Every time you want to change the price on the menu, do you feel annoyed because you have to print a new menu or cross out the old menu? Be ready to say goodbye to that annoyance with convenient price changes on the smart electronic menu. Let’s find out more details and useful information about this type of menu with VDS through the article below!
1. What is a menu? Classification of menus for restaurants, cafes, and tea shops
Menu is a familiar item that every restaurant, café, and tea shop has. However, what are the benefits that a menu brings, and what types of convenient price-changing menus are commonly used for restaurants and drink shops? Discover more in the following section.
1.1 What is the menu?
Menu is a list that enumerates the food and drinks that the Restaurant serves. The menu provides important information to help customers understand what dishes and drinks the Restaurant has. The menu is not required to show the price of each item, in some restaurants, the menu is written in two languages so that international guests can still read and understand it.
In addition, the menu is also used in large parties to help guests know in advance what delicious dishes they will enjoy at the party, while ensuring the quantity and volume of food that is appropriate for the number of guests attending the party.
1.2 Popular Menu Categorization
There are three main ways for you to present menu content, so please carefully consider which option is suitable for your restaurant’s characteristics. It is important to choose the appropriate content to effectively showcase your menu offerings.
1.2.1 Buffet menu
The buffet menu is used in buffet restaurants. This type of menu provides complete information about all the dishes that customers can enjoy freely when dining at the restaurant. Because it is a self-service restaurant, customers pay a fixed price to eat all the dishes, so the buffet menu is usually longer and more complicated than a regular menu.
When designing the buffet menu, the owner needs to ensure that it includes all the dishes while being easy to read and not overcrowded with text that can make customers uncomfortable.
1.2.2 A la carte menu
The menu by dish is the most popular type of menu nowadays, it helps customers easily order individual dishes to their taste. This menu usually provides the name, price and may include a brief description of the flavor of each dish. With the dish-by-dish menu, the owner should carefully select information to put on the menu to attract and persuade customers.
1.2.3 Set menu
The menu by meal is a type of menu that arranges dishes into sets at a fixed price. Ordering by set often brings benefits: reasonable cost compared to a la carte or to ensure the perfect combination of dishes in the set for the customer’s meal. When setting up a meal menu, the Shop owner must carefully calculate the price or base it on the nature of the meal (according to taste, meal time, customer target,…)
2. Principles of Menu Building
The menu is also a tool for the shop to increase revenue and enhance the customer experience. So when building a menu, attention should be paid to what principles? Learn more in the section below:
2.1 Creating an impressive and unique menu
The menu should have the shop’s own style and should minimize copying from other restaurants. You should creatively create a menu concept that is impressive and different so that the menu becomes a strength for your shop to compete with competitors.
2.2 Rich and diverse food options
From a main ingredient, if your shop can create many different delicious dishes, customers will surely feel curious and want to order more. For example, with shrimp as the main ingredient, the shop should have options like shrimp with salted egg sauce, steamed beer shrimp, stir-fried shrimp noodles, etc.
2.3 Price listing for each dish
The shop should clearly list the price of each dish right in the menu so that customers feel comfortable when ordering. This also makes customers feel more at ease because they can choose a dish that fits their budget.
2.4 Let customers know the preparation and cooking time
One of the concerns of customers is how much time the dish they want to choose will take to serve. Therefore, if the estimated waiting time for the dish is included in the menu, customers will estimate which dish is suitable for the time they have.
2.5 Regular menu updates
The characteristic of the restaurant and beverage business is that customer tastes change frequently. Therefore, regularly updating the menu is something you should do. This update can include adding new dishes, creating attractive promotions, changing the menu concept, etc., all of which will bring freshness and professionalism to your shop. Note that before updating the menu, you should survey customer opinions to make reasonable decisions.
2.6 Create special menus for holidays
Holidays are an opportunity for restaurants to easily attract customers. If you prepare special menus for these holidays, the effectiveness of attracting customers will be higher. Not only that, a menu specifically for holidays is also a great strategy for restaurants to maintain and increase revenue.
3. Things to do and not to do when changing the menu
Refreshing the menu is not a simple matter. When changing the menu content, you should not do the following:
- The new content does not suit the customer’s tastes.
- Adding too much information that makes the menu cluttered and difficult to read.
- Pushing the price too high.
- Reducing prices too low, adding unnecessary discounts.
- Not consulting customers’ opinions.
- Not having the restaurant’s signature dish.
These mistakes can make your menu less appealing, causing a negative impact on customers’ impressions of the restaurant.
On the other hand, you should do the following:
- Replace low-revenue dishes with more attractive new dishes: Less popular dishes can stall the restaurant’s revenue. To address this, you should remove those dishes and replace them with new dishes that better suit the customers’ tastes.
- Survey customers’ preferences for food and design to create a menu that meets their needs and preferences. There are 2 common ways to conduct this survey: online and offline. For online surveys, you can post questions on the restaurant’s Facebook page to gather opinions. For offline surveys, you can send survey forms to customers in the restaurant after they finish their meal. Depending on the conditions and needs, choose a survey method that is suitable.
- Design an attractive menu with the restaurant’s unique style, easy to read but still meets customer preferences and makes an impression on customers.
- Switch from paper menus to electronic menus to create a professional image for the restaurant and enhance the customer experience.
4. The previous ways to change prices
For traditional menu types, there are 2 common ways to change prices, specifically as follows:
4.1 Delete and edit directly on the store’s price board
The Store Owner will use a pen to directly erase or a small piece of tape to cover the part that needs to be edited, then overwrite the inviting price information. This method is quick and economical but will make the menu look ugly and reduce the professionalism of the restaurant.
4.2 Reprint a new price board
If you don’t want the store’s menu to become messy and unattractive when changing prices, you can reprint an entirely new menu, then discard all old menus. This option ensures the neatness and aesthetics of the menu but incurs the cost of printing. Renewing also takes more time and may affect the store’s business operations.
5. Convenient price change menu with VDS digital menu solution
You can easily change prices on the menu in just a few minutes with the VDS digital menu solution.
5.1 Display prices by video
The VDS digital menu provides the feature of displaying prices by video, bringing many benefits:
- Increased aesthetics, elegance: Paper menus often have poor durability, making the text blurry, peeling off the paper and becoming unattractive. In contrast, digital menus are always sharp and brightly colored. The vibrancy and attraction of electronic menus will make the restaurant space more sophisticated, beautiful, and upscale.
- Limiting the spread of disease: With electronic menus, customers can observe the menu without touching it, and even order from a distance to limit direct contact.
- Easy to edit: One of the biggest advantages of convenient price change menus is that editing is very easy and convenient. You only need to perform a few simple steps in a few minutes to change anything on the menu, anytime, anywhere you want.
5.2 Price List Digital Signage
Price List Digital Signage is an excellent solution to help your store have an attractive, appealing, and convenient menu. VDS’s Price List Digital Signage solution will turn your TV screen into a professional electronic menu. The menu is displayed on a large screen to provide a great reading experience for customers, making it easy for them to observe the entire list of dishes.
With Price List Digital Signage, editing and managing menu content becomes more convenient than ever. You can update menus remotely, edit menus anytime, anywhere, with simple operations on your mobile device.
Price List Digital Signage also has high display quality, helping to display menu content clearly, interspersed with attractive, authentic images of the food, making customers feel excited and eager to order more.
Price List Digital Signage is the convenient and modern menu replacement that you should choose to apply to your restaurant. Get ready to boost your revenue with the powerful assistant Price List Digital Signage.
Above are the shares of VDS about the convenient price change menu and useful information about setting up a menu for the most effective results for the Store. To be able to edit the menu quickly and easily at any time you want, VDS’s Price List Digital Signage is an excellent choice. Contact VDS for detailed and attentive advice!
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