Four takeaways on optimizing restaurant menus

Introduction

The restaurant menu is a pivotal touchpoint for diners. Any changes to the items included or overall display of the menu could have impacts on the rest of the customer experience, ultimately affecting restaurant success.

In our recent commissioned study, Forrester Consulting surveyed 319 menu and category leaders at quick-service, full-service and fast-casual restaurant franchises to assess strategies, challenges and the potential benefits of systematic approaches to menu optimization.

Here are four takeaways from the study. To read the full 2024 study of the survey results, click here.

1. Importance of menu optimization

Restaurant leaders listed enhancing customer satisfaction as among their top goals for the next 12 months and recognized that menu optimization plays a key role in their ability to deliver:

• 70% of restaurant leaders indicated that optimizing their restaurants’ menus is fundamental to achieving other organizational goals as well

2. The need for rigor

Many brands recognize the value of menu analytics and work with external partners, but the level of rigor applied when reviewing those insights lacks consistency and standardization.

• 80% of restaurants leaders are using at least some external partnerships to analyze menu changes
• Only 27% of restaurants leaders apply high rigor to analytical and financial performance analysis

3. Decisions must be backed by data

The type of data collected can yield a wide range of insights that can be used to determine the most effective menu changes.

• 62% examine historic patterns in sales performance
• 58% study historic patterns in customer purchasing behavior
• 51% understand customer loyalty to a certain product

4. Analytical tools can improve results

With data in hand, restaurants should conduct tests to evaluate the effectiveness of changes and unlock actionable insights to determine future opportunities for improvement.

• Only 13% of restaurants leaders can project customer loss or gains from adding or deleting a menu item and only 16% felt their organization can accurately measure the true impact menu changes have on revenue
• 72% of restaurants leaders expressed interest in adopting products to help them apply systematic approaches to menu changes

For more takeaways, read the full study: Optimize menus with insights and testing.