The quick-service industry’s mass adoption of various technologies over the past year and a half has been fast and furious. Through that process, many operators and brand leaders have learned that various solutions that were once nice-to-have have turned into must-haves.
One such technology is digital signage, which has many advantages over its static counterpart. There’s the obvious—digital signage is sleek and can help modernize the aesthetic of a storefront. But there are also more direct ways that digital signage helps build profits.
“Quick-service brands are facing so many challenges,” says Mark Rentz, director of marketing at Skykit. “Between staffing, food costs, slowing sales and the supply chain, restaurants are finding that they need modern solutions to help solve some of these issues. I think that’s why we’ve seen a really big uptick in digital signage usage.”
Here’s a look at some of the ways digital signage can help streamline operations and create revenue.
Menu Changes
With an unreliable supply chain and prices of common ingredients like chicken beginning to inflate, brands have had to adjust customer-facing menu prices accordingly. While it’s a tall task to adjust pricing on paper menus and static signage at a single store—let alone across an entire network of stores—a content management system (CMS) can update thousands of digital menuboards instantaneously.
“Brands are having to adjust prices more and more frequently,” Rentz says. “Digital signage has always been a really effective tool in that way, when it comes to needing to quickly change the menu.”
Increase Sales
Multiple industry studies have shown that brands can increase sales by implementing digital signage. So how does that work? Skykit’s CMS helps showcase high-margin, featured items in a way that optimizes the chances a customer might try them. Digital signage can also help suggestively sell add-ons, or LTOs.
“One of the things we’ve seen is that when you get motion involved on a menuboard, it increases consumer engagement,” Rentz says. “It also helps decrease the perceived wait time by up to 40 percent by showing consumers entertaining graphics and showcasing specific items they might want to try.”
Marketing Tool
Rentz reports seeing an increase in digital signage being used as a marketing tool. That might mean brands showcasing their own products or initiatives, but signage also might be leveraged as advertising space for vendors or other companies.
“You could either be promoting your own catering program, or a new loyalty app you might want to show off, but I’ve also seen a lot of brands selling that space to beverage companies wanting to showcase their drinks,” Rentz says. “Or even local businesses, looking to promote themselves to diners.”
Labor Issues
Digital signage can also help alleviate some of the pressure from the ongoing labor crisis, Rentz says. With turnover rates high, signage becomes a great sales tool because diners end up having fewer questions about the menu. And if employees are short staffed and taking longer to get food out, video content on signage can help make wait times feel shorter.
A challenge like the labor crisis is just one of a handful of ongoing issues that Skykit is helping solve for quick-service brands, through a mixture of hardware, software, and expertise. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Skykit has seen interest in its products skyrocket and Rentz believes that’s no coincidence—digital signage and the accompanying software is uniquely suited to help brands solve the challenges they currently face.
“We’re a software development company and one of the things we do best is help companies tailor an experience that feels in line with their brand,” Rentz says. “We provide high-value solutions that are affordable for concepts of all sizes. Our user-friendly system and tools are seeing a lot more demand in the quick-service space of late, because we provide both the hardware and software to get brands up and running quickly.”
For more on how digital signage can build profits, visit the Skykit website.
