How Restaurants Secretly Make You Spend More Than You Know ~ Smithankyou

Sorry not sorry. Because this is a F&B article, I’m going to flood it with food pictures.

We all have our favourite restaurants that we always go back to. And despite how often we visit them, we are still always ordering more than what we can finish. It’s literally what they call biting off more than you can chew (and swallow). Is it simply because the food is so irresistibly good? Or is it because they have a really good marketing team that has brainwashed you? Is there more than what meets the eye?

Have you watched the famous show about breaking the magicians’ code? This article is something like that but for the Food and Beverages industry. (And you are probably wondering who died and made me a F&B business consultant. Nobody died but I will tell you who gave me these tips.)

1. Removing the $ sign

Same logic as some of the online games around. Why bother to make user pay cash to buy diamonds and after that make users to pay for items in diamonds and not just allow users to pay for items in cash? Because taking away the $ sign and the money factor weakens the association with spending. Yes, and people will spend more impulsively and customers will end up spending more! I think I know this better than anyone else because I’m a major victim here lol.

2. .95 works!

Every time when my wife asks me how much I’ve spent on another of my big boy toys I would always tell her “300-ish” or “200” but truth is that it’s $395 or $295 but I just cushion it to make it sounds like I didn’t spend that much. Same logic there, having a .95 or .99 gives people the impression that you are spending less. $999 = “it’s not even a thousand dollars.”

(I hope this is one of those blog posts that my wife will not read. LOL)

3. Easy Upsell

I’m sure we encounter this alll the time.

“Want to upsize?”

“It’s only 50cents more to get a Venti.”

Always make it looks like you are paying just a little more to get a lot more value in return. It’s a trap that I’ve always been aware of but still fall into it every single time. In plain English - Overbuying things that I don’t need.

4. Use Expensive Food

This is one for the most amazing ~~Jedi~~ sales mind trick. I’ve read many articles on these, it’s also better known as the anchoring effect.

From inc.com

“When he surveyed 100 MIT students about those pricing options, Ariely (@danariely) got these results:

Subscription type	Cost for a year	Percentage that chose it
Web only	$59	16%
Print only	$125	0%
Print and Web	$125	84%

You might ask: Why did the Economist even bother with that $125 “print only” option? Ariely conducted a second survey that shows why. In the second survey, Ariely removed the $125 “print only” option and asked a separate set of 100 MIT students what they would choose.

Here’s what happened:

Subscription type	Cost for a year	Percentage that chose it
Web only	$59	68%
Print and Web	$125	32%

The bottom line: The mere presence of the “print only” option--even though no one chose it--prompted a much higher percentage of people to choose the more expensive ($125) “print and web” option. The difference, when all the $125 and $59 sums are added up, would have amounted to 42.8 percent more hypothetical revenues for the Economist. “Print and web” for $125 seems like a much better value when it’s anchored by a $125 “print only” option and a $59 “web only” option.

“

So I guess your menu should always have some things that don’t make sense and distract your consumers from rational decision making.

5. A Picture Paints A Thousand Words

Do I really need to explain this point? I’m pretty sure we have heard and said this one time too many.

“OMG, this looks soooo good. Can I order this as well?”

“I’ve no idea which to order. Everything looks soooo good.”

Have you heard anyone saying..

“This sounds sooo good I’m going to order this as well.”

“This copywriting makes me hungry.”

No lah, I’m not saying copywriting is not important but research has shown that nice food pictures can increase sales for that item by up to 30%. So if you need some help with your food menu’s pictures you know who to email right? *wink wink*

Smith the F&B Consultant?

Host and the man behind those wise words - Benjamin Yang, Managing Director - Novitee Pte Ltd

Nah. Not yet at least. Although F&B and/ or opening a pub have always been on my mind but I’m not jumping into it yet. I actually picked these information up from a symposium organised by e2i recently.

1 of the 3 smaller and more focused breakout sessions during SME Symposium 2017

e2i has lots of programs that not only share information like these but they also offer a lot of help to not just business owners but also workers as well. This time round, the event I attended was actually the annual SME Symposium where e2i and NTUC aimed to share with business leaders and entrepreneurs insights and strategies which SMEs can embark on to address the global economic challenges and uncertainties ahead.

Besides the on-stage panel discussion, there were a few different breakout sessions where attendees could learn more about that particular industry from industry experts. There were 3 main groups: Retail, Logistics, and the one that I am most interested in and attended - Food and Beverage. Because I was half-expecting them to give out free food and drinks which sounded more enticing as compared to the other two. :x

There’s no way you can learn everything in a short 2-hour session which is why e2i also holds some industry masterclasses where you can sign up for free and learn more from the different trainers.

Masterclasses aside, e2i also offers a series of services that can help you out. The Inclusive Growth Programme for example is a funding programme designed to help Singaporeans as well as PRs to have better jobs via productivity initiatives and upskilling, which also leads to higher salaries.

Source: e2i

By now you must be wondering if I’m their salesman or how can you also be part of such events to find out more. Their information of such events are actually very available on both the e2i as well as NTUC website, if not just contact them to find out. If you are interested you can always drop me an email and if I’m attending anything next I can always ask you along. And no, I’m not their sales person, I just enjoy going to such sessions to learn more as well as to network with different people at the event.

Funny story, I actually met a lady who has a son that has the exact same Chinese name as me! And she also commented that I’m pretty well dressed! *blush*