Ordinami.itIncreasing the average ticket is the quickest way to grow a restaurant: customers are already seated, rent is already paid, staff are already on shift. Every extra euro per cover is almost all margin. The difference between doing it well and doing it poorly is just one: the customer must leave feeling happy to have spent more, not ripped off.
Measure first, then act
The average ticket is calculated in a minute: period revenue divided by number of covers. Do it for lunch and dinner separately, because they are two different businesses. Only after putting this number on paper can you understand if the moves you make are working. Without measurement, everything is a feeling.
The levers that really work
- The menu that guides. High-margin dishes go at the top of categories, with curated descriptions and photos. The average customer spends a couple of minutes on the menu: what they see first, they order more often.
- Suggested pairings, not asked. "This Syrah pairs well with the steak, shall I bring you a glass?" sells ten times more than "to drink?". It applies to wine, sides, and shared fries.
- Dessert played in advance. Dessert is sold when clearing the main course, not after ten minutes of empty tables: when you ask "shall I bring the bill?" the game is lost. A cart or a tray to show does the rest.
- Formats and additions. The large bottle of water instead of the small one, the burrata added to the pizza, the board to share while waiting: small yeses that add up.
The role of the digital menu
Most of these levers depend on the menu, and a digital menu makes them easier to activate: reorder categories to put high-margin items first, add photos to dishes to push, update the daily offer in real-time. And where table orders are active, the second round of drinks — the item that most often gets lost — starts from the customer's phone without waiting for anyone. With Ordinami, the PRO plan adds statistics: see which dishes are really being ordered and adjust course every month.
What not to do
- Raise prices across the board and hope: without working on perceived value, you lose covers.
- Insist on every course verbally: pushy sales are felt and ruin the evening.
- Reduce portion sizes secretly: the customer notices and writes it on Google.
A necessary clarification: the average ticket increases on the right tables. The group of students with a tight budget should be served well and that's it — they will return when the budget grows. The levers are used where there is a margin of expenditure, not indiscriminately on all.
Choose two levers, apply them for a month, remeasure the average ticket. It's a less creative job than a disciplined one — and that's exactly why few do it, and those who do see the results at the end of the month.