Enhancing Customer Engagement: How Restaurant Digital Signage Transforms Interactions

This article will explore how digital signage can transform customer interactions in restaurants, thereby enhancing engagement, improving service efficiency, and ultimately boosting customer satisfaction and sales. 

Introduction

Today, the use of digital signage in restaurants has enhanced customer service and engagement across the industry. There is a continuing shift toward digitalization and hospitality, ranging from QR codes in the center of tables that are scanned to access a menu to large displays of videos and other forms of entertainment while patrons enjoy their meals. This shift in digital restaurant signage is having a noticeable impact on customer interactions.

The Role of Digital Signage in Modern Restaurants

Restaurant digital signage refers to any type of sign that is displayed digitally. This can take many forms and use things like basic television screens, computer screens, or tablets. Some of the most common forms of digital restaurant signage include:

1. Menus
2. Promotional boards
3. Wayfinding

Statistics about restaurant digital signage

Statistics indicate that digital signage reduces customer perception of long lines. This means it can help minimize the wait time in some cases by offering interactive kiosks with point-of-sale systems where customers can make purchases faster. It also means that digital signage in restaurants can help customers feel more relaxed while they are waiting in line, so they don't perceive the wait time as long as it is.

• 74% of customers indicate that having an easy-to-read menu is an important part of their user experience.
• One study in Denmark saw that coffee sales increased by 30% when signs utilized digital advertisements within the store.
• Of the 80% of those who have seen a digital sign in a restaurant in the last month, 70% made an impulse decision.
• Nearly 30% of customers rely on digital signage to influence what they purchase.
• One fast food chain in the UK saw an increase in sales by 50% when they replaced physical signs with digital ones.
• 55% of travelers indicate that self-check-in opportunities and self-pay opportunities make them more likely to visit a restaurant or similar hospitality location, particularly if they are in a hurry or traveling.
• One European restaurant saw an 11% increase in sales after they Incorporated digital signage.
• Another restaurant reported an 8% increase in sales immediately after incorporating digital menus. 
• 79% of people who go to a restaurant say that having good technology, like a digital sign, makes the experience better.

Benefits of Digital Signage in Restaurants

Given the statistical insights into the effectiveness of digital signage in boosting customer engagement and sales, there are several benefits to restaurants that incorporate restaurant digital signage.

Improved Order Efficiency

The first is improved order efficiency. By having a menu that is digitally displayed and easy to read, customers are more likely to see what they want, not just in the form of lists with the names and corresponding prices for food items but also with visually appealing pictures.

This leads to secondary benefits like the fact that travelers indicate self-check-in and self-pay options, making them more likely to purchase or utilize a service.

Consider this:

A family is driving home after a busy day of school and sports practices. Everyone is tired and hungry. They also know what type of food they want, but they want it quickly. If that family knows that your restaurant has digital signage displays across multiple areas of the restaurant, then the parents know that every child can look at a separate display and decide what they want at the same time, and they know that they'll be able to process the order on a kiosk much faster than waiting in line.

Dynamic Content Display

With a dynamic content display, restaurant digital signage offers an opportunity for restaurants to increase their sales. Given the statistic that 30% of customers will make a purchasing decision based on a digital menu, the more dynamic your content displays, the more you can control the increase in sales that your company enjoys.

This can be particularly effective when you are trying to boost sales on specific items that you can draw attention to visually with a digital display screen.

Enhanced Customer Experience

Given the statistics about impulse purchases, it's clear that the use of digital restaurant signage has the potential to help your restaurant increase sales by drawing attention to some of your most popular food items or some of the items that are on sale.

Key Applications of Digital Signage in Restaurants

So, what are the key applications of restaurant digital signage?

Digital Menu Boards

The first are digital menu boards. These are the most common. They are also one of the best initial investments for restaurants of all sizes because they make it easy and simple to display eye-catching menu information. More importantly, it's simple to update or upsell your products. No longer do you have to print new menus in order to change pricing or remove seasonal items.

Promotional Displays

The second is promotional displays. These are the second most common form of restaurant digital signage because, in addition to a menu board, these can be set up next to a menu board to display things like:

1. Daily specials
2. Events
3. Loyalty programs

Ambient Signage

You don't need to have interactive content in order to make the most out of digital signage in restaurants; ambient signage is a way that you can display good ambiance through thematic or seasonal content like holiday videos or fun statistics about summer vacations.

Designing Content for Digital Signage that Enhances Customer Engagement

So, how do you create compelling and engaging digital content that captures attention and communicates brand values?

Tips:

• Don't overload customers with too many colors. Pick one color that is directly associated with your brand and then use it to juxtapose black-and-white space in a way that isn't crowded but still highlights pertinent information.
• Maintain visual consistency with your restaurant's branding and theme. This goes back to the colors that you choose, as well as other elements like pictures. If your restaurant is themed with things like light green, white, and turquoise, you don't want digital content that is red because it won't blend well with your brand. If you are considering holiday displays such as ambient signage, you can still use the colors from your restaurant theme or brand to play off traditional displays like holiday lights or trees. 

Conclusion

As a restaurant owner, digital restaurant signage has a significant impact on customer engagement. It not only helps you with wait times and customer loyalty but it has been shown to increase sales, particularly impulse purchases. Consider how digital signage can be strategically implemented into your settings today.