It’s no secret that today’s consumers are increasingly looking for convenience and efficiency when making decisions.
The QSR industry is no exception, and with the advent of almost everything being handled and managed with technology, restaurants especially the QSR ones are in need of digital menu boards now more than ever.
Paper menus are no longer an option since contactless dining has gained momentum over the past few years. Everything that is manual is getting replaced with smart tech solutions that are timesaving, cost-effective, and more efficient.
Digital menu boards are a necessity for the success of QSRs. If you are still in wondering, how, let’s consider two different scenarios to start with:
My experience when I visited my favorite QSR joint with paper menus
I used to love this place just 5 mins away from my house. I don’t stay in the same city anymore but every time I visit my hometown, I make it a point to visit it.
It serves these amazing burgers you just cannot resist. It’s often crowded during the evenings, and one might need to wait for at least 20 mins to get their order served.
I always ordered one favorite item of mine every time I went there. I used to observe people who came there for the first time while waiting for my order.
Firstly, they had to wait to get their hands on a paper menu. They also have a few questions since the menu did not have item descriptions or pictures. It was after browsing through the menu for at least five minutes that they placed the order.
- Certain items on your menu could be out of stock
- What if the paper menu is outdated with old prices and menu items?
- Smaller item descriptions and no food images could make it difficult for customers to place orders
- Your customers might be unaware about promotions or offers you are running
- The paper menus could not be in good condition
All these concerns, if true, lead to bad customer experience!
My experience at another QSR joint that uses digital menu boards
They say time is money. I work full-time and naturally if I am going to any QSR, I expect quick service. I recently moved to a new city and came across this food joint next to my working space.
I decided to give it a try and to my amazement, I was impressed with the seamless ordering experience I had there.
Major credit goes to digital menu boards.
As soon as I entered the joint, I saw three giant screens with each menu item fairly described with images. It took me only a minute to decide what I had to order.
I entered the place at 1:45 PM and left it by 2:20 PM. In this span of 35 minutes, I placed the order, enjoyed it fully and left the place.
I have been visiting this place frequently since then and though the food does not compare to the burger joint in my hometown, it exceeds several other things especially on the ‘customer experience’ end.
I have never seen any customer asking a waiter about what any particular menu item is about. Over the span of the year, they have changed their menu items and prices three times but it hardly takes a couple of minutes even with a new menu to decide what to order.
- Your staff can easily remove menu items that are out of stock
- Prices and new menu items can be quickly updated within minutes
- Item descriptions can be optimized, and more food images can be included
- Your promotions and offers can be highlighted to get a profit boost
- As a restaurant, you don’t have to worry about paper menu reprint
Digital Menu Boards are an answer to better customer experience and improved sales.
Digital menu boards deliver services in broad spectrum that benefit your QSR restaurant manifold.
The term ‘Attention Economics’ has been a topic of discussion with reference to it being the core central point driving sales using digital menu boards.
What is ‘Attention Economics’ you may ask?
Attention economics in simple terms means the approaches used to manage information that treats human attention as a scarce commodity.
With many well-known QSR chains already on the market and other players leveling up their game, digital menu boards have been a common approach for all to garner the attention aspect that could help you noticed.
So today we talk about why digital menu boards are important and how they can benefit the QSR segment. We won’t just start with the benefits that they offer straightaway to your restaurant business.
Why Digital Menu Boards are a Must for QSRs
We are first going to offer you some statistics to back up what we are about to detail out.
- 88% of the QSR restaurant say that they would consider swapping digital menus for physical menus.
- With QSRs having up to 70% of transactions at drive thru, digital menu boards (DMBs) are a necessity.
- Big QSR brands like McDonald’s rolled out digital menu boards at drive-thru in early 2020s with other major brands like Burger King, Tim Horton’s and Popeyes having the same on implementation phase.
- Quick-service restaurants represent 20 percent of the digital signage industry and are using digital menu boards, positioned directly in line with customers’ line of site to drive impulse purchases at point of sale.
They reduce wait time by 35%
Digital menu boards are a great way to increase customer satisfaction and reduce perceived wait time.
The benefits of digital menu boards are not just limited to the customers. They also have a positive effect on the wait times at QSRs considering nobody wants to wait in queues and they also add to the customer satisfaction.
Digital menu boards reduce perceived wait time by 35%, which is a very good result considering that nobody wants to wait in queues and they also add to customer satisfaction.
Digital menu boards helps QSR’s to mange queues efficiently, that helps restaurants to get more orders and hence this indirectly affects your sales too.
79% of the customers stated their dining experience was improved
The dining experience at your restaurant is going to determine if a customer will come back to the place again or not. Digital menu boards can play a very important role in it. Digital menu boards make it easier for customers to understand and connect with the food that you offer and create more engagement with the right food images as well as videos. This adds to the dining experience.
You are saved from waiting in the line, the questions you might have about certain items cause menu boards have clearly highlighted them. Just one look at the menu and it helps you make a quick choice on what to order.
Impulse purchases increase 3% margin per transaction
Digital menu boards are the perfect way to add eye-catching images and videos to your restaurant.
These digital menu boards make it easier for viewers to grab their attention, which can trigger impulse purchases.
8 out of 10 viewers of the digital menu boards make an unplanned purchase of any food items that are digitally promoted in a restaurant setting. This in itself proves how impactful digital menu boards can be.
You can create a separate slide for your specials or high-ticket items with mouthwatering food images to get you the push in your sales for that particular item.
95% of the restaurants say their service quality is improved
Paper menus because of the lot of limitations that they offer tend to affect many aspects of the service quality of a restaurant too.
Imagine a situation where your customers order a certain item from paper menus and they are out of stock. Unhappy customers are definitely not something you as a restaurant is going for.
Now, consider you having the flexibility of removing items from your menu when they go out of stock. Digital menu boards give you the full freedom of adding new items to your menu or even removing items that might be out of stock.
This affects the quality of your service levels which are a very important factor for customers to decide if they will want to visit your restaurant again or not.
29.5% customers say their purchase decision is influenced
You could have been craving having pasta for a long time but who knows when you visit a restaurant, the digital menu board could intrigue you to try something else entirely.
Digital menu boards because of their visual appeal could prompt you into trying something that instantly has caught your attention. With the right videos and images, you can be sure that your customers will want to try the items on display.
This works out in your favor when you have introduced or added new items that you want feedback on. With the proportion of orders received for that item, you get know if it’s a success for your restaurant or not.
Are you a QSR looking to switch from paper menus to digital menu boards? Sign up for our 7-day free trial that gives you access to 700+ in-built templates for different categories or shoot us a quick line to schedule an online demo with us.
