Imagine stepping into a restaurant and being told about the day’s special or your favorite appetizers featured prominently in the menu right at the top.
Won’t you love that experience?
This is exactly what digital menus achieve in restaurants.
A digital menu for restaurants isn't just about listing items—they keep up with your customers’ cravings in real-time through real-time menu updates and dynamic pricing and strengthen your brand identity across different mediums.
Wondering what else a digital restaurant menu can bring to the table?
Here are six incredible benefits of using digital menu boards:
1. Real-Time Menu Updates
Imagine it’s a warm summer day, and you’ve decided to feature a refreshing seasonal smoothie or cold brew as a special.
With printed menus, updating this offer across the restaurant would be slow and cumbersome.
But with a digital restaurant menu, you can easily perform real-time updates such as:
- Spotlight your seasonal or limited-edition items instantly, so guests see it right when they walk in. You could even highlight happy hour pricing or bundle it with a snack in real time
- Just ran out of a food item? You just need to mark food items as "out" or add a combination offer to make sure your menu constantly represents what's available and fresh
This way, your guests can see and appreciate the specials before they order, making their dining experience even more engaging and memorable.
2. Enhanced Customer Engagement
"Food should be fun," Thomas Keller’s ever-popular quote especially rings true for restaurants around the country. While the taste of the food depends on your chefs, the dining experience of your guests lies more in your hands.
This is where digital menu for restaurants is more than just a display; it's a tool for interacting with customers and boosting engagement instantly.
- You can instantly update and customize your offerings, including adding visuals of your food and even adding a video highlighting your specials for the day.
- Want to get even more creative? Add fun little BTS (behind the scenes) videos of how your chefs make their dishes.
- Want to draw attention to a new food item? You can place a video of it at the top of your menu so that people can see it right away.
- Do you have immediate discounts or flash sales? With digital menus, you can advertise them right away and increase sales.
If you want to know more about digital menus or signage, you can read more about L Squared’s digital signage solutions.
3. Improved Operational Efficiency
Along with better customer engagement, a digital restaurant menu enhances operational efficiency as well.
Imagine being able to instantly update your menu without having to print it out or replace it frequently. To top it all, digital menus for restaurants also reduce the waiting time for customers to place their orders since they don’t have to ask separately for menu cards.
Sounds efficient, right?
You can make this happen with a digital menu today.
A digital restaurant menu enables your employees to concentrate more on providing exceptional customer service. This becomes very useful for restaurants with fewer staff.
According to statistics, 95% of restaurant owners agree that digital menu boards increase their restaurants' operational efficiency and improve overall productivity.
So no more delays and higher employee productivity!
4. Boosts Sales with Dynamic Promotions
Good promotions and showcasing your variety are two of the main factors when it comes to boosting sales.
This is why restaurants with great chefs can still end up shutting down because they struggle to attract customers.
The main reason behind this is a lack of visibility of your food options amongst customers.
All you need is a digital restaurant menu to fix this.
If anything, digital menus are an extremely adaptable tool for increasing sales. They have the ability to provide dynamic information in real-time by offering bulk discounts and flash sales and create a FOMO (fear of missing out) by offering specials to guests.
Here are some types of dynamic promotions you can offer through your digital restaurant menu to increase sales:
- Happy Hour Countdown: Create excitement by displaying a countdown timer for happy hour. As the timer ticks down, customers feel the urgency to order drinks or appetizers at discounted prices before time runs out
- Chef’s Choice of the Day: Highlight a rotating “Chef’s Special” that changes daily. This not only draws attention to unique dishes but also gives regular customers a reason to check out what’s new each day
- Flash Dessert Sale: Near closing time, promote a “Last Hour Dessert Sale” to clear inventory, offering a percentage off on desserts. This can attract impulse buyers and help reduce waste at the end of the day
- Lunch Combo Deals: Display “Lunch Combos” with main dishes, sides, and drinks at a special price during lunch hours. This creates a value-driven option for lunch guests, encouraging them to visit during peak lunch hours
- Seasonal Limited-Time Menu: Promote a “Seasonal Menu” that’s only available for a short period, like pumpkin spice items in the fall or peppermint treats during the holiday season. Guests are more likely to try items they know won’t be around for long
Also Read: Enhance Hotel Communication & Create Memorable Guest Experiences
5. Increased Hygiene and Safety
A great restaurant has many factors that make it great, with hygiene and safety being two of the most important.
For example, imagine a family just entered your restaurant, and they seem to be hesitant to use the physical menu board. After a while, they leave.
You definitely don't want that. If you had a digital restaurant menu, this wouldn't happen.
After the COVID pandemic, customer focus has shifted more drastically towards good hygiene. They don't want to use traditional menu cards that have been passed from hand to hand.
88% of restaurants indicated they are considering switching to digital menus over physical menus. The reason?
Digital restaurant menus offer a contactless option for customers, allowing them to view and order food with minimal physical interaction.
6. Strengthens Brand Identity and Visibility
A digital menu for restaurants can be a significant outlier for you in the market if you decide to use it as a brand marketing tool.
A strong brand identity creates a niche for a restaurant, making it unique in the market and helping in increasing overall visibility amongst audiences.
With a digital restaurant menu, a restaurant can use high-quality images and videos to bring its food items to life. This practice highlights the signature dishes, seasonal specials, and even behind-the-scenes looks at the kitchen.
A restaurant digital menu enables visual communication with customers
For example, visual storytelling allows customers to grasp your restaurant’s unique touch, from ingredient quality to presentation style, helping to build trust and anticipation.
Add your brand colors to the mix, and customers will remember the visual experience of your restaurants even if they’ve forgotten the taste of your food.
A restaurant digital menu can thereby positively impact consumer behavior and create strong brand identity in their minds.
Sounds interesting? Book a demo today and find out how you can brand your restaurant to the top with digital menu boards and digital signage!
Secure your Restaurant’s Future with L Squared
Modern times call for modern solutions.
While restaurant digital menus may seem like a technological upgrade from physical menu cards; they’re a step in the right direction.
A digital menu can help you communicate deals and show visually appealing photographs of your food to attract more customers.
These digital menus help keep consumers interested and increase sales with minimal additional effort since they can easily display popular meals, flash bargains, or seasonal specials.
Sounds like you’re ready for this transformation?
L Squared has got you covered with its range of digital signage solutions that offer you the best of experiences in the hospitality sector.
Now you can make aesthetically appealing menus digitally that benefit your restaurant by providing more visibility and flexibility.
Prepared to switch? Contact us at L Squared and take the next step towards growth.
Frequently Asked Questions
1) What is restaurant menu digitization?
Restaurant menu digitization refers to converting traditional, physical menus into digital formats displayed on screens or accessible through devices. This allows restaurants to easily update, customize, and interact with customers in real-time.
2) What is the benefit of using electronic menus?
Electronic menus offer multiple benefits, including real-time updates, enhanced customer engagement, improved operational efficiency, dynamic promotions for increased sales, better hygiene, and strengthened brand identity.
3) Why is digitalization of menu important for your restaurant?
Digitalizing your menu enhances the dining experience by making it more engaging and efficient. It offers operational flexibility, allows real-time updates, and meets modern hygiene expectations, making it easier to attract and retain customers.
4) How do digital menus work?
Digital menus work by displaying menu items on digital screens or devices. Restaurants can update content in real-time, showcasing specials, promotions, and dynamic pricing to engage customers effectively and streamline operations.
