Menu Design: Menu Psychology

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Basics of Menu Psychology Engineer your menu to sell. Menu "psychology" is about making suggestions to customers through category layout, menu item placement, menu merchandising and rounding strategies -- all of which are based on consumer research. Keep these five tips in mind when designing your menu, and for more helpful menu design information, contact your Food Services of America Sales Associate.

	Be selective. Take the time to find out what your customers want and add it to the menu, but don't get spread too thin. "Less is always more," says Julie Kalkowski, Restaurant Operations Consultant for Food Services of America in Seattle, WA. "When you have too many items it can be overwhelming to your customer. Focus on what you are good at and stick to that."

	Be objective. "Be sure to make your decisions based on data, not hunches," says Kalkowski. Too many restaurateurs will pull items from the menu because they think it is not selling, but you need to know it's not selling. Do your homework and be objective. Identify the items that create the greatest gross profit and focus on them, not on items that have the best profit percentages.

	Placement is important. Put your most important and profitable items where they will get noticed. "Research shows us that customers have a particular way in which they look at a menu," says Kalkowski. "At Food Services of America we offer operators detailed instructions to design their menus based on the gaze patterns of customers." The most important items should be placed centrally on the menu. Also, based on consumer research, diners tend to make their selections more often from the top and the bottom of a category. So, logically, you want your highest gross profit items at the top and bottom of a list.

	Highlight important items... but not every item. Use creative and complete descriptions to tempt your customers, and considering using a box, shading, different font, or your logo to help special items stand out. But beware of overdoing it. Julie Kalkowski notes, "Menu Merchandising should be used on no more than 1-3 items per category. Over-use causes the strategy to be wasted since too much causes it to become common and will not be noticed."

	A picture is worth a thousand words. "Diners can easily be persuaded to buy based on sight," notes Rene Englert, Marketing Manager at FSA Boise. "Advertising your signature item or a seasonal special by adding a picture to the menu or a specially designed table tent can increase your sales." Food Services of America will assist operators in designing appealing plate presentations and can even shoot photos of actual plated items. Please contact your local Food Services of America Sales Associate for details.

	Use rounding strategies to set prices. There are certain ways that consumers think about money. When items are prices under $5, we think of money in $.25 increments. Over $5 and we begin to think of money in a bit bigger increment, so rounding should be up to the nearest $.50. Cross that $10 barrier and you round up to the nearest dollar. Food Services of America offers a rounding calculator to help operators set their prices in a manner that will appeal to customers. Kalkowski adds, "If rounding strategies are not utilized, your customers are literally leaving change on the table."

	Think beyond the menu. "Table tents and special inserts are also a great way to test new items in a restaurant before committing them to a menu," says Englert. "It also offers you the ability to rotate items for seasonal and house specials." Many operators have found the best way to increase their dessert sales is by placing table tents on their table for diners to see prior to ordering dinner. A quick reminder by servers to "save room for dessert" will start their taste buds watering.

	Learn More For more information about the art and science of menu design, ask your Sales Associate for detailed information from the Food Services of America Resources for Profitability database. Web Links Reading Between the Lines: The Psychology of Menu Design -- National Restaurant Association Designing Menus That Sell -- National Restaurant Association Maximize Menu Merchandising Power -- National Restaurant Association