What can these establishments do to generate interest and lure diners? To find out, they typically offer new menu items or variations after testing them with consumers. Such testing usually presents a concept and asks consumers to evaluate it on appeal or purchase interest. Unfortunately, these measures can be misleading because consumers are not deciding among all menu options or choices.
As an alternative, another strategy that is creating a buzz is virtual restaurant research that studies customer behavior. The procedure calls for consumers to experience simulated restaurant environments and to test virtual menus in an ordering exercise. Virtual restaurant research reveals what people will order and how much they will spend on their meals.
 Decision Insight’s A La Carte online research platform replicates a restaurant ordering experience from entering the establishment to browsing menu pages. Restaurants use it to test menu options in the context of a realistic full menu-set. The A La Carte online menu optimization system can replicate a restaurant menu (either a menu board or an actual menu) and build the context of the specific environment. The context yields output measures such as menu item reach (percent of consumers who order each item), product mix (share of items across the menu) and average ticket price.
Results from these actual/virtual ticket averages provide key behavioral measures. Understanding consumer behavior through such research is more important than understanding their attitudes. For example, it can identify which menu items to eliminate to streamline operational costs, which is important today as restaurants tighten their belts.
The overall goal is to determine how to maximize the sales ticket average with the best assortment of products, pricing and menu design. Menu testing online is a creative way to discover how to reach more customers, more often and have them spend more money.
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