In today's delivery-first world, restaurants have more opportunities — and more competition — than ever. With a few taps, customers can view dozens of nearby options, making it crucial for restaurants to stand out. One of the most powerful ways to do that? Optimizing your delivery menu.
Using menu data and AI to fine-tune what you offer isn't just about making changes for change's sake — it's about turning your menu into a smarter business tool. In this guide, we'll show you how restaurants can use DoorDash's analytics and AI-powered insights to highlight bestsellers, phase out underperformers, and adjust in real time. The result is a stronger menu, better margins, and happier customers.
Understand your menu's performance through data
When it comes to menu optimization, your first step is understanding how your current menu is performing. DoorDash's Merchant Portal gives partners access to a suite of reports that highlight which items are selling and when.
You can see which dishes shine during brunch, dinner, or late-night hours by analyzing sales trends. You can also spot underperformers — items that lag behind others in order volume or customer satisfaction. Beyond the numbers, customer feedback and repeat order behavior can reveal insights, like why a dish might underperform despite strong reviews, or how certain combos lead to bigger basket sizes.
Using restaurant analytics in the Merchant Portal can help you streamline operations and understand customer behavior. By gathering these insights, you can tailor your offerings, boost sales, and improve overall performance, helping ensure your restaurant's success in a competitive market. Restaurant analytics can help you turn customer and sales data into practical insights. In the Merchant Portal, you can view your restaurant's data and use it to assess:
Why customers choose you over competitors
What new menu items you should test
New modifiers and menu items you can add
Using the restaurant data analytics in the Merchant Portal, you can make informed decisions to take your business to the next level. Here are a few ways you can transform customer insights into business growth:
Optimize your menu: Learn which menu items inspire customers to write five-star reviews and identify less-popular dishes that could be better promoted or removed altogether.
Improve your profitability: You can use menu engineering to pinpoint the items that either enhance or detract from your overall profitability.
Increase sales: Determine your restaurant's slowest days and times, then launch a marketing campaign to drive traffic to your store during those windows.
Improve the guest experience: Understand what your customers like most about your restaurant (e.g., friendly service, fun happy hours, Instagrammable dishes), then highlight those features in your marketing campaigns and delivery menu.
Armed with real menu data, you can start thinking more strategically about what deserves the spotlight — and what might need a refresh.
Use AI tools to unlock smarter menu decisions
AI is taking the manual work out of restaurant menu management. Today, restaurants can tap into AI to automate tasks that once took hours, from predicting item popularity to fine-tuning pricing and menu layouts based on customer behavior. DoorDash's suite of AI tools helps reduce manual work for merchants, helping you enhance your menus, improve the customer experience, and grow your sales. The tools are available on both DoorDash Marketplace and first-party products, such as Online Ordering, and include:
Item description generator: Create enticing menu descriptions with one click using AI.
AI-powered camera: Capture professional-quality food photos by optimizing lighting and backgrounds, without changing the appearance of the food.
Instant photo approvals: Get automatically approved menu photos with AI-driven moderation for instant uploads.
Background enhanced menu photos: Without altering or editing the food itself, the new enhancement feature helps transform casual consumer photos into clean, professional menu photos.
Menu engineering is a good application for generative AI. Use a tool like ChatGPT to provide options for menu descriptions that meet a specific word count. You can get granular in your request; depending on the type of patrons you cater to, you might ask for copy that sounds family-friendly, witty and clever, or high-end and sophisticated.
AI software can also analyze sales data, customer preferences, and market trends to forecast which menu items will perform well. This allows restaurants to edit their offerings proactively while A/B testing pricing, descriptions, and placement to see which items resonate best with the customer.
From forecasting items to price adjustments, here are some popular AI tools restaurants use for menu optimization:
Dynamic Yield: Personalizes digital menus across drive-thru, apps, and in-store that increase order value and drive loyalty.
ChatGPT: Generates compelling menu descriptions, marketing copy, and customer responses, streamlining content creation processes.
eatOS.com: An AI-driven platform that integrates with restaurant management systems and provides valuable insights into menu performance to make price changes in real-time.
By integrating these AI tools, restaurants can stay ahead of trends and deliver personalized experiences that meet evolving customer expectations. Check out more AI restaurant solutions that are available now or in the near future.
Implement changes based on real-time insights
Your menu sets you apart from the competition and helps you attract and keep customers. According to our report on The Importance of Menu Optimization, 90% of restaurants that have streamlined their delivery menus report a positive impact on their delivery business. Once you understand how customers interact with your menu, it's time to take action.
With DoorDash, you can access real-time analytics and insights, including ratings and reviews and popular menu items, that you can use to inform your menu. For example, when you run out of an item, you can temporarily deactivate it from your menu using DoorDash's POS integration, or directly through the Merchant Portal or the Business Manager App. You can test new ideas during different dayparts or seasons to find new revenue streams, like a cozy soup special for winter afternoons or a late-night snack menu on weekends or after the big game.
Customers consider several factors when ordering delivery, including historical ratings, overall popularity, and menu prices. However, it can be difficult to tell at a glance which menu items are driving your business and which aren't worth the cost. Data analytics supply the profit margins on each dish so you can calculate appropriate markup rates, note your bestsellers, and edit your menu prices accordingly.
Get inspired by these restaurant menu examples to learn how to stand out from competitors, attract more customers, and boost sales.
Measure success and refine over time
Menu optimization isn't a one-time project — it's an ongoing strategy. DoorDash partners can log in to the Merchant Portal to view valuable customer insights and analytics on your main dashboard page, including:
Sales report: Includes average ticket size, order volume, and item performance
Operations report: Includes order accuracy, cancellations, wait time, downtime, ratings, and product mix
Financials report: Includes transactions, error charges/adjustments, and payouts
You can also use dashboards and alerts to stay agile and continue to adjust your menu. By consistently reviewing your menu's performance, you can create a cycle of testing, learning, and refining, leading to stronger customer loyalty and more consistent sales over time. For more tips, read our guide on using analytics to boost profits.
Stay competitive with a data-first mindset
Today's customers expect restaurants to keep up with their changing tastes. Menus that stay stagnant risk falling behind. That's why adopting a data-first mindset is no longer optional, but essential.
By combining customer insights, sales patterns, and AI solutions, you can transform your menu into a dynamic tool to grow your business. Your DoorDash menu becomes a living, evolving part of your strategy, helping you stay agile and win new customers, while making loyal guests even more excited to return. Tap into DoorDash's analytics and AI-powered tools to stay agile, competitive, and customer-focused.
