What is average spend, and how to raise it

What is average spend? In a restaurant, it usually means the average amount each guest spends: sales for a period divided by the number of guests served. If a dinner service takes 6,000 from 150 guests, the average spend is 40 per guest. It is often called spend per head or spend per cover, and it is one of the handful of numbers every manager should know for each service.

It matters because sales are made of two things: how many guests come, and how much each spends. A venue can grow its sales by bringing in more guests, which is limited by its seats and its hours, or by each guest spending a little more, which has far more room to move. Average spend shows which is happening, and it is often the easier of the two to improve.

This guide explains what average spend is, how to calculate it, the related figure of average check, the splits that make it useful, what moves it, and four honest ways to raise it. It covers upselling done well, the menu mix behind the number, and how to measure whether a change worked.

Average spend is net sales divided by covers: what the typical guest spent. Use net sales, after discounts and before VAT or sales tax, so the figure reflects what the venue actually earned. Use covers, the number of guests, not the number of tables or checks.

Our guide to what is a cover explains why counting covers consistently matters so much for this figure.

Two figures are often confused. Average spend per head is sales divided by guests. Average check is sales divided by the number of checks or bills. A table of four on one check counts as one check and four guests, so the average check is usually much higher than the spend per head.

Both are useful. Spend per head tells you what each guest spends; average check tells you what each table spends. When people say average spend, ask which they mean.

Here is an illustrative dinner service. The figures are examples.

Average spend per head is 7,200 divided by 160, or 45. Average check is 7,200 divided by 52, or about 138. The two describe the same service from different angles.

Average spend shows whether the menu, the prices and the team's selling are working. A rise in sales with flat covers means guests spent more. A fall in sales with flat covers means they spent less. Without the figure, a manager cannot tell which, and may look for problems in the wrong place.

It also helps with planning. A forecast of covers multiplied by the expected spend gives a forecast of sales.

A single average for the whole week tells you surprisingly little, because it blends very different services. A quick weekday lunch and a long Saturday dinner may differ in spend by a factor of two or more. If more lunch guests come one week, the blended figure falls, even if every service did exactly as usual.

Our guide to average spend per head, split properly explains the four splits that make the number useful.

Split average spend at least by:

Each split shows a different part of the story, and each has a different owner and a different lever.

Average spend moves for a handful of reasons: the prices on the menu, the dishes guests choose, the drinks they order, how much time they have, what the team suggests, the occasion, and the kind of guests who come. Some of these the venue controls directly; some, like the weather or a local event, it does not.

When the number moves, ask which of these changed, and check the splits to see where.

The menu mix, the share of sales each dish takes, has a direct effect on average spend. If guests move from a higher-priced main to a lower-priced one, spend falls even though nothing else changed. If a new dish draws guests up from a cheaper option, spend rises.

Our guide to menu mix explains how to read what guests actually choose.

Raising prices raises average spend directly, if guests keep ordering the same things. But guests may respond by choosing cheaper dishes or fewer courses, so the rise in spend is often smaller than the rise in price. Price changes should be made carefully, and their effect on the splits watched closely.

Prices are one lever, not the only one. Many venues can raise spend more comfortably through the four honest ways below.

Guests read a menu partly through its price points: the spread of prices from the cheapest to the most expensive dish in each section. A section where most mains sit close together guides guests towards the middle. Adding one dish at a higher price can make the dishes below it look like better value, and lifts what some guests choose.

Look at the price points in each section before changing individual prices. The shape of the section often matters as much as any single price.

Different guests spend differently. Business guests at lunch may spend more on food and less on drink; couples on an occasion may spend more on everything; families may share dishes; regulars may order with confidence and try the specials. A change in average spend can simply mean a change in who came.

Where guest records allow, compare spend by guest type, and remember that a guest who spends modestly but comes every fortnight is worth more over a year than one who spends a lot once.

Four ways raise average spend honestly, by giving guests more of what they would welcome:

The sections that follow take each in turn.

The menu shapes spend before anyone speaks. Sides listed beside the mains they suit, a short line suggesting a starter to share, desserts described so they tempt, and specials set apart from the rest all help guests choose more of what they will enjoy. The position of dishes and how prices are shown matter too.

Our guide to menu design for reading, not for framing covers how layout affects what guests order.

Drinks are usually the biggest lever on average spend, especially at dinner. A wine by the glass that suits the main, an aperitif offered as guests sit down, a well-made alcohol-free option for guests who are not drinking, a coffee or a digestif at the end: each adds to the bill and, done well, to the guest's evening.

Make it easy to say yes: pairings printed on the menu, wines offered by the glass, and a drinks list short enough to read.

Upselling has a bad name because it is often done badly: scripted, pushy, and blind to what the guest wants. Done well, it is simply good service: suggesting one thing, at the right moment, because it genuinely suits what the guest has chosen. "The lamb is lovely with the Rioja by the glass" helps a guest who finds the wine list hard to read.

Train the team on the menu and the drinks, not on scripts. A server who has tasted the dishes suggests naturally, and guests can tell the difference.

The pace of service affects spend more than most venues realise. A slow kitchen means guests who waited too long for their mains skip dessert and coffee. A table that has to wait for the bill leaves unhappy. Service that moves at the right pace leaves guests time and goodwill for the last course.

Watch dessert and coffee orders on busy nights. If they fall when the kitchen is under pressure, the pace is costing spend.

Lunch spend is shaped by time. Guests often have an hour or less, and they choose quickly: a main, perhaps a starter or a side, a soft drink or a coffee. Raising lunch spend usually means making the extras quick and easy, such as a side listed with each main or a coffee offered with the bill, rather than adding courses guests have no time for.

A well-priced set lunch can raise covers and hold spend steady, which is often the better result at lunch.

Dinner spend is shaped by occasion. Guests have more time, order more courses and drink more. This is where drinks pairings, desserts, coffee and digestifs make the biggest difference, and where the team's suggestions have the most effect.

Look after the guests' time at dinner. A rushed table orders less; one that feels welcome to stay orders more.

Raising average spend and turning tables pull in different directions. A table that stays for dessert and coffee spends more but occupies the seats for longer. On a quiet night, that is pure gain. On a full night with a waitlist, a longer sitting may cost the next table's spend.

Read average spend alongside revenue per seat on the busiest services. Our guide to table turnover rate covers the balance.

Training is the quiet engine behind higher average spend. A team that has tasted the dishes and drinks, knows which go together and feels confident describing them sells more without trying. A short tasting before service, a weekly focus on one wine or dessert, and praise for good suggestions build the habit.

Our guide to staff training that fits around service covers short sessions that work.

Average spend changes with the seasons. Festive menus and celebrations raise it; quiet months with offers may lower it. Compare each month with the same month last year, not with the month before, so a seasonal change is not mistaken for a problem or a success.

Children change the figure. If children who order from a children's menu are counted as covers, a busy family lunch will show a much lower average spend than an adult dinner, even if the adults spent well. Decide how children are counted, and consider tracking family tables separately on the services where they matter.

A lower spend per head at family lunch is not a problem to fix; it is a different kind of trade.

Read average spend every week, by split, at the weekly review. Most weeks, the splits move a little and nothing needs doing. When one moves outside its usual range, ask its owner why, and agree one thing to try. Over a year, the small, steady changes add up to a noticeably higher spend without any guest feeling pushed.

The aim of increasing average spend is a better visit and a larger bill at the same time. If guests leave feeling sold to, the venue has gained a little today and lost a return visit. If they leave feeling well looked after, having enjoyed a glass of wine and a dessert they were glad to be offered, everyone gains.

Our guide to increasing average spend without raising prices covers six moves, ranked by how much guests welcome them.

Some spend is decided before the guest arrives. A guest booking a birthday may be glad to find a cake or a bottle of something special offered at booking, and to arrange it without anyone at the table selling anything. Offered only where relevant, these add-ons raise spend and make the occasion easier.

Keep them few, clear and easy to skip.

Give each split of average spend an owner. The bar manager might own drinks spend at dinner; the head chef, how often desserts are ordered; the floor manager, spend at weekend lunch. Owners explain changes at the weekly review and propose what to try.

A single blended figure owned by everyone is owned by no one.

Set targets by split, not for the blended figure: a range for spend per head at weekday lunch, another for weekend dinner, another for drinks at dinner. Base them on the venue's own history and prices rather than figures from other venues, which may have very different menus and guests.

Review the targets when the menu or prices change.

When you try something to raise average spend, measure it by the split it should affect, before and after, and against the same weeks last year. A drinks pairing push should raise drinks spend at dinner; a dessert offer should raise how often desserts are ordered.

Watch the side effects too: seating times, covers, and guest feedback. A change that raises spend but lengthens tables may not raise revenue per seat.

An average can be pulled by a few very large bills. Look at the median check, the middle value, and at the spread of check values. If the average rose but the median did not, a few large tables explain the change. If both rose, the typical guest is spending more.

Discounts, comps and promotions lower average spend. A night with many comps after a kitchen problem, or a week with a strong promotion, will show lower spend for reasons that have nothing to do with selling. Note them when reading the figure.

In a group, compare average spend across venues by split, not by the blended figure. A venue with heavy lunch trade will always show a lower blended figure than one that only opens for dinner. Compared service by service, the figures are fairer and more useful.

Here is an illustrative quarter for a venue. The figures are examples.

In servearound, the dashboard shows spend per cover against the previous period, and analytics gives the parts behind it. Order analytics shows the average and median check, the spread of check values, lines on a check and what goes together, so pairings that work show up on checks. The menu report shows where the revenue sits and every dish that sold, with its share, and reservation analytics shows covers by meal period and party size.

Reservation add-ons let guests choose a package for an occasion when they book, with a fixed price or a price per guest. See Analytics.

Net sales divided by the number of guests: what the typical guest spent.

No. Average check is sales divided by checks; spend per head is sales divided by guests.

Net sales, after discounts and before VAT or sales tax.

Because one figure blends very different services and moves when the mix of services changes.

Usually drinks at dinner, followed by honest suggestions, a helpful menu and a pace that leaves time for dessert.

Not when it is honest: one suggestion, at the right moment, that suits what the guest chose.

Measure the split it should affect, before and after, and watch seating times and feedback.

Different people for different splits: the bar for drinks, the kitchen for desserts, the floor for each service.

Every week, by split, at the weekly review, with a closer look whenever the menu, prices or service style change. A quick glance takes two minutes; the useful part is asking why a split moved.

What is average spend? Net sales divided by guests, often called spend per head, and different from average check. It shows whether sales come from more guests or from guests spending more, and it is only useful when split by service, by food and drink, by party size and by new and returning guests.

Raise it honestly in four ways: a menu that helps guests choose, drinks that suit, honest suggestions from a well-trained team, and a pace that leaves time for the last course. Read the menu mix behind the number, give each split an owner, measure every change against the right split, and treat increasing average spend as making the visit better, not pushing.