In online food ordering, menus are rarely optimised for how customers actually order. Most restaurants treat their online menu as a full catalogue of offerings, when in reality, only a small portion of items drive the majority of demand.

Across cuisines, cities, and platforms, analytics consistently shows the same pattern:

• 20–25% of menu items generate 60–70% of orders
• The bottom 30–35% of items contribute less than 5% of revenue

Ignoring this imbalance creates unnecessary complexity in kitchens, slows fulfilment, and weakens profitability.

The Reality of Online Menu Behaviour

Online customers behave differently from dine-in guests:

• They decide faster
• They scroll less during peak hunger moments
• They default to familiar or highly visible items

For a typical online-first restaurant with 60–80 listed items:

• Top 12–15 items dominate order volume
• Bottom 20 items may sell fewer than 1–2 units per day
• Yet all items demand inventory, prep readiness, and kitchen attention

This mismatch between demand and preparation is a silent operational cost.

How Low-Performing Items Hurt Operations

Poorly performing items don’t just “sit there.” They actively hurt execution.

Inventory Impact

Slow-moving items increase:

• Ingredient fragmentation
• Perishable wastage (often 4–6% higher for niche items)
• Emergency substitutions when popular items stock out

Kitchen Throughput Impact

Low-velocity items often:

• Require unique prep steps
• Occupy stations during peak hours
• Slow overall order flow

Analytics frequently shows that 1–2 low-selling items can cap peak-hour throughput by 10–15% when ordered unexpectedly.

Volume vs Margin: The Hidden Trade-off

Not all high-volume items are good for the business, and not all low-volume items are worth keeping.

Menu analytics helps separate:

• High-volume, low-margin items (traffic drivers)
• Medium-volume, high-margin items (profit anchors)
• Low-volume, high-complexity items (operational drag)

Restaurants that blindly promote “bestsellers” often overload kitchens with items that:

• Take longer to prepare
• Generate lower contribution
• Increase peak-hour delays

This is why some restaurants see order growth but declining profitability.

What Menu Analytics Changes

When menus are planned using item-level analytics:

• Bottom 15–20% of items are removed, merged, or time-restricted
• Peak-hour menus are simplified
• Prep focus shifts to high-velocity items

Observed outcomes include:

• 10–15% improvement in kitchen throughput
• 2–3 minute reduction in average prep time
• More consistent ratings during peak hours
• Lower inventory wastage

Importantly, order volume usually remains stable—sometimes even increases—because customers were rarely ordering those items anyway.

Menu Design Is Also a Conversion Lever

Beyond operations, menu structure affects conversion.

Analytics-driven menus:

• Place high-performing items higher
• Reduce cognitive overload
• Improve cart completion rates by 3–6%

A simpler, better-ranked menu feels faster and more reliable to customers—especially during peak hours.