Introduction

Digital Signage content management may quickly become a standard fixture in the restaurant and QSR space. Cost savings, up-sell opportunities and many other benefits combined with local and federal legislation regarding required nutritional information are driving Mom & Pop’s to national chains to consider upgrading their menu boards to digital counterparts. Below are a few of the leading benefits for implementing digital menu boards, promo boards and self service kiosks in a restaurant location.

Operator Benefits

1. Ease of menu changes to accommodate new local, state, federal & international menu board regulations regarding ingredients. Calorie, Fat, Sodium and other nutritional information – With new caloric laws being put into place, digital menu boards allow you to easily abide by displaying the necessary information next to each item. They also allow you to conform to all regional laws while managing nationally.

2. Ease of menu changes for new items, pricing, sold-out items, etc. Maintain up-to-date pricing on your digital menus through manual control or automatically (based on POS system integration). Pricing can even be managed centrally so that all or select stores receive simultaneous updates.

3. Up-sell & promote new items with strategic integration of dynamic displays. Attention-Grabbing Graphics – With so many things fighting for your customers’ attention, it can be difficult to break through the clutter with your message. However, a digital menu board displaying bright, full high-definition video or pictures is your best bet to catch their eyes. Compared to a static poster, a video showing closeups of one of your hot menu items is much more effective in whetting appetites and influencing purchasing behavior.

4. Day-part scheduling to show different menus based on time of day/day of week. Day-parting – Run appropriate menus and promotions based on time of day , and control it all with ease. Digital signage software is being viewed as a must for any restaurants serving Breakfast, since a quick menu board change must take place when the restaurant switches to its lunch menu.

5. Remotely update menu from any Internet location. (Central control of content) Manageability – Eliminate staff and printing errors and decrease expenses by managing and controlling your entire menu board system from a central location. You can confirm which menu boards are running in each location as well as control what messages you are displaying to your customers.

6. Enhances the customer experience & helps reduce perceived wait times. Provide value-added content to enhance the customer experience while reducing perceived wait times.

7. Ensures a visual consistency & compliance across multiple locations. Digital displays give you 100% compliance for consistency and display compliance vs. posters that may sit in the back room for weeks.

8. Display emergency messaging. Should an emergency arise, systems can be used as emergency messaging to quickly get official information to customers. Show Amber Alerts and other Community Emergency Information as a customer service.

9. Incorporate live info-tainment to entertain & inform guests in dining areas. Keep guests entertained and mix in your own promos, specials, event info to lift sales and return visits.

10. Green Friendly. No repeated reprinting of menus means less landfill, printing & delivery of replaced static menu board displays.

11. Use as in-house training for staff during off hours. Multipurpose your investment by using the same equipment to broadcast training and other employee targeted information during off hours.

12. Incorporate HR, upcoming events, specials and other customer targeted messaging. React – When unexpected issues arise, you need to respond quickly and communicate with your staff and customers. Digital menu boards provide a means for you to relay vital messaging that turns heads and helps avoid any confusion or concern.

13. Cost-effective promotions. For situations such as trialing a new product without committing to a chain-wide rollout, you can add the item to your digital menu board, expand it to other locations’ menus or easily remove it. Since you can easily change and scheduling specials, comparison with receipts can provide instant feedback on what promos are most successful.

14. Eliminate recurring costs associated with printing and shipping of static materials. Save money and the planet by reducing printing, delivery, installation & disposal costs.

Top questions to ask potential digital signage vendors:

● Is it web based? Does it stream or upload to the media player? In other words, does the content reside server side or media player side?

● If the server goes down, or Internet is unavailable, will the media players still perform?

● Are you able to display multiple RSS feeds on the screen?

● Can the multiple feeds display more than text or are they limited to text? What about graphics?

● What type of warranties are there on your hardware and software?

● Does your software and hardware support video wall technology? If so, do you support the third party integration of such an installation?

● What is the pricing model? Purchase, Lease or Saas(software as a service)

● What do I have to do to get a demo and/or trial version of the software and hardware?

● What does a demo cost and how long would it last?

● What type(s) of software and/or hardware support do you offer?

● How does your solution integrate with touchscreen applications?

● What if I wanted to start small with the lighter version and then grow it from there?

● What type of scalable discounts can I get if my planned deployment is large?

● Can updates to your software be done remotely?

● Do you have remote control of the screens themselves through an RS232 switch? How much control? Have you tested the RS232 capabilities with different displays?

● How quickly can you move my project forward?

● What resources do you have to help me with a digital signage pilot project?

● What references do you have?

● How long have you been in business?

● What OS (operating system) are you running on your signage media players?

● What OS are you running on your signage server?

● How much training is available to me after I purchase?

● Are you a true consultant. That is, do you only sell the solution that best fits your method of gaining revenue, or do you truly intend to consult me on the best solution available to fit my needs?

● What types of day-parting are available?

● What types of security features are built into your products?

● Do you have interactive capabilities? If so, what?

● Can I perform local content insertion, allowing managers to override product pricing/ availability?

● Do I have to create my own content, or do you provide that service?

● If you provide content creation services, what is the cost?

● What type of pilot programs have you run in the past? What can you tell me that would be beneficial as I seek to implement such a pilot?

● What type of partnerships do you have for installations?

● Is there is a distinct feature that is either different and/or excels above that of your competition, what is it?

 

Tag: advertising signage