Glossary

Anchor pricing

Anchor pricing places a deliberately expensive item on the menu so the prices beside it read as reasonable by comparison.

How anchoring works

Guests judge prices relative to what sits around them rather than in absolute terms. A high anchor — a premium steak, a showpiece tasting — resets expectations upward, so the dish you actually want to sell looks like good value next to it.

The anchor does not need to sell often. Its job is to shift the reference point and pull orders toward your high-margin middle.

Example

A steakhouse lists a $120 tomahawk at the top of the page. Few order it, but the $52 ribeye below now reads as sensible, and the menu mix shifts toward it.

See also

Related

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