Digital Menu Boards 101 - We've all heard about the promise of digital menu boards. Here are some things to know when it comes to getting the most ...
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GUIDE
Digital Menu
Boards 101
We’ve all heard about the promise
of digital menu boards. Here are DEVELOPED AND PUBLISHED BY:
some things to know when it comes
to getting the most from a digital
menu-board deployment.
SPONSORED BY:
SPECIAL Digital Menu
REPORT Boards 101
SPONSORED BY:
We’ve all heard about the promise
of digital menu boards. Here are some
things to know when it comes to getting the
most from a digital menu-board deployment.
By Richard Slawsky Digital Signage Today
As margins in the already-competitive restaurant industry grow increasingly
tighter, operators continue to look for every advantage to set themselves
apart. Limited-time offers, expanded menus, community partnerships and
rebranding efforts are just some of the tools those operators use to stand out.
One of the most powerful tools restaurants have been deploying in recent
years is the digital menu board. Instead of tired-looking static boards that
crack and fade over time, digital menu boards allow operators to combine
product offerings with full-motion video, easily changing dayparts, updating
prices remotely and seamlessly adding or removing menu items.
Boston-based fast casual burrito chain Boloco, which operates 22 locations
in the Northeast, has deployed digital menu boards in eight of its locations.
“The ability to change content at a moment’s notice as well as potentially
minimizing future costs by not having to replace menu boards on an ongo-
ing basis were both factors in our decision,” said Alexandra Dunk, Boloco’s
director of marketing. “We have the ability to not only change our perma-
nent menu itself, but to also feature content about our limited-time offers or
other Boloco happenings.”
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SPECIAL REPORT Digital Menu Boards 101
Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits recently opened its 600th location, with
that restaurant serving as the first in the chain to deploy digital menu boards.
“As Bojangles’ continues to grow, it is important that we explore the tech-
nologies that can help us improve our customer’s experience and afford
us the ability to be agile in our marketing efforts both on a local level and
across our now 600-store system,” Shad Collins, Bojangles’ vice president
“The ability to change of information technology, said in the announcement.
content at a moment’s Other operators have had similar experiences, combining digital menu
notice as well as boards with point-of-sale and inventory information to promote high-margin
potentially minimizing dishes, run short-term specials on overstocked items and seamlessly re-
move items that may be out of stock. Those menu boards can be updated
future costs by not from the corporate office or the operator’s living room, ensuring that every
having to replace menu store in the system is displaying the proper prices and promotional material.
boards on an ongoing But maximizing the benefits of digital menu boards takes some planning,
basis were both factors and a number of concerns and issues may not be readily apparent to
in our decision.” someone whose primary concern is serving quality food and taking care of
guests. In this mini-guide, sponsored by Digital Signage Today, we’ll look at
— Alexandra Dunk, Boloco’s director of marketing. some of the factors critical to ensuring operators get the maximum benefit
from their investment in a digital menu-board system.
Know your objective
One of the first steps operators need to take before investing in a digital
menu-board system is to define exactly what it is they hope to accomplish.
All too often, businesses deploy a fancy new technology for technology’s
sake alone, without a clear goal in mind. As a result, they don’t have a con-
crete way of knowing whether that technology delivers on its promise.
“Rather than looking at digital menu boards in terms of return on invest-
ment, operators should look at them in terms of return on objectives,” said
Rich Ventura, vice president of business development and solutions at
digital menu board supplier NEC Display Solutions.
“Are they just looking at sales uplifts, are they looking at perceived wait times,
are they looking at the overall impression of the restaurant?” Ventura said.
“Once they establish what those objectives are, they can do a true analysis.”
Surprisingly, some people don’t think those objectives through, said Stefan
Menger, vice president of advanced analytics at Exton, Pennsylvania-based
digital signage software provider Scala.
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SPECIAL REPORT Digital Menu Boards 101
“Are they just looking “They spend money on a few screens and a content-management system,
but end up using digital signage as a poster board,” Menger said.
at sales uplifts, are they
Overall, though, operators often aren’t willing to part with the investment
looking at perceived wait required to deploy digital menu boards without seeing specific results. Ac-
times, are they looking at cordingly, providers of content-management systems increasingly are incor-
porating analytics into their software platforms, integrating with point-of-sale
the overall impression of systems to match content to sales and spot trends as they develop.
the restaurant?” For example, Menger recommends that multiunit operators begin measur-
— Rich Ventura, vice president of business ing the impact of a digital menu-board system, by conducting basic tests
development and solutions at digital menu board comparing a restaurant outfitted with digital menu boards with one using
supplier NEC Display Solutions.
static menu boards. The operator simply promotes a particular menu item
on the digital menu board over a number of weeks, comparing sales figures
with those of the store that uses static menu boards and looking for trends.
Variations on that model include running a variety of promotional content to
evaluate the effectiveness of one over the other. Building on that, operators
can begin tracking external factors such as weather, day of the week or
time of day. For example, noticing that sales of chili rise on gloomy Friday
afternoons might be the impetus for an on-the-spot promotion that could
significantly increase customer counts.
Taco John’s reports 12% sales increase after menu-board test
Taco John’s is in the process of updating all of its
restaurants with new menu boards, both in-store and at
the drive-thru. According to a company news release,
the test markets recorded a 12-percent increase in EZ
Combo Meals sales since the boards were installed.
“Our guests love the new visuals on our drive-thru and
interior menu boards,” Renée Middleton, vice president
“Based on the results we’ve seen since the first of
of marketing, said in the release. “It really simplifies the
the year, I think these menu boards will help our fran-
menu, catches their eye and brings more attention to
chisees drive additional sales and make the ordering
the Taco John’s EZ Combos.”
process easier for their guests,” Middleton said.
The new Taco John’s drive-thru menu boards will
All Taco John’s restaurants will install the new menu
feature two panels instead of three. The chain has
boards. More than 100 locations will make the change
been testing the new designs at its company-owned
in 2014. The remaining restaurants will upgrade
locations since January 2014.
throughout 2015 and 2016.
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SPECIAL REPORT Digital Menu Boards 101
“Live data feeds allow local and corporate managers to adjust marketing
messages in real time to affect customers’ decisions, boost sales figures
and reduce waste,” said Jeff Hastings, CEO of Los Gatos, California-based
BrightSign in a Digital Signage Today blog. BrightSign specializes in the
media players that drive digital signage content.
Digital menu boards give restaurants the ability to change advertising to
match inventory levels. Operators can drop a promotion immediately when
stock of the promoted item is exhausted. Conversely, restaurants can track
stock levels and attractively price items that aren’t moving, shifting the
stock before it reaches its sell-by date.
“Quick-service restaurants are leading the way,” Hastings said. “They are
‘selling smarter’ by analyzing their sales data in real time and updating their
signage instantly to reflect what they learn.”
Make sure the equipment can handle the kitchen
Anyone who has been in a restaurant kitchen during a busy lunch rush
knows it’s not the ideal environment for electronic equipment.
Displays, media players and other components need to be hardened to
withstand the rigors of a QSR environment. That means having the ability
to run continuously in what is likely a hot, humid environment while keeping
grease and particulates out of the internal workings.
One of the worst mistakes deployers of digital menu-board systems can
make is to try to substitute consumer-grade electronics for commercial-
grade devices.
“These displays are ruggedized and designed for 24/7 operation in demand-
ing environments, engineered with an ‘always on’ usage model in mind,” said
Gene Ornstead, director of product marketing for Brea, California-based dis-
play maker ViewSonic Americas. “Components and construction far exceed
the flat-screen TVs often thought to have the same durability.”
Displays and media players for kitchen environments need to be able to
operate in temperatures of 104°F or even hotter, Ornstead said.
Scala CEO Tom Nix suggests trying to store equipment in a place where it
won’t be exposed directly to the kitchen environment.
“We’ve seen people place media players in areas that expose them to
some of these potential problems,” Nix said. “The grease buildup happens
so fast they begin to have issues very quickly.”
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SPECIAL REPORT Digital Menu Boards 101
Mounting also can be a concern. Are the walls able to handle the weight
of multiple displays, or will the operator need floor-based mounts? Those
questions are best answered by a professional installer willing to take re-
sponsibility if a set of displays costing thousands of dollars comes crashing
to the floor.
Taking power
It’s simple, right? Plug something into a socket in the wall and, assuming
you’ve paid the electric bill, all you need to do is throw a switch and the
device turns on.
Not so fast. The more complicated the electronics, the more likely they are
to be susceptible to “dirty” power.
Although there are a number of definitions, in general dirty power is elec-
tricity that varies by more than 10 percent from the usual 120 volts. Power
spikes, surges, brownouts and power failures can play havoc with expen-
sive digital signage equipment.
“Dirty power is one of the biggest concerns I see when putting digital equip-
ment inside a restaurant,” NEC’s Ventura said. “Restaurants are notorious
for having dirty power, especially older ones that were built before the days
where everyone had an electronic POS system.”
Power issues can be exacerbated when digital menu boards are on the
same circuit as certain kitchen equipment. Ventura has seen a number
of situations where an operator saw menu boards malfunction every time
“Dirty power is one of someone turned on the microwave.
the biggest concerns Along with keeping digital menu boards on a separate circuit, incorporating
I see when putting digital heavy-duty surge suppressors is a wise move, especially in areas prone to
lightning. Trying to save a few hundred dollars by skimping on surge sup-
equipment inside a pressors can put an investment of thousands of dollars at risk.
restaurant.”
“In areas like Florida where they see a tremendous amount of lightning,
— Rich Ventura, vice president of business having the digital menu board if not the whole store on some type of anti-
development and solutions at NEC Display Solutions surge protection systems is a necessity, so if the building does get hit the
system is protected from being destroyed,” Ventura said.
Keep data safe and flowing
Murphy’s law holds particularly true when it comes to electronics. If some-
thing can go wrong, it generally will, at least at some point.
When it comes to digital menu boards, it’s critical to have a backup plan in
case of a problem that causes a board to go dark.
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SPECIAL REPORT Digital Menu Boards 101
Two Chicago fast casuals install digital menu boards
Market Thyme and Market Creations, two fast casu-
als based in Chicago, have completed digital upgrade
projects that included an installation of dynamic digital
menu boards across all locations, according to a com-
pany news release.
As one of the fastest-growing segments in the foodser-
vice industry, fast casuals appeal to young profession-
als who are digitally connected and gravitate toward a
contemporary lifestyle, said Jeffrey Chang, managing
director at Market Creations.
paper menus and signboards enables dynamic content
“With this digital upgrade to our locations, we hope to
updates, keeping the menu information fresh and rel-
provide an enjoyable dining experience by creating an
evant with ever-changing food items being served.
atmosphere that stimulates our guests through sight,
sound and of course taste,” he said. “We manually change them daily for our specials for
that particular day,” Chang said. “It enhances the
The centerpiece of this project was Mvix digital signage
‘professional’ image of our restaurants.”
screens, menu boards and dynamic video displays
installed across all locations in Chicago and Cleve- Featuring a wide cuisine variety from panini to sushi, the
land. The use of large-panel digital screens to display dynamic menu-board systems are managed remotely
content such as menu information in place of traditional from the corporate office located in downtown Chicago.
“Operators can ensure continuous use by integrating built-in redundancy
into every aspect of the solution,” said Jeff Pinc, director of food services for
Newark, New Jersey-based Panasonic System Communications Company
of North America.
“Digital-menu-board solutions should include a system that performs a
health check consistently, at least every two seconds,” Pinc said. “A dark
menu board will affect a restaurant’s bottom line and potentially harm the
brand in the eyes of a customer.”
In addition to planning for redundancy, it’s a good idea to avoid depending
on wireless delivery of content. That way, a temporary Internet outage won’t
affect operations.
“The best solution is to ensure your signs will have local delivery of content,
meaning the media player is local in the establishment driving the menu
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SPECIAL REPORT Digital Menu Boards 101
“The trend is to have the boards,” ViewSonic’s Ornstead said. “If content is to be downloaded from a
centralized location, it is best to allow this function to happen overnight into
streaming done by ‘the each store location, allowing the last playlist to remain stable until the new
cloud’ and let local media menu content is complete and locally available in each store location. The
trend is to have the streaming done by ‘the cloud’ and let local media play-
players store and play ers store and play the content locally.”
the content locally.” Operators also need to be prepared for the inevitable display or media-player
— Gene Ornstead, director of product marketing outage, so if one unit has a problem another one can take up the slack.
for display maker ViewSonic Americas
“If I have four menu boards, I should have a content-redundancy plan so
that if I have four menu boards and one goes out I can squeeze all of my
content onto three boards, or if two boards go down I can squeeze all of my
content onto the other two, and so forth,” Ventura said.
“You could even have the last bit of redundancy which is having printed
menus that can be laid out on the countertop,” Ventura said. “Truthfully,
though, if you lose power to your menu boards, odds are you’ve lost power
to the whole building, so your ovens and POS are down anyway.”
Protecting the network
It seems as if nearly every day brings another data breach, in which
customers’ credit-card information is captured by hackers. The last thing a
restaurant operator wants is the name of his or her business leading off the
evening news as part of a hacking story.
Credit-card issuers are becoming increasingly unforgiving when it comes
to data breaches caused by poor network security, levying fines for non-
compliance with Payment Card Industry standards. In addition, banks can
increase transaction fees or even terminate an operator’s ability to accept
credit cards altogether.
For a restaurant or retail environment, PCI standards dictate that a network
used to transmit the credit-card information of customers be separate from
networks used to provide things such as remote access to a digital menu-
board system or Wi-Fi hotspots.
“The hard part of that is that restaurants tend to only put one network in
their building, so it’s really important that your loss-prevention people and
your point-of-sale vendor are all talking with the software provider you’re
working with to make sure that’s not going to be an issue,” Ventura said.
“You should not run into an issue with PCI compliance, but it is always
important to make sure.”
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SPECIAL REPORT Digital Menu Boards 101
UK defense contractor deploys menu boards in on-post dining facilities
Sodexo Defence Partners, a worldwide supplier of facilities-
management services to armed forces, has implemented a
Signagelive-powered digital-menu-board solution in two new
restaurant facilities in Merville Barracks, Colchester, in the
U.K., according to an announcement from Signagelive. The
new solution helps ensure compliance with pay-as-you-dine,
or PAYD, services implemented by the military.
PAYD services offer soldiers a number of different meal op-
tions, ranging from a staple menu (comprising a balanced
The on-screen menu display is split, with the left-hand
meal to provide soldiers with a predetermined caloric intake)
side showcasing imagery of the dish items and seasonal
to commercial menus, comparable to high street casual din-
promotional offers, while the right-hand side displays the
ing offering to create a broad range of food choices.
menu specific to that counter, the day of the week and
The newly installed digital menu boards have not only the time of day. Using Signagelive’s intuitive menu-man-
helped resolve compliance issues, they have also improved agement software, Digital Messaging Company is able
the visual appearance and aesthetics of the dining facilities, to ensure the correct menu items and pricing informa-
the company said. In addition, digital signage has helped tion are displayed on the different screens. Menus also
streamline menu-management processes by removing the are scheduled to update dynamically, saving significant
need for printed menus, which are costly and time-consum- time and enabling Sodexo to focus on delivering its own
ing to maintain. core services.
Other areas worthy of additional attention are interactive ordering systems
that combine touchscreens or self-order kiosks that allow customers to
place an order and pay at the screen itself.
“For establishments entertaining the idea of interactive data ordering, PCI data
security needs to be included in the POS software solution,” Ornstead said.
Content is still king
Obviously, the effectiveness of a digital menu-board system depends
largely on the content displayed on that system.
When digital menu boards began to appear in restaurants, deployers tend-
ed to fill them with as much animation and full-motion video as possible.
But as with anything, just because it can be done doesn’t necessarily mean
that it should be done. Today, the overwhelming view of industry experts is
to keep it simple.
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Typical menu-board deployments often consist of two or three boards
displaying menu items and prices, with an additional board displaying
promotional content. Although it may be tempting to populate the promo
board with an abundance of full-motion images, a single, subtle shot of a
fresh-off-the-grill sandwich with steam wafting up from the bun or images
of a glass of iced tea with condensation dripping down the side may be a
better approach.
“The thing to remember with all restaurant brands but particularly with
QSRs is that two of the factors on which they are rated are accuracy and
speed,” Ventura said. “If I have a lot happening on a digital menu board it
may look cool, but if it slows down the process of ordering a hamburger and
ends up distracting the customer, that’s a problem.”
Operators should be smart with their screens and the content they run,
Ventura said.
“You don’t necessarily have to be 100 percent digital,” he said. “While
that may sound strange coming from someone who earns a living selling
screens, what you do have to be is 100 percent right in the way you use the
menu board. The content you display has to be impactful and meaningful.”
“Whether it is color Instead of trying to maximize the power and flexibility of digital menu
boards by trying to make them as flashy as possible, operators may be
images and graphics better served by leveraging the ability to quickly and easily change content
or short video clips, to match the situation. Rather than gearing the boards to the traditional
breakfast-lunch-dinner dayparts, operators can segment the day into as
the content needs to be many parts as they choose, incorporating analytics to increase the effec-
customer-engaging — tiveness of that content.
ensuring the customers During a busy lunch when people have a limited amount of time to eat, for
example, the boards can be used to promote items that the kitchen can
become enticed.” prepare quickly and easily. Early afternoon might be a time to promote sal-
ads and other better-for-you items, while after-school hours may be a good
— Gene Ornstead, director of product marketing
for display maker ViewSonic Americas. time for snacks and high-energy foods. Higher-margin or more expensive
items can be promoted during the dinner rush, while side items may be
more appropriate for the late evening.
In addition, vivid colors and high-quality images are particularly important
when it comes to menu-board content, Ornstead said. Menu boards serve
as another branding tool for operators, so keeping content consistent with
other branding efforts is critical.
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10SPECIAL REPORT Digital Menu Boards 101
Texas Dairy Queen franchisee credits digital menu boards for record sales
In its first month of business, the new Euless, Texas, Dairy
Queen restaurant broke nearly every sales record in franchise
and corporate history, including the record for most sales on
opening day, the record for most sales on any day and the
records for most sales in one week and one month.
The Texas Dairy Queen Operators’ Council, a cooperative
group of Texas Dairy Queen franchisees, is responsible
for Texas DQ marketing/advertising and the Texas Country
Foods system for nearly 600 DQ restaurants in the state of
Texas. Michael Clarke is the franchise owner/operator of After the restaurant’s record-breaking first month,
the Euless restaurant and owner of Lickety Split Food TDQOC is working with other operators with plans to
Services LLC. transition more of its stores from static menus to WAND
digital menu boards.
Clarke attributes part of the restaurant’s success to its new
interior digital menu boards, supplied by WAND Corp. The
Euless restaurant is the first in Texas to feature interior digital
menu boards, with six screens.
“Whether it is color images and graphics or short video clips, the content
needs to be customer-engaging — ensuring the customers become enticed,”
Ornstead said. “This will drive the sale of hero products and promotional
items but has also shown to lower perceived waiting times for customers.”
The bottom line
Although the advantages of a digital menu-board system are easy to see,
an investment in such a system is likely to run into the thousands of dollars.
From an operator’s standpoint, the main concern is likely to be how quickly
that investment pays for itself.
While every situation is different, industry research indicates that even
a simple digital menu board with well-thought-out content can result in a
sales uplift of as much as 5 percent. While that may not sound like a lot, for
a QSR doing $500,000 in revenue a digital menu-board system can mean
an additional $25,000 per year in revenue, not accounting for the indirect
benefits of brand building and eliminating the costs associated with printing
static menu boards every time prices or menu items change.
At those levels, a digital menu-board system generally can pay for itself in
about a year, Panasonic’s Pinc said.
© 2015 Networld Media Group
11SPECIAL REPORT Digital Menu Boards 101
“Additionally, upselling items based on promotional events or high inventory
is another benefit of digital signage that can help increase sales and reduce
waste and, in turn, increase the overall bottom line,” Pinc said.
Costs of displays, media players and content-management systems are
coming down as well. The growth of cloud-based content management
has significantly reduced and simplified the hardware needed to operate a
digital menu board.
In the past, every digital sign or display would require a full computer to
drive it, Ornstead said. Today, cloud-based services with simple solid-state
media players and lower-cost displays have significantly lowered the cost of
deployment for businesses. This approach also provides business owners
instant scalability and built-in security managed by professionals.
“The cost of printing one static backlit board can be as high as $500,” Orn-
About the sponsor:
stead said. “This is close to half the cost of one digital display and media
NEC Display Solutions innovates, produces
player solution that can be changed as many times per day as the business
and delivers display products and complete owner chooses.”
digital signage solutions for a wide range of
In addition, the price of outdoor boards is declining even as their reliability
vertical businesses, specialists and lifestyle
increases, meaning those boards are likely to be as much a fixture of the
applications. The company is wholly owned
by NEC Corporation, one of the world’s
drive-thru as they are becoming a fixture inside the restaurant.
leading providers of Internet, broadband-
Ultimately, digital menu boards are part of an overall transition to an in-
network and enterprise business solutions,
creasingly omnichannel world, where menu boards are just one component
employing more than 150,000 people.
of a digital toolbox helping operators create a deeper engagement with
customers. Those who don’t participate risk being left behind.
© 2015 Networld Media Group
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