Using advanced research technologies, including eye tracking and facial expression analysis, restaurants can better understand menu navigation to develop revenue strategies
(TAMPA – Oct. 4, 2023) Revenue Management Solutions (RMS), a global provider of data-driven analytics and tech-enabled solutions for restaurants, has partnered with iMotions, the world’s leading software platform for studying the drivers behind human behavior, to deploy the latest human behavior technologies to improve menu engineering and unlock revenue opportunities.
The partnership connects restaurant brands with the iMotions software suite, an advanced human behavior research tool with cloud data collection features. iMotions’ unique cloud-based solution uses a participant’s own webcam and a browser interface to collect data using eye tracking, facial expression and
emotion recognition technologies, allowing for research to be deployed among any audience at any time, anywhere in the world.
RMS then analyzes the research, giving restaurant brands exclusive access to unique metrics like the RMS Focus Score™, which quantifies consumers’ focus across the menu using multiple factors such as average
duration and revisits to specific locations on the menu. The research can reveal what information
consumers are truly processing on restaurant menus versus simply skimming the content.
Restaurant brands gain a clearer understanding of how participants view online restaurant menus and the
factors influencing their ordering behavior. RMS then applies more than 25 years of industry-leading data
analytics expertise for some of the world’s largest restaurant brands to uncover opportunities for menu
optimization and profit potential.
“The way consumers engage with restaurants has completely transformed, but many menus are still
designed based on pre-digital guidelines,” said Ryan Garner, Director of Research and Consumer Analytics
at RMS. “Our pilot study identified clear gaze paths, dead spots and hot spots in digital restaurant menus
— information we can translate into profit-building menu insights for our clients.”
RMS and iMotions conducted the first pilot study using online eye-tracking and online facial expression
analysis in late 2022, confirming that the medium affects where consumers begin when viewing an online
menu (gaze paths), what they skip (dead spots), and where they spend their time (hot spots). RMS also
tested when customers are most open to suggestive selling and what types of content are most impactful.
These insights challenged conventional industry practices and allowed for advancement in menu
engineering, all designed to drive profitability.
“The restaurant business is the latest industry to recognize how the study of nonconscious behaviors using
biometric technologies can challenge conventional wisdom and unlock new opportunities,” said Peter
Hartzbech, iMotions Founder and CEO. “Consumer preferences, habits and lifestyles constantly evolve,
and what were once impactful perspectives change. Those willing to tap into these modern tools and
technologies will better understand today’s consumers and emerge most successful, while those who
choose to stick with the status quo will fall behind.”
The announcement builds on a collaboration that first began in 2019 with revolutionary menu design
research in labs at the University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business. The study was regarded as
the most comprehensive consumer menu ordering examination in 30 years.
Contact RMS today to learn how menu research can benefit your restaurant.
About Revenue Management Solutions
Revenue Management Solutions (RMS) is committed to supporting restaurants through ever-changing
times. Today, more than 50 major brands in 40-plus countries trust RMS. Its data-driven analytics and
tech-enabled solutions optimize sales, menus and a brand’s financial health. RMS provides actionable
insights to more than 100,000 restaurant locations worldwide to help them make informed business
decisions that drive profitability and combat inflation and rising wages. The company holds five US patents
on menu pricing and customer segmentation and supports ongoing academic research efforts. For more
information on how RMS helps its clients, visit revenuemanage.com.
About iMotions
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, iMotions, a SaaS company, has developed
the world’s leading human behavior software platform. More than 1,300 organizations around the world
— from leading academic institutions to global brands to highly respected healthcare organizations — use
iMotions to access real-time and nonconscious emotional, cognitive and behavioral data. By integrating
and synchronizing all types of sensors into a single platform, iMotions provides researchers with access to
deeper and richer insights — and the most complete picture of human behavior. For more information,
visit iMotions.com.
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Media Contacts:
For RMS: Tracy Henderson
tracy@centerreachcommuniciation.com, 720-989-3530
For iMotions: Todd Graff
tgraff@ctpboston.com, 617-309-0401