What's are Alternate Menu Items?

Your organization could have menu items that are essentially the same or some form of another menu item. For example:

  • A menu item that's almost exactly the same as another menu item but renamed for a promo (a Christmas special burger that's the same as your house burger but with an additional sauce).

  • A menu item that's a multiple of another menu item (a two burger combo that's essentially two house burgers sold at a discounted rate).

  • A menu item that's a combination of other menu items (a burger combo that consists of a house burger, fries and drink, and all three are also sold as individual menu items).

The primary menu items that can be found in different forms (bold in the above examples) are called alternate menu items. And rather than have each menu item in your organization appear as a separate line in product mix forecasts, they can be clubbed into their alternate forms. Hence, in the above examples:

  • Mapping house burger as an alternate for Christmas special burger will include the forecast for Christmas special burger in house burger, and Christmas special burger won't appear as a separate menu item in the product mix forecast.

  • Mapping house burger (with the multiplier set as 2) as an alternate for two burger combo will include twice the forecasted quantity for Christmas special burger in house burger, and two burger combo won't appear as a separate menu item in the product mix forecast.

  • Mapping house burger, fries and drink as alternates for burger combo will include the forecast for burger combo each in house burger, fries and drink; and burger combo won't appear as a separate menu item in the product mix forecast.

Alternate menu items that are mapped to menu items can be viewed in the Alternate tab of the Menu Item Update page.

Alternate menu items affect only product mix forecasts and have no impact on sales or any other data.