raw foods should be packaged to stay fresh. Soups, sauces, and main dishes should be packaged separately to maintain the temperature level while being transported to the customer.  When choosing your online food delivery menu, be sure to consider how each dish will travel during the heat of summer and chill of winter. Customer satisfaction ensures repeat business year-round.  
  • Images – Captivate your audience with images on your online menu of each dish. Customers need to be attracted to the look of your food when they are not on location to enjoy the enticing scent wafting from the kitchen to intrigue them. A picture is worth a thousand words and can also tantalize the tastebuds. You can help your customers make easy decisions by including pictures that show the beauty of your food. Ensure each picture is high-quality and makes your dishes look great. A professional photographer can help capture the perfect shot.  
  • Categorize Items – People gravitate towards certain dishes because they work with their dietary restrictions. You can help customers find what they are looking for with ease by categorizing menu items.  Having headers or icons to indicate “Vegetarian Dishes” or “Gluten-Free Options” will guide your customers in the right direction. Your ordering system for business can help you keep track of all your customers’ preferences so you can satisfy their desires for specific meals quickly and easily.  
  • Just the Right Number – Having choices is a good thing. Having too many choices can cause customers to give up on ordering from you even if with the best restaurant online ordering system. Too many options can leave you with wasted food due to customer indecision.  Cut your losses by creating a single page with enticing offerings. This helps cut back on scroll time and gets them to order quicker.
A woman engrossed in reading a menu at a restaurant

Pricing on the Mark

How much should you charge for items to keep up with the market and appeal to your customers? This question can be answered by doing the following things.

  • Within Reason – Look at statistics from online sources and use analytics to help gauge how much your customers pay for specific dishes. Consider what your competitors are charging for similar items and stay within that range. This keeps your customers content, knowing they aren’t being charged more for the same dishes they can get at the restaurant down the street. Advertise when you are using higher quality ingredients like organic or imported products. Customers will often pay more for quality over quantity.  
  • Charm Pricing – Known as charm pricing, when you put items on your menu that says “$9.99” instead of $10.00 you are more likely to get a sale. This appears less expensive and can draw attention to your products even if the difference is only a cent. Most people tend to focus on the farthest left number. The single digit looks better than the double-digit number in this example.
  • Add-Ons – When you offer your customers a menu item like steak, giving them the choice of an addition like mashed potatoes or salad can increase the total amount spent.  By separating items on your menu, you let the customers choose what they prefer while adding to your chances of them ordering more than they initially set out to.
  • Limited Time – Faced with the choice to purchase a dish only available for a short period will encourage customers to try it quickly.  FOMO (fear of missing out) is a real thing!  Limited menu items can be specially priced to provide a healthy profit for you.  

Appeal

A menu that is carefully thought out can add to your sales and increase profits quicker than you think. Convenience, simplified ordering, and automation are all benefits of creating your menu on the best restaurant online ordering system. For more help with the design and structure of an online ordering web page, contact us at 247 Waiter and we will be happy to streamline your processes to help improve your bottom line.

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