Your in-store menu is where you promote products to eager customers who are ready to buy. It is the final opportunity for you to promote, showcase, and upsell products that suit their needs and cravings.
So why do so many businesses treat their menu as an after-thought?
According to Digital Signage Today:
29.5% of customers find digital menus influential in the purchase of a product
Digital menus increase positive brand perception, improve operational efficiency, engage customers, and decrease the impression of wait time.
But too many businesses are failing to get the most out of this overlooked advertising opportunity. Here are five reasons why your business can’t afford to be without digital menu boards.
1. It’s Free to Update Products and Pricing
Businesses grow, evolve, and change — so do menus.
As products and pricing change, business owners need to make adjustment to their menus, and far too many rely on tape and markers when hiding outdated material. This messy, but often necessary, editing tactic will quickly devalue an expensive sign and lose the trust of your customers with one quick slash.
Consider This Scenario: You are a pizza shop owner. You have decided to remove anchovies from the list of toppings and raise prices on premium toppings by $.50. Your sign has already been adjusted and edited multiple times in the past year. It is covered with black tape and permanent markers. You decide to purchase a new digital sign instead of a static print sign — which is a good thing. Because by the time your sign arrives, you have already decided to add anchovies back to the list of toppings after customers demanded its return.
Instead of wasting money on replacing signs every time you decide to change an item, digital menus enable you to update your menu — for free.
You can stop wasting money on a beautiful, expensive static menus (that are completely moot if you decide to change an item or price), and keep your menu looking clean, your appearance looking professional, and your customers coming back.
2. It Highlights Products Based on Inventory
The ability to quickly and affordably change your menu has additional perks.
It allows you to add or remove items based on your immediate inventory, so you can run short term specials on items that are overstocked and remove items that are out of stock.
Consider this Scenario: You own a fish market. On Monday, you receive a large shipment of salmon and tuna. You sell almost all of the salmon and barely any of the tuna on Monday. So on Tuesday, you update your menu to feature tuna (maybe even as a special because you are overstocked) and remove salmon from the list (or increase the price or put it in a less prominent position). By the end of Tuesday, you have evened out your inventory and are ready for the next shipment.
Making adjustments to your menu based on product sales is an ideal way to manage your inventory and get the most out of your stock.
3. It Can Change Throughout the Day
Busy or multiple menus can overwhelm consumers and hide some of your best products. But for many business owners, permanently cutting down on the numbers of items on their menu isn’t an option.
Consider This Scenario: You own a walk-up cafe that serves a separate menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All of your menus are displayed as patrons walk into your restaurant. Rather than overloading or cramping your items on a display that includes all of your menus, you replace it with a digital display that shows only the available menu depending on the time of the day. Customers are then able to easily find what they want and order faster (which speeds up your line time).
Customers have a difficult time deciding when presented with too many options. Rotating signage allows you to reduce some of your immediate offerings and simplify the purchasing process for the customer.
4. It Allows You to Test New Items
Sometimes the best way to find out how customers will receive a new product is to get out there and test it.
Digital Menu Boards make it possible for you to test new products by easily promoting them and quickly removing them if they don’t work.
Consider This Scenario: You own a ice cream shop that sells featured sundaes with set ingredient combinations designed by your store. Each week, you challenge your team to create a new sundae. You then try out the new sundae combos on your menu boards to find a mix that customers love and that you can add to your permanent list of sundaes.
This adds value to both your customers and your team. Your customers can come in every week expecting to find a new sundae variation and have their favorites added to the menu. And your employees get to feel like they making valuable contributions and suggestions.
5. It Can Quickly Meet Changing FDA Requirements
The FDA is always looking for news ways to protect consumers, which means they are frequently incorporating new requirements for the way restaurants advertise their foods.
As regulations change, many restaurants are being forced to change their menus and add calorie counts and nutritional and allergy information.
Consider This Scenario: You purchase a new static menu for your restaurant that is up to FDA guidelines. Shortly thereafter, the FDA changed their guidelines, and you need to change your menu boards.
It’s a simple as that.
Businesses can purchase static menus that are up to code one year, but not the next. Using a digital menu allows businesses to quickly and affordably update a sign if and when FDA requirements change.
By using Digital Menu Boards, you can sell more products, save money, and reinforce your branding. Your new menu can act as an advertising board to feature specials, market up-sells, and promote new products, all while showing off your brand as modern, trustworthy and professional.