Did you know there are psychological factors to consider when planning a menu?

Simple, smallest first It may seem obvious, but coffee menus generally start with the cheapest and simplest menu item, such as an espresso, and move to more complex drinks with milk and chocolate. This makes the menu easy and quick to digest. You may feel rebellious, but we'd recommend sticking to this format.

Three columns = increased spend Neuroscientists have found that you perceive numbers on a linear scale with small numbers at the left, medium numbers in the middle, and large numbers at the right. Numbers are easier to process when they’re positioned in a choice set in the same way your brain processes them.

When positioned with three size options, customers are more likely to select medium or large than small, as they perceive it as better value. Thus customers can be inadvertently upsold.

That said, it's also a trend in more artisan outlets to offer less choice and more simplicity with a single size and price option. This is likely to work better in more premium coffee shops whose customers are less price sensitive.

Understanding your audience will help you select the most appropriate approach.

There’s no need for the currency symbol Currency symbols get you to think about money. And the more you think about money, the less likely you are to spend it. You might be thinking that something as small and unnoticeable as a currency symbol couldn’t affect your customers’ spending habits – but subconsciously it does.

So how do you go about building your own café drinks menu?

We’ve created a new tool that will do this for you, and it’s optimised based on our expert research and experience. Our customisable Menu Builder will produce a bespoke menu for your café that you can simply print out to use. And it’s completely free!