MENUS

Why are menus important?

Menus are critical for inspiring your customers and helping them make quick and informed decisions about what to drink when they enter your venue.

Besides choice, a good menu can also make a great impact on your business by:

• Differentiating your venue from your competitors by highlighting your serves and offers.
• Influencing customers’ choice and making opportunities to sell more profitable drinks.
• Reducing inefficiencies and speeding up service at the bar resulting in increasing sales and profits.

Tips for designing a profitable menu

A menu is one of the most powerful sales tools you have. Its design, what offers it contains and how you use it are critical to achieving your goals. Ensure you apply the below rules in order to get the most out of your menu:

Get the right mix of drinks on your menu!

• Understand your customers and what serves are the most popular. Add offers into your menu that are suitable for them.
• Calculate the profitability of your serves and how to present them in the menu.
• Differentiate your venue from the competition and make it stand out by adding a signature serve to your menu.
• Consider offering different serves for different occasions, for example summer cocktails, winter hot toddies and group offers.
• Less is more. Don’t overload your customers with lots of serves. A good recommendation is to divide your list into sections with 5-8 drinks in each.

Design your menu so it makes it easier for customers to choose

1. Keep the menu uncomplicated and avoid clutter - ensure the menu is easy to read even in low light environments.

2. Use beautiful drinks images to create appetite appeal.

3. Write evocative descriptions for your offers that appeal to people’s senses and call out any unique ingredients used that add value.

4. Signal recommendations and best-selling serves E.g. by using a different colour, a box or call outs like “bartender’s recommendation” or “cocktail of the week”.

Tips for using the menu effectively

• Place your menu where the order takes place.
• Ensure consistency of drinks – make sure all bartenders are trained to make the serves on the menu.
• Train staff to feel confident to recommend and upsell using the menu.
• Make sure all the serves on your menu can be executed to the same standard during rush hours.

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