I have never authored anything before, well except for the voices in my head. But at least nothing anyone would listen too that is; let alone ask me to write. And this is what sparked The Smarter Menu newsletter. I realized that it doesn't help anyone if I don't share all the incredible data and insights we're collecting at EveryBite derived from our SmartMenu's to help restaurants truly understand, and personalize the guest experience. This data goes far beyond the high-level touch points of website visits, wifi access and coupon redemption. While all those 3 are important, we are still missing the full story, and that's where the menu comes in. This paper-powerhouse is stocked full of insights, trends and marketing opportunities if you just personalized it.
For all first time readers, let me explain what a SmartMenu is, and what we're doing at EveryBite. A SmartMenu is an interactive hyper-personalized menu that enables 1:1 personalization at an ingredient granular level. Think Amazon and Spotify had a baby, it graduated from the university of Meta, learnt all about targeted marketing, and then grew up to be a SmartMenu. Taking tried and true e-commerce style learnings, a SmartMenu delivers dining guests the ability to filter the generic menu just as you would expect to filter while shopping online, or listening to music in your car. Except our filters don't consist of 5 star rated toilet paper, or best of Smooth Jazz, our filters power ingredients, nutrients, allergens, diets and much more. With SmartMenu diners can:
Filter and sort by Allergens
Create personal Nutrition thresholds
Sort and select by Diets (vegan, vegetarian etc)
Save BYO Ingredient + modifiers
Serve up most popular dishes by time of day
Show look-alike segments (other gluten free guests wanting high protein)
Personalized onscreen menu that only shows you your dishes
All of the above blended into a guest profile that travels with them restaurant-to-restaurant, menu-to-menu; after all, it is a smart menu
So what does all this mean? When restaurants add a SmartMenu to their digital channels, the 105 million consumers looking for this information, can now search and discover the menu in a personalized way. And what do we know from personalization? It drives:
Read any of Olo's blogs (https://www.olo.com/blog), they not only talk about the power of personalization, but they offer guidance and tools to help operators leverage this crucial marketing outreach.
Restaurant brands that use a SmartMenu see on average a 46% conversion in online order click throughs. I know what you're thinking, "there must be punctuation missing here, surely she means 4.6%?" And yet, across all our SmartMenus we see guests who interactant with our filters an 'Order Item' click at an astounding rate of forty six percent.
Key Trends & Insights from SmartMenu:
1. Ingredient Transparency Drives Engagement
Menu items with clear ingredient descriptions are 4x more likely to be viewed by consumers.
Consumers increasingly want to know what’s in their food—transparency builds trust and engagement.
2. Special Diet Filters Influence Choices
Menu items that include dietary tags (e.g., gluten-free, vegan, keto) have 3.6x higher engagement.
Diners use these filters to navigate menus more efficiently, suggesting demand for personalized menu experiences.
3. Allergen Callouts Are High-Value
Menu items that mention top allergens (like nuts, dairy, gluten, soy) receive 2.8x more views.
Shows the growing importance of safety and awareness—especially for families and health-conscious consumers.
Each week I'll be highlighting how to transform your menu, to increase orders, loyalty and drive more traffic all from your ingredients. My upcoming newsletter topics are!
Investing in ingredient-level data and filterable dietary tags increases consumer trust and engagement.
Restaurants that adapt menus based on consumer needs, locations, and dietary preferences can gain a competitive edge
Accessibility, especially on mobile, is no longer optional—it's a revenue driver
Stay tuned for next week where I will reveal the menu hack that boosts guest loyalty by 24%!
Every subscriber gets access to data-backed insights you won’t find anywhere else. Forward to a friend or operator, and don't forget to hit subscribe and never miss a trend.!
Happy Friday,
Lucy
