If you haven’t already done so, takeout menu printing is a must if you are in the restaurant business. Whether you’re selling pizza, fusion food, snacks, drinks, desserts, or any other food item, a takeout menu will boost your sales. People are willing to pay for convenience. With takeout food, they don’t have to prepare meals at home or wash the dishes. Even if they don’t have time for a sit-down dinner at your food establishment, they can still enjoy restaurant-quality food with takeout or delivery. The good news is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money on to go menu printing. There are digital or offset print shops where you can order takeout menus from. These can be mailed out or distributed personally in areas where there is high foot traffic, with the aim of primarily boosting your sales.
Tips for Organizing the Items in Your Takeout Menu
Let’s say that you have already chosen which online printing services provider to go with. The next thing to do is choose the folding style and menu size. Then, design the menu itself. There is actually a science behind how people read and interact with menus, so you need to be aware of how to organize it properly. This way, you can attract the eyes to the high-profit items; make the menu look well-balanced and not complicated; and satiate the appetite of hungry diners.
Here are a few tips on how to organize the items in your takeout menu:
- Categorize the menu items.
The classic way to categorize menu items is listing the appetizers, main dishes, desserts, and drinks. This still works but if you want to maximize profit, you can group the items on the menu like this:
– Popular and profitable
– Popular but not so profitable
– Very profitable but not popular
– Not popular nor profitable
Highlight the popular and profitable dishes, keep the popular but not profitable, and also keep the very profitable but not popular. Ditch the last category for your takeout menu, and attract the reader’s eyes to items which are profitable yet quick and easy to prepare.
- Limit your takeout menu items.
You may have a lot of items available for dine-in but for takeout, you can limit the choices to seven per category. This is a magic number so customers won’t get confused or overwhelmed with the variety of choices.
- Know which parts of the menu a customer reads first.
The eyes typically go to the middle of the page when reading a menu. Then the pattern travels to the top right corner, then to the top left corner. Group complementary items and don’t miss the chance to upsell. Make sure that the font is easy to read, the colors should be contrasting for more readability, and the overall design should be cohesive and pleasant to the eyes.
By taking the time to design your takeout menu carefully, you can maximize profits and use this printer material to attract more customers to order your food.
