Unlike traditional restaurants, quick service restaurant (QSR) customers place their orders before sitting down for their meal. For these restaurants, digital menu boards play a vital role from the moment guests arrive at the restaurant.
It’s why many restaurants have been upgrading their old printed menus to new digital signage for restaurants. Digital signage makes everything more engaging because it lets restaurants display captivating videos, up-to-date product inventories and pricing, and bold graphical elements. Digital menu boards can display an unlimited number of items in a visually appealing way and rotate offerings based on the time of day, or day of the week.
Most importantly, digital menu boards increase restaurant efficiency because they can be updated instantly with new prices or item substitutions. Promote overstock items, automatically remove sold-out items from the menu, or respond to competitive pressures at a moment’s notice. Restaurant digital signage also offers great opportunities to display limited-time offers (LTOs) and promote loyalty programs.
What is Digital Signage?
Digital signage refers to a system of electronic displays that present visual content. These displays are typically placed in public spaces, such as lobbies, airports, and transit stations. Digital signage can also be found in restaurants, retail stores, and other locations where customers might spend significant periods of time waiting to be served.
Digital signage displays are fed content over the internet by the content management system of your Digital Signage software platform.
The best type of digital signage for QSRs is a digital menu board because it allows customers to enter their orders and pay for their food before they get to the counter. This reduces wait times for customers and increases efficiency for restaurants. Quick-service restaurants rely heavily on speed and reliability, and digital signage can help keep these priorities at the top of the list.
Why use Digital Signage in a QSR?
Digital signage for QSRs can improve service, emphasize brand differentiation, and increase revenues by increasing customer independence, encouraging them to order what they want, when they want it. Another major reason why restaurants use digital signage is to show off the company’s menu, as well as their daily specials.
But digital signage software can do so much more than that! With a little creativity, you can turn your restaurant’s digital signage into an interactive ordering station where customers can customize orders and pay right there on the screen.
Benefits of Digital Signage for Restaurants
There are many benefits that come with a digital signage solution for restaurants. For one, digital signage can help you save money on labor costs. With digital signage, you won’t have to pay someone to stand at the counter and take orders, so your company will save on payroll expenses.
You also won’t have as much time invested in serving the customers because they can order themselves through the touchscreen or kiosk system. This means less time spent training new employees and more time spent on other tasks within the organization.
Digital screens also offer greater visibility than traditional menus, making it easier for customers to spot what they want from across the room. The interactive screen will also allow for videos of food items to play when someone selects that item on the menu, which helps to create an enticing eating environment.
Digital signs can also increase revenue by suggesting foods that go together, thereby increasing the chances that the customer order more, eat more, and spend more money.
Many large-scale QSRs are already using Digital Signage Software in the form of digital menu boards, as it can help speed up the process of ordering. With digital signage for QSRs, you can show the consumer exactly what they are ordering, and offer sides, drinks, and sauces to go with the main dish — all in brightly colored images with one purpose, and one purpose only.
Benefits of a centralized management system
Self-updating content is already saving half the work when you utilize social networking applications, website links, travel boards, or anything else that gathers information from other sources. So you just have to set it up once, and you get an unending supply of relevant, real-time data via the API.
How about using the channels you already use to communicate? Need a digital screen update in seconds? It is possible to add new content to your digital board at any time, from any location using any device, and these new items will be delivered straight to your digital displays.
Updating material was a pain when everything was controlled by a media player or USB stick hooked to the back of the screen. Modifying material on five displays required physically visiting each one and performing manual editing tasks on each one. When using cloud-based digital signage, all changes may be made in one place and then applied to individual screens as needed.
Why is restaurant digital signage so effective?
Restaurant digital signage is a powerful tool for business owners who are looking to increase their sales. Simply by displaying an image of their menu items on a computer, tablet, or TV screen, QSRs can help customers order what they want without burdening them with the hassle of waiting in line.
The restaurants can also customize the images on the display so that they are more relevant to the customer base and convey helpful information about the menu. Additionally, the more colorful the picture of a meal is, the greater the chance that the customer will order it.
Digital signage video walls provide another useful channel for your menus and promotional content. Along with your digital menus, you can display a mix of lifestyle content and social media messaging to engage with your guests. Use video walls to not only display the required information but to modernize and beautify the in-store experience.
There are many other opportunities where QSRs can take advantage of this exciting technology. For example, LED displays for restaurants are often installed outside buildings, and drive-through displays to attract drive-by traffic. Exterior displays and drive thru signage have recently taken an even bigger role. This is due to health and safety measures that limit in-store access to guests.
How do menu boards boost sales and profits?
High-quality, nutritious, and affordable food is what today’s consumers want. And when they want it fast, they often turn to QSRs. No matter the industry or field of work, the ability to provide your customers with fast and convenient service is vital to staying competitive in today’s market.
Digital signage for restaurants makes this possible by providing an easy way for customers to order their meals. Your customers will love the convenience and as a result, you’ll see an increase in sales.
Digital signs are also an excellent opportunity for restaurants to advertise new products or specials that might be going on throughout the week. If you have a new limited-time offer or seasonal dish that you know your customer base will enjoy, then digital signage is an effective way to advertise these offers.
The integration of a restaurant menu board into QSRs has opened up previously unimaginable possibilities for the QSR industry.
For restaurants, digital menu boards are the ideal solution for enhancing the ordering experience by including videos or animations in the menu.
POS and ERP data integration
Typically, your digital signage CMS is interfaced with the restaurant’s POS system. This way, your menus will update themselves when selections or prices change. Sold-out items are automatically dropped from the menu. Live data integration with Navori QL Digital Signage Software can easily be achieved via the built-in data feed manager, or via the QL Server API.
Fewer errors mean happier customers!
Drive more sales with computer vision analytics
Navori Labs offers AQUAJI, our company’s proprietary computer vision software for indoor and drive-through restaurant applications. AQUAJI uses cameras to track customers as they are waiting to place an order.
AQUAJI provides critical business information while respecting every guest’s anonymity. Restaurant operators get access to average guest wait times, a number of individual visits, and statistics based on each guest’s age and gender.
These KPIs inform restaurant management so they can improve staff allocations to improve the guest experience. When deployed at the drive-through, AQUAJI can read vehicle license plates and customize item suggestions based on order history.
Update your menus with a smartphone
Restaurants can empower local staff using Navori Labs’ QL Mobile app. Staff members can control local digital screens right from their smartphones. They can make menu changes on the fly, trigger any content with a touch and even control their screens. The intuitive and simple design of QL Mobile makes it easy for anyone to make necessary changes without having to call the head office or content management teams. Having this level of control is indispensable for QSR operators today.
6 reasons for deploying Digital Signage today:
1. Increased customer satisfaction
With films and animations, restaurant menu boards are a great way to make ordering interactive and more enjoyable for customers. You can even display nutritional statistics and calorie counts for each menu item to provide guests with additional information. In comparison to traditional menus, digital menu boards that display mouthwatering graphics and are strategically placed outside the restaurant help attract more customers and increase foot traffic. Digital menu board signage for QSRs has been demonstrated to increase sales by 3% to 5% on average, according to studies. To further improve the consumer experience, digital menu boards can also include infotainment.
2. Promotion and digital marketing
The implementation of digital menus in restaurants provides a fantastic opportunity to increase revenue by highlighting high-profit items and showing mouthwatering pictures of them on the boards. That way, there is a greater chance the customers will choose a high-profit item over a low-profit one.
Your restaurant can also display complementary Items on the digital screens based on information from the POS system.
3. Order management
Ordering can be simplified by using self-service kiosks, which reduce the need for human input. In addition to eliminating long lines, touchless payment solutions lower customer perceptions of wait time and enhance customer satisfaction. According to a recent survey, 71% of customers prefer using a kiosk instead of a traditional form of payment.
4. Attraction of passers-by and street traffic
Using an eye-catching digital menu board outside the restaurant will encourage guests to come in and eat. At different times of the day, restaurants can capitalize on smart digital boards that show diverse menus. Digital menu boards with colorful graphics are the way to go, according to research showing that 52% of customers can remember what they saw on digital displays.
5. Improved collection procedures
Displays near the collection point can help optimize the collection process by tracking orders in the queue and letting consumers know when their order is ready to be picked up. That way, the customers will know exactly how long they are going to be waiting for their order, and they can even interact with the smart boards while they wait. This interaction can increase the chance they will come back and try different food than the last time, increasing your revenue.
6. Replacement of paper with digital menus
QR codes integrated into digital restaurant menus are slowly replacing paper menus. Customers can scan the QR code on their smartphones to view the touchless menu.
How to implement a Digital Signage solution in QSRs?
Digital signage software, when implemented correctly, can be a great marketing asset for QSRs. QSRs are typically focused on providing fast service with high-quality food that is also affordable.
When it comes to digital signage, these three factors are important:
- It must be quick and easy to use
- It should provide high-quality information
- There needs to be an incentive for the customer to engage with the sign
A digital menu board, management software solution or touchscreen kiosk can help you meet all three requirements of digital signage. A good digital menu board will have large images of dishes along with small text to describe them and their prices. This helps customers make quicker decisions while they are in your restaurant. The management software solution or touchscreen kiosk can allow your staff to update information quickly and easily from any location which reduces the amount of time spent updating menus and prices on paper signs throughout the restaurant.
Automated dayparting
Automation starts with dayparting. Automatically display your different menus based on the time of day. Rotate your breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus at preset intervals with no need for user intervention. You can even pre-schedule promotional video takeovers and limited-time offers to briefly interrupt your menus periodically throughout the day.
Managing and maintaining digital signage
Once your QSR’s digital signage is up and running, you have the option of automating it or manually managing and updating it. You don’t need to be present to make changes to the content presented when making changes remotely.
Remote access is now possible via any desktop computer or mobile device, and it is just a click away. Simply sign in, change what you need to, update the menu and it’s done! Simple, easy, and straightforward.
In conclusion…
Restaurant digital signage is a powerful tool that can not only provide convenience for customers but can also help boost sales. The right digital signage solution does not need to be an expensive investment and can show ROI within a short timeframe.
It’s important to remember that digital signage is an important way to engage with your customers and provide a positive experience based on making it as easy as possible for them to order exactly what they want when they want it.
