How Digital Menu Boards Offer a Notable ROI
A large number of restaurant and cafe owners are very happy with the performance of their digital menu boards. There are many reasons for this. The first one is that digital menu boards offer a not only more convenient solution to displaying menus but they are also more cost effective in most cases. As opposed to static menu boards, which require painting and can become quite expensive, digital ones can be updated either manually or automatically. This ensures that you will be able to enjoy a change in the content and thus your profits.
There are two main components to think about when using digital menu boards in your business. The first is your hardware cost. This is actually the most significant factor affecting your ROI as hardware cost can easily exceed one hundred dollars per outlet. For instance, if you have 100 outlets in your restaurant and you are planning to use one single digital menu board, you have a total hardware cost of $1000. This is a rather large sum of money considering that you will only get around 25 percent of the total amount back from customers.
However, this doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to get a good return on your investment. Just imagine how much better your profits would be when using digital signage as opposed to static signs. This is exactly what some restaurant owners are doing these days. Instead of spending all their capital on the hardware alone, they are investing all their profits into improving the quality of their digital signage system. In other words, they are getting one time sales without necessarily incurring any recurring costs.
How digital menu boards offer a not only a notable return on investment but also recurring savings can be realized when you utilize them on a regular basis. It goes without saying that the more frequently you display specific information, the better chances of making sales. But how do you determine when to increase the frequency of your digital signage? Is it an on-premise or a service-based decision? Depending on the type of digital signage system that you have in place, it will largely depend on the capability of the service provider.
If you are using one that is provided by a third party vendor, the ability to change the information being displayed will be available to you. However, you would need to contact your vendor and request such a feature. The only downside to using third-party vendors is that the information that is relayed through them is generally pre-set. For instance, the restaurant name that you see during a break may already be pre-filled by the vendor. On the other hand, a hosted solution will allow you to make any changes that you deem appropriate based on current information.
Of course, there are various factors that you would need to consider. Would the frequency that you display to be dependent on the number of people who regularly visit your establishment? If so, then you should consider putting in boards at key points such as lunch hours and early mornings. Doing this would ensure that you are able to maximize the amount of revenue that you earn from these particular time slots.
Another thing to consider is how often you would want the boards to display. If you are a fast-food type of business where people order take-aways on a frequent basis, then putting up digital boards on strategic locations around the premise would be more beneficial compared to a coffee shop that offers a more leisurely dining experience. This is especially so if you want to ensure that your customers are able to pay attention to your promotions regularly.
How digital menu boards offer a notable ROI largely depends on how the advertising is managed and presented. If you want to ensure that your business gets maximum visibility, it is advisable for you to place them at strategic places within your premises. If you place them at obvious points or places that are frequented heavily, then you might not be able to draw in as many customers. Another tip that you could use is to consider limiting the color and shape variations. You can always change them later on if you feel that the demographic of your target audience changes.