As a restaurant operator, you should always be looking for ways to get an edge on competitors and increase your average customer’s spending. Large companies like McDonald’s have done deep research into physical & psychological changes you can make to your menu, atmosphere, and staff to make people spend more and have a better customer experience. Keep reading to learn a few of the fun, creative, and sometimes manipulative strategies used by restaurants to get their average check size as high as possible.
Colors & Symbols
Think of your favorite fast food restaurants. Is the color yellow included in the logo? Most likely the answer is “yes” because yellows and oranges have been found to stimulate a sense of hunger. Many restaurant logos combine yellow and red, (a color representing passion & emotion), to make their consumers feel hungry and ready to do something about it. Changes to the color of your logo might not seem that important but it’s been proven to get more people in the door and make them willing to spend more. Another simple change fast food, quick casual, and full-service restaurants implement is getting rid of the “$” on their menus. That symbol acts as a reminder to your guests that they are about to spend their own money and studies show that removing it will make it easier for them to loosen up.
Serving Sizes
Smart restaurant operators will vary the sizes of their glasses & plates to manipulate their guests into thinking different things. Eating from a smaller dish has been proven to make consumers feel more full because it looks like there’s more food. This is why buffets serve with smaller plates so you believe you’re eating more whereas restaurants that serve on an order basis use large platters so you think you’re not as full and have plenty of room for another appetizer or dessert. You can also change the shape & size of your glasses to make people drink more and order more. “A 2021 study found that we drink beer faster in curved glasses than straight ones. The curved shape creates the illusion that the drink is half-way done by the time we drink 70% of it, so we finish the drink quicker than anticipated and order another.”
Highlighting Menu Items
One of the more simple ways restaurants increase their average ticket is by highlighting the expensive items on the menu with boxes, borders, or graphics. If you’re like me, reading a large menu can be overwhelming, so when there are only 2 or 3 items that stand out it’s much easier to look at those first. Even though many consumers know those items are the most expensive, it’s hard for them to get that item out of their mind. Another classic menu distraction used by restaurants is to go crazy when writing item descriptions. Using sensory words like “crisp” or “sizzling” can make people want it more and want it faster. Getting over-descriptive can have a huge effect on a hungry guest’s decision making process.
Music & Lighting
You’d be surprised how much the sound of your restaurants affects the consumer journey. Up-tempo music makes people eat faster, while slower tunes keeps guests in their seats longer. If you are a busy lunch spot looking to increase table turn times you’ll want fast, up-beat music. However, a fine-dining restaurant is looking to keep you in your seat to increase the odds of selling that extra glass of wine or dessert, so they will almost always play something slower. Furthermore, “Those restaurants that blast up-tempo music often will use bright, aggressive lighting to get you in and out of the door faster. Likewise, fine dining establishments generally opt for mellow lighting to get you into a more relaxed mood, hoping that you’ll spend more time — and money — at the restaurant.
Digital Ordering
Finally, digital ordering is the newest option in getting your guests to spend more every time they visit your restaurant. Besides providing them with a more convenient way to order & pay on their own time, digital ordering is the perfect chance to upsell, upsell, upsell. Our platform, tabski, makes it easy for you to create menus and add modifiers with an upcharge so your guest’s tabs will grow with just a few clicks. We also allow consumers to reorder previous items so that instead of trying to flag down their server, they can simply click “Reorder Bud Light” and get alerted when it’s ready to pick up at the bar. Furthermore, you can add a “Merchandise” menu to the app so that your customers can add a hoodie, 6-pack, or hat to their tab which they probably wouldn’t have purchased otherwise. Digital commerce platforms are the future of hospitality because of the convenience they bring to the guests and the profits they bring to the operators.
Overall, these are just a few ideas restaurants have tried out to raise average check size. Play around with them and see how they could affect your business. If you’re interested in digital ordering and want to learn more you can check us out at https://tabski.com/ or if you want to read similar blog posts check out, https://tabski.com/blog/ to learn about other ways restaurants have tried to maximize profits.
Sources
https://medium.com/be-unique/how-restaurants-makes-us-spend-more-money-subtly-3d16a7d039ea