Freedom of Choice

Menu customization is empowering diners and driving big revenues

Burger King has been inviting customers to have it their way for 50 years, but across the restaurant landscape customized orders used to slow operations and draw sideways glances from staff. As fast-casual setups have become more prevalent and in-app ordering popular, though, so has menu customization. It’s a good thing for restaurants, too, because customers have come to expect personalization. Even BK has elevated its stance with the “You Rule” campaign that “celebrates everyday royalty and puts the guest at the forefront of everything the brand does,” the company said in a press release. The chain even lets customers get a side that’s half French fries, half onion rings.

Big Benefits

There are plenty of reasons for restaurants to embrace menu customization. Customers like it, of course, which makes them more likely to return. And with rewards for in-app ordering, coming back will be all the more worth their while. With all the data from in-app orders, restaurants can get to know their customers’ preferences better, even saving common orders so people can order with as little friction as possible.

Just like with delivery companies stocking regional fulfillment centers with the items people in a certain area regularly order, restaurants can adjust their ordering and procurement based on how much of specific ingredients they expect to sell.

They can also customize menus for different diets, offering vegetarian and vegan alternatives to popular items or crafting new dishes specially for people with special diets. Whether it’s the McRib or a pumpkin spice latte, menu customization makes it easier to introduce limited time specialty or seasonal items that gives restaurants a shot to win people over all over again.

Unique Experience

All this customization, rather than being a burden, is really driving sales.

“Customer demand for specifically customized cold coffee beverages is so strong that cold beverages now account for roughly 75% of our total beverage sales in U.S. company-operated stores,” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said in a third-quarter earnings call last year. “We’re in the early stages of the cold beverage platform in terms of what we’re going to bring in terms of innovation, and the modifiers and the customization gives us a significant competitive advantage.”

The coffee giant has developed what it calls the Siren System with a custom ice dispenser, milk dispensing system, and superfast blenders within easy reach of baristas. The whole system is designed to drastically decrease the time it takes to make drinks.

Fast-casual pizza chain Your Pie lets customers pick their own ingredients from an assembly line and watch as employees craft their pies (or salads or pasta bowls) and put them in the brick oven for a hot, fresh, and personalized dining experience. It’s something like the Chipotle of pizza places. They offer seasonal pizzas that introduce different ingredients, such as their summer peach prosciutto or their Impossible Slider Pie in collaboration with Impossible Foods.

“When I first opened Your Pie, we were entering a category that hadn’t been explored yet,” founder Drew French said. “That was entirely by design — I wanted to create a specific niche within the craft pizza industry,” said French. “Since day one, the Your Pie brand has been about creating a unique, one-of-a-kind experience for every one of its customers.”

Don’t Go Overboard

As menu customization grows in popularity, there can be too much of a thing. Eateries need to be careful not to offer too many choices, or it can overwhelm customers. Nobody wants people standing like a deer in headlights as their eyes glaze over when trying to choose from dozens of ingredients as the line behind them grows.

“With smaller, customizable menus, the restaurant can focus more on the quality of the food it’s turning out,” Your Pie advises franchisees. “Mindfully shrinking and customizing your menu benefits your bottom line, as well. Most restaurants with traditional menus operate under the rough estimation that 80% of your profits come from about 20% of your menu items.”

Asian fast-casual chain Tokyo Joe’s offers 12 sauces and 12 vegetables for customers to mix and match in their custom bowls. The trick, says founder Joe Leith, is to find as many ways as possible to use all those ingredients.

“When we spec a product, we always make sure we can cross-utilize it in a salad, sushi roll, or more than one menu item,” he told Restaurant Business Online.

They also offer a meal plan, good for fitness enthusiasts and families alike that lets customers order proteins in bulk for several days’ worth of meal prep. However they want to portion them out is up to them. After all, the customer rules.