Digital signage for restaurants is a booming business, and yet it seems to have flown under the radar of most news or financial press. The slow but constant introduction of digital signs, from outdoor digital menu boards for fast food restaurants to indoor touchscreen digital menu board kiosks in places like McDonalds. The sheer number of uses that restaurants have found for digital signs is playing a big part in how they are improving restaurant businesses around the world.
Digital Menu Boards for Restaurants
Let’s get the elephant out of the room and mention the fact that digital signage for restaurants changed the day that McDonalds places its digital menu boards in their restaurants. It was such a simple idea, and yet it took a major chain restaurant to do it before restaurants started following on mass. McDonalds has made it, so you don’t have to queue up to make your order.
You go to a digital sign, you pick up your stuff, you pay, you get a receipt and a ticket, and you wait for your number to be called or for your number to appear on the digital screen above the food counter. You hand over your numbered ticket and get your meal that you can eat indoors or take away. It is blisteringly simple, and it is astonishing that more companies didn’t think to do it before McDonalds made it popular.
Poster Based Digital Menu Boards
Another seemingly obvious innovation was the use of digital sign menus rather than poster ones. Digital sign content stands out better than posters and menu boards, so they are easier for people to see when they are far away. Furthermore, they look better than menu boards, and they can be updated in real-time. This means that the breakfast menu can be quickly replaced with the regular menu, and it also means that if food items are missing and/or out of stock, they can be removed from the menu.
Simple Food Promotion
The thing about digital signage for restaurants is that it can offer a video view of food, and video views can offer so much more information than simple pictures. People can really get a look at what they are buying, they can see the portions, they can see how the food is interpreted, and they can even see how hot or cold it is.
A digital signage system can react to stock levels and can also change its content based on external factors. If things are getting hot outside, then promote your cold beers. If things are getting cold or rainy outside, promote your stews and soups. These are especially powerful when people first walk into your establishment because they are still feeling the effects of the weather outside.
Digital Signage for Restaurants with Simple Offer Promotion
Again, keeping it simple, you can demonstrate and/or promote your offers through digital signs. The great thing is that you can temper your offers based on your current stock. For example, if you are pushing the fish of the day with your digital signage kiosks, and suddenly you run out, you can then start pushing offers on your fancy milkshakes instead. Even digital menu boards for restaurants can show off offers the same way that online ordering systems do. For example, if somebody’s purchase price reaches a certain amount, you can show on the screen how a discount will be applied and how it will lower the overall price.
Cross-Promote With Apps and Other Websites
You can buy and use a digital signage app like Kitcast to create and schedule your content. You can also have your digital signs interact with other apps. The most obvious example is QR codes. If you were to put QR codes on your digital signs, then people would scan them with their QR reading apps and could find whatever website or service you are directing them towards.
There are also things like Bluetooth communication, where people may interact with your signs using social media. Alternatively, if you have payment options for things like mobile wallets, then people could even use their digital wallets on their phones to pay for their meals in the restaurant. There could even be a tipping function that allows people to add tips after they have had their meal.
As mentioned earlier in the article, the many ways restaurants are using digital signs are proof alone that they can be good for your business. It all depends on how you use the signs.