In the fast-paced restaurant industry, adapting to new technologies isn't just about staying ahead—it's about survival. One such advancement is the digital menu board. On the surface, these screens might seem like a simple upgrade from traditional printed menus. But, as any seasoned restaurant owner will tell you, deploying digital menu boards without a strategic plan can lead to some pitfalls before profits are realized.
Understanding the Digital Menu Board Advantage
Digital menu boards are more than just a modern touch; they are powerful tools that can significantly enhance a restaurant's customer experience. They offer flexibility, allowing you to update menus in real-time, tailor promotions to specific times of day, and leverage appealing visuals to tempt taste buds. While the benefits are substantial, it's crucial to recognize that the true value of digital menu boards is unlocked only through strategic deployment.
The Strategic Blueprint: Why It Matters
1. Aligning with Brand Identity
A well-thought-out strategy ensures that your digital menu boards reflect your brand’s identity. Every visual element should align with your brand's image, from the color scheme to the font style. This consistency not only enhances brand recognition but also strengthens customer loyalty. What you do on the digital screens should not stray from the look and feel of the printed assets you have in every location.
2. Optimizing Content for Maximum Impact
With a strategic approach, restaurants can ensure their content is relevant and engaging. Highlighting best-selling dishes or introducing seasonal items at the right time can drive sales. Moreover, the ability to swiftly adjust content in response to various factors, like inventory levels, increasing costs, or changing consumer preferences, can give your restaurant an edge over competitors.
3. Enhancing Customer Engagement
Digital menu boards, when used strategically, can transform the dining experience. Video walls and tasteful motion graphics can engage customers like static menus cannot. Some experts say having engaging digital menu boards in a restaurant or drive-thru even reduces perceived wait times. By integrating nutritional information or interesting stories about dishes, restaurants can foster a deeper connection with their customers.
4. Cost-Effectiveness and Efficiency
While the initial investment in digital menu boards might seem significant, a strategic deployment can result in long-term savings. By reducing the costs of printing and distribution associated with printed menu boards and minimizing labor costs through automated updates, restaurants can see a healthy return on investment.
ROI or ROO?
It is tempting to set specific revenue goals when onboarding new digital menu boards. Most industry experts estimate that well-designed boards should result in a 3-5% increase in sales. Another measurable financial return is the labor efficiencies gained in your marketing and on-site teams when rolling out new menus. If you update pricing and LTOs frequently, add printing and shipping costs multiple times per year. An unconsidered cost is not updating pricing soon enough when costs increase, eroding margins for more extended periods, whereas prices can be changed almost instantly with digital boards.
Having a target ROI is essential in a bottom-line-driven business. ROO (Return on Objectives), on the other hand, is not often considered and should be part of every new digital menu deployment. Here are some objectives that should make your list:
Brand consistency across all locations:
Ensuring uniform messaging and branding across all stores can be challenging with printed menu graphics, but it is one of the biggest benefits of digital menu boards. Brand consistency generates increased customer loyalty. As restaurants grow their footprint outside the driving distance of their flagship store and add multiple franchisees, it can become difficult to "police" the look and feel at each site. Digital menu boards managed (or monitored) from the corporate office can help.
Measurement ideas:
• Audit content consistency across locations.
• Track compliance with brand guidelines.
Promotion Effectiveness:
Launching LTOs can be hectic. Outside of the operational disruptions, new inventory items and employee training, your menu board is crucial. It is your best marketing tool, so it has to be ready at launch to do its job. For years, operators of multi-unit chains have struggled with getting their LTO graphics installed on time- some stores are consistently very good, and others are not. With the push of a button, digital menu boards allow you to launch LTOs all across the system simultaneously.
Measurement ideas:
• Sales lift of promoted items during campaigns compared with sales before deploying digital.
• A/B testing within markets or stores that share similar demographics.
Operational Efficiency:
Streamlining menu management can save hundreds of man-hours across the system. With a few key strokes, all menus will be updated. In the days of printed graphics, someone at each site had to climb a ladder and change the graphics. It was inefficient and potentially dangerous.
Measurement ideas:
• Time saved in installing menu changes.
• Reduction in printed menu costs.
• The time it takes to get new promotions launched across the system.
Enhanced Customer Experience:
Digital menu boards have been shown to improve customer satisfaction and perceived wait times if they are engaging, have good color, and use well-crafted motion graphics.
Measurement ideas:
• Dwell-time analysis using cameras or sensors.
• Social media sentiment tracking.
Strategy Implementation: Key Considerations
Deploying digital menu boards effectively requires careful planning and execution. Here are a few key considerations to guide the process:
- Technology Infrastructure: Ensure your restaurant has the necessary technical infrastructure, including reliable internet connectivity and a dedicated IP address.
- Content Management System (CMS): Invest in a user-friendly CMS that allows for seamless content updates and scheduling. Consider whether you will manage the content yourself or outsource it. Although digital menus don't require the lead time for updates that printed boards do, if you outsource content management, you'll have to invest more time than if you were doing it internally. On the other hand, you can get ahead of the game much easier with digital in that you can schedule LTOs weeks or months in advance, so in theory, you could have your entire year planned, uploaded, and ready to run.
- Data-Driven Decisions: A/B testing is very simple with digital menu boards. Plan to use the menu boards to test new products and the menu layout. The goal should be to find which setup generates higher sales of the items you most want to sell—your cash cows. Test different configurations within and across various locations.
- Training Staff: Equip your team with the knowledge and skills to operate and troubleshoot the digital menu boards, ensuring smooth daily operations.
Conclusion
While digital menu boards offer many advantages, a strategic approach is the key to unlocking their full potential. When aligned with a restaurant's brand identity and backed by data-driven decisions, these boards can significantly enhance customer experience, streamline operations, and ultimately, boost your bottom line. So, while it's unnecessary to jump on every tech trend, a thoughtful, strategic deployment of digital menu boards might be the recipe for success for your restaurant.
