A)
For you lazy readers out there, basically:
- Create a few pricing choices.
- Create a choice that is outrageously expensive. Many users will not pick that choice, but will more likely pick the next expensive choice (e.g. ridiculously high MSRP will lead to better sales)
B)
The next one is from Ramit (Scrooge Strategy), I recommend you go check it out!
#1: Understand that restaurants are carefully engineered to maximize spending -- and fight back
Have you ever read a description of a menu item that read something like this? "Fresh poached salmon on a bed of oak-aged lettuce simmered in vine-riped tomatoes and a crusted sesame-ahi puree." I don't even know what any of that means, but it works. In fact, in extensive research, Professor Wansink found that descriptive names:
* Sold 27% more compared to non-descriptive names ("cheeseburger")
* Were rated as "more appealing and tastier than identical foods with less attractive names."
* Caused diners to rate the entire establishment more favorably (so think about the last few restaurants you've liked...what effect did their menu's copywriting have on your decision-making?)
And in fact, this is a well-known and carefully practiced craft. Time Magazine recently described Greg Rapp, the Menu Magician
"A 'menu engineer' based in Palm Springs, Calif., Rapp works with restaurants across the country and around the world to transform innocent lists of meals into profitable, user-friendly sales tools.
The first step is the design. Rapp recommends that menus be laid out in neat columns with unfussy fonts. The way prices are listed is very important. "This is the No. 1 thing that most restaurants get wrong," he explains. "If all the prices are aligned on the right, then I can look down the list and order the cheapest thing." It's better to have the digits and dollar signs discreetly tagged on at the end of each food description. That way, the customer's appetite for honey-glazed pork will be whetted before he sees its cost.
Cheap, popular staples--like a grilled-chicken sandwich or a burger--should be harder to locate. Rapp likes to make the customer read through a mouthwatering description of seared ahi tuna before he finds them. "This is akin to the grocery store putting the milk in the back," he says. "You have to walk by all sorts of tempting, high-priced items to get to it.""
Restaurants have had thousands of man-hours of experience to test the menu on patrons. Do not underestimate their ability to influence you to order more when your charming server offers you her recommendations, you're with your friends in a great mood, and you decide to splurge for the extra appetizer.
Tactical tip: Whenever possible, check the menu online before you eat out. Decide what you're going to order before you ever step foot in the restaurant -- away from the influence of the restaurant and your friends -- and stick with your choice when you get to the restaurant.
Ok, so basically:
- Get good at doing business. Be a businessman and bullshit about how good your food is. Don't sell your fish as "salmon and veggies," sell it as "fresh poached salmon on a bed of oak-aged lettuce simmered in vine-riped tomatoes and a crusted sesame-ahi puree"
- Make prices less obvious (but not impossible) to find
- Make cheap items less obvious, with less tasty descriptions
C) Lastly, here's a pretty cool post on pricing (conclusion: confusion may yield more profit):
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/priceless/200912/decoding-fast-food-menus
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