Five Advantages of Digital Menu Boards

The benefits of digital menu boards go beyond the aesthetics of effective product presentation. In fact, as more and more restaurants are replacing printed posters and menus with digital boards, benefits such as operational efficiency and an increase in revenue are being realized. Though restaurant digital signage is certainly eye-catching, there are five more areas that restaurants can tap into in order to maximize the ROI of their digital menu board software.

#1 — Easily Change Menu Items

Digital menu boards make managing food items more efficient because it makes it easy to add new items, remove non-performing ones and rotate product displays relative to the time of the day. Take the case of MGM Resorts, a hospitality and entertainment company that operates around the world. The company used restaurant digital signage to efficiently manage their restaurants’ product displays. With restaurant digital signage, they were able to quickly change product photos and pricing, and could easily display promoted items.

Previously, MGM used printed posters and menus, with production times that occasionally took months. With Poppulo digital menu boards, changing menu items, descriptions and prices only takes a few minutes. Customized menu templates allow restaurants to link to a database of images, pricing information, descriptions and more.

#2 — Comply With Government Policies

Complying with laws and policies is another benefit of digital menu boards. A law established in 2014 states that restaurants with 20 or more locations are required to disclose the calories in the food they serve. While this law requires companies to overhaul their menu boards for healthcare compliance, it was also a good opportunity for restaurants to consider digital menu boards as part of their overall strategy.

#3 — Increase Upsell Rate

When placed near a point of sale (PoS), restaurant digital signage can be an effective tool to increase a restaurant’s upsell rate. A best-case implementation of this strategy is linking the digital menu board to POS systems to effectively suggest complementary items relative to customer purchase. Burger chains can use digital signage to suggest fries or dessert, while a frozen yogurt shop can use digital signage to advertise limited edition flavors and toppings.

#4 — Reduce Perceived Wait Time

There is nothing more frustrating than getting stuck in a long line on a lunch break. Restaurant digital signage can be used to distract customers by displaying fun facts, trivia or promotional material. Since digital menu boards are highly configurable, a certain area on the screen can be dedicated to displaying special content that will help keep customers in long lines less frustrated. Using restaurant digital signage to reduce perceived wait times is something that not only keeps customers from abandoning a restaurant’s line on the day of their visit but encourages them to come back in the future.

#5 — Manage Content From Anywhere

Another benefit of using restaurant digital signage is the capability to update, configure and monitor a network of digital menus regardless of where you are located. In addition, because digital menu boards can be hooked to the POS, it can generate sales reports in real-time, giving a good picture of how each store is doing with their daily sales target.

Although customers' initial response to digital menus is more of functional awe, restaurants can unlock many more benefits with their digital menus. Efficient menu management, compliance, upselling, reducing perceived wait time and easy management are the top five things that restaurant digital signage can do for your business.