6 ms·

Years ago, my wife’s friend who was the marketing director of a regional chain of family friendly restaurants told us about a few menu positioning tactics that

Years ago, my wife’s friend who was the marketing director of a regional chain of family friendly restaurants told us about a few menu positioning tactics that are used to maximize revenue. The one I still remember is the item on the first inside page on the top right corner is the item with the highest margin, usually pasta. The reasoning for the placement is that people who didn’t have a strong preference for what they wanted would scan the entire menu and then return to the beginning of the menu and get “stuck” in the corner on their second pass. I’m not sure if this is based in any research but it’s a fun thing to look for when you are out to eat.

bardworx 8y ago
You are 100% correct and there is plenty of "science" that goes into it. It is similar to how a person reads a website[0][1], in an F pattern; The most important information should be top right, with lower importance being down below. Also, all hier tier items (think steak/shrimp) are always near the middle of the menu, to "sandwich" them between items that are more cost conscious in order to downplay the price difference. [0]: https://conversionxl.com/blog/10-useful-findings-about-how-people-view-websites/ https://conversionxl.com/blog/10-useful-findings-about-how-p... [1]: https://econsultancy.com/blog/66920-why-visitors-only-read-20-of-your-web-page https://econsultancy.com/blog/66920-why-visitors-only-read-2...
- unixhero 8y ago
  Strange, I always learnt that we read, no, scan websites and pages in a Z pattern. https://uxplanet.org/z-shaped-pattern-for-reading-web-content-ce1135f92f1c https://uxplanet.org/z-shaped-pattern-for-reading-web-conten...
  - bardworx 8y ago
    Same guy wrote about Z[0] and the F[1] pattern. I think they're different sides of the same coin (what information you're trying to convey). In the Z pattern, most websites have log in requirements or call to action[0]. In the F pattern, most websites convey information: menus, newspapers, blogs, etc.[1] [0]: https://uxplanet.org/z-shaped-pattern-for-reading-web-content-ce1135f92f1c https://uxplanet.org/z-shaped-pattern-for-reading-web-conten... [1]: https://uxplanet.org/f-shaped-pattern-for-reading-content-80af79cd3394 https://uxplanet.org/f-shaped-pattern-for-reading-content-80...
  - iambateman 8y ago
    Z and F get referenced a lot but they're related shapes. The "F" emphasizes continuing past the finish of the Z.
imglorp 8y ago
Absolutely. There are companies that do face and eye tracking on large menu displays. They can AB test new menus or layouts quickly, on the fly during the day, at different locations. They can recognize customer demographic (maybe even individuals now), what they look at and for how long, and then tie that to what they buy.
- xapata 8y ago
  Neat. I wondered why the TV panel menus are so prevalent.
  - conductr 8y ago
    Well even without all that, the TV makes for easy/quick changes at a low price compared to commercial signage printing stock
    - imglorp 8y ago
      Think bigger. Like all menus at all McDonald's, each individually addressable. They probably have a marketing command center where they run experiments on all kinds of things.
larrydag 8y ago
I worked for a large restaurant retailer in the corporate office. It's a mistake to call it a restaurant company. These companies are marketing companies and marketing drives everthing. Even to the detriment of operations and efficiency.
- mhneu 8y ago
  Yes. So much of our economy is driven by marketing. Many of the smartest young people in our economy used to go to Wall Street, now many get MBAs and go into marketing. Same thing with Google, Facebook - marketing and advertising control our economy. (And the danger western democracies face: It’s a natural switch from marketing to political influencing. Tools and methods are the same and the same infrastructure can be used.)
  - corey_moncure 8y ago
    I don't think it's about the political system so much as the economic system. Any economic system is an attempt to solve the core problem of how to best distribute resources to consumers of resources. But what happens at the point when ideal distribution is attained, and all consumers are satisfied? If the economy just shut down, it would be a social disaster, so instead it enters this kind of degenerate state you mention where marketing and advertising predominate over production and distribution. Like a star going supernova- all the useful fuel is burned up, but we must sustain the reaction somehow, so we have to turn to heavier and heavier elements.
    - Retric 8y ago
      There is an upside to this, actually order the money losing items at fast casual restaurants etc and it's a great deal. PS: Also, look for companies that defect from the marketing game which allows them to sell very high quality products for cheap. Think store brand items etc.
    - TeMPOraL 8y ago
      > But what happens at the point when ideal distribution is attained, and all consumers are satisfied? I don't think we are anywhere close that, nor that we can ever get there. What happened is that most low-hanging fruits of actual value got picked, to the point that sales & marketing started to have much better ROI than trying to invent and build better things. It's a gradual shift towards a zero-sum-game economy.
leroy_masochist 8y ago
It's absolutely based on research, and franchised restaurants have been at the forefront of figuring a lot of stuff out. Ever notice how the price of an individual hamburger or cheeseburger is nearly impossible to find on the McDonald's drive thru menu? That's because they want you to buy a value menu where they're making ~70% fully costed margin on the fries and north of 90% on the soda. National level chains were mercilessly A/B testing different menu configurations for both average order size and average order margin a long time ago, way before it was cool.

bardworx 8y ago

You are 100% correct and there is plenty of "science" that goes into it. It is similar to how a person reads a website[0][1], in an F pattern; The most important information should be top right, with lower importance being down below. Also, all hier tier items (think steak/shrimp) are always near the middle of the menu, to "sandwich" them between items that are more cost conscious in order to downplay the price difference. [0]: https://conversionxl.com/blog/10-useful-findings-about-how-people-view-websites/ https://conversionxl.com/blog/10-useful-findings-about-how-p... [1]: https://econsultancy.com/blog/66920-why-visitors-only-read-20-of-your-web-page https://econsultancy.com/blog/66920-why-visitors-only-read-2...

unixhero 8y ago
Strange, I always learnt that we read, no, scan websites and pages in a Z pattern. https://uxplanet.org/z-shaped-pattern-for-reading-web-content-ce1135f92f1c https://uxplanet.org/z-shaped-pattern-for-reading-web-conten...
- bardworx 8y ago
  Same guy wrote about Z[0] and the F[1] pattern. I think they're different sides of the same coin (what information you're trying to convey). In the Z pattern, most websites have log in requirements or call to action[0]. In the F pattern, most websites convey information: menus, newspapers, blogs, etc.[1] [0]: https://uxplanet.org/z-shaped-pattern-for-reading-web-content-ce1135f92f1c https://uxplanet.org/z-shaped-pattern-for-reading-web-conten... [1]: https://uxplanet.org/f-shaped-pattern-for-reading-content-80af79cd3394 https://uxplanet.org/f-shaped-pattern-for-reading-content-80...
- iambateman 8y ago
  Z and F get referenced a lot but they're related shapes. The "F" emphasizes continuing past the finish of the Z.

imglorp 8y ago

Absolutely. There are companies that do face and eye tracking on large menu displays. They can AB test new menus or layouts quickly, on the fly during the day, at different locations. They can recognize customer demographic (maybe even individuals now), what they look at and for how long, and then tie that to what they buy.

xapata 8y ago
Neat. I wondered why the TV panel menus are so prevalent.
- conductr 8y ago
  Well even without all that, the TV makes for easy/quick changes at a low price compared to commercial signage printing stock
  - imglorp 8y ago
    Think bigger. Like all menus at all McDonald's, each individually addressable. They probably have a marketing command center where they run experiments on all kinds of things.

larrydag 8y ago

I worked for a large restaurant retailer in the corporate office. It's a mistake to call it a restaurant company. These companies are marketing companies and marketing drives everthing. Even to the detriment of operations and efficiency.

mhneu 8y ago
Yes. So much of our economy is driven by marketing. Many of the smartest young people in our economy used to go to Wall Street, now many get MBAs and go into marketing. Same thing with Google, Facebook - marketing and advertising control our economy. (And the danger western democracies face: It’s a natural switch from marketing to political influencing. Tools and methods are the same and the same infrastructure can be used.)
- corey_moncure 8y ago
  I don't think it's about the political system so much as the economic system. Any economic system is an attempt to solve the core problem of how to best distribute resources to consumers of resources. But what happens at the point when ideal distribution is attained, and all consumers are satisfied? If the economy just shut down, it would be a social disaster, so instead it enters this kind of degenerate state you mention where marketing and advertising predominate over production and distribution. Like a star going supernova- all the useful fuel is burned up, but we must sustain the reaction somehow, so we have to turn to heavier and heavier elements.
  - Retric 8y ago
    There is an upside to this, actually order the money losing items at fast casual restaurants etc and it's a great deal. PS: Also, look for companies that defect from the marketing game which allows them to sell very high quality products for cheap. Think store brand items etc.
  - TeMPOraL 8y ago
    > But what happens at the point when ideal distribution is attained, and all consumers are satisfied? I don't think we are anywhere close that, nor that we can ever get there. What happened is that most low-hanging fruits of actual value got picked, to the point that sales & marketing started to have much better ROI than trying to invent and build better things. It's a gradual shift towards a zero-sum-game economy.

leroy_masochist 8y ago

It's absolutely based on research, and franchised restaurants have been at the forefront of figuring a lot of stuff out. Ever notice how the price of an individual hamburger or cheeseburger is nearly impossible to find on the McDonald's drive thru menu? That's because they want you to buy a value menu where they're making ~70% fully costed margin on the fries and north of 90% on the soda. National level chains were mercilessly A/B testing different menu configurations for both average order size and average order margin a long time ago, way before it was cool.