Upselling on your food menu is a practice worth nurturing in your restaurant. Not only will your business enjoy additional revenue, but your customers will feel well looked after, with a meal customised to their taste.

To make upselling a successful part of your operation, it needs to become a key component of your overall customer service experience. Staff training is crucial; your employees should feel knowledgeable and empowered enough to make helpful and smart suggestions to customers. 

However, there’s no reason to stop there. To make the most of your upselling strategy, incorporate the practice into your digital menu, automating a superior customer experience and making it easy for your patrons to enjoy a customised meal.

Here are four ways in which digital menu technology, such as Ten Kites, can work upselling into your restaurant’s overall customer experience.

1. Digital menus have space for modifiers

You may already be using menu modifiers to drive sales; examples include adding a meat protein to a vegetarian dish or an extra topping on your burgers. A distinct advantage of a digital — rather than physical — menu is that there’s much more real estate available to play with. It’s worth giving some extra thought to modifiers, making sure they put in the work for you.

Review your current menu for potential pairings — items that are frequently ordered together or would make a fantastic match. Suggest a dry sherry with a plate of fresh oysters or encourage the customer to add a bowl of tomato soup to their toasted cheese sandwich. Your patrons won’t have to do as much work to figure out which menu items work well together, and you’ll be boosting your revenue in the process. 

Here are some further examples of food menu modifiers you may consider using:

  • Sparkling water instead of tap
  • Prawns, crab claws or scallops as an add-on for any steak, creating a surf ‘n’ turf
  • Offering various ‘sizing-up’ options, e.g. wines sold by the small glass, large glass and carafe, or burgers that come in different size patties
  • The option of ordering chicken wings plain with a selection of sauces, rather than choosing one — and paying per additional sauce
  • Adding a bloody Mary, mimosa or bellini to any brunch dish
  • Liqueur coffees or ‘dessert cocktails’ as an alternative to a traditional dessert

2. Digital menus can bring upselling to the forefront

Make use of interactive and visual components on your digital menu or website. Consider rollover effects, where additional information pops up when a mouse hovers over an element of the webpage — this is ideal for suggesting extra items or providing allergen information. Even adding imagery can make a difference, provided the quality is good; it’s easy to convince someone to indulge in a warm chocolate fondant once they’ve seen a photo of its luxuriously gooey centre. 

3. Digital menus are easily updated 

The beauty of digital menu technology lies in its ease of editing. Switch up your food menu modifiers and suggested pairings whenever you want, with no printing costs. This may take the form of seasonal menus or daily specials, but can also be more opportunistic. You can provide timely offers during sporting events or festivities such as Mother’s Day. 

4. Self-ordering kiosks are upselling goldmines

If your business is a quick-service restaurant, consider adding self-ordering kiosks to your digital food menu system. Modern customers appreciate the option, as it means that:

  • they can get their order into the kitchen quickly,
  • they don’t have to speak to a person to order their food (a particularly attractive prospect for many Millennial and Gen Z diners), and
  • they can order as much as they want without the perceived potential risk of human judgement — which is why self-service kiosks tend to increase the average spend per customer. 

How can Nutritics help with upselling your food menu?

With Ten Kites, a digital menu publishing solution that can upsell food items on your digital menu using all the ways listed in this blog post. In addition, the solution can:

  • Manage multi-site menus and price brands in one place
  • Update menus in real-time based on recipe or menu changes
  • Understand your customers’ food preferences with menu analytics
  • Support food legislation compliance
  • Provide a high quality, customer experience across all platforms

With Ten Kites, menu planning and publishing just got easier.Want to learn how you can design and manage your menus? Get in touch now!