If you aren’t quite sure why to upgrade to a digital menu board, you’ve come to the right place! The benefits of going digital are many and will be apparent from day one. Below are the top 10 reasons to upgrade to digital.

#1 Highlight Your Menu Options

Wouldn’t it be great if you could post an image of every dish? Now you can! Make no mistake, if your menu is expansive, you may need to be selective. However with a digital menu board, you can design your menu to feature images of more than your seasonal items or best sellers. There are many strategies to choose from, so work with a digital menu designer.

One strategy is to post static images of your top 10 menu items, then have a few places on the screen where you alternate between images of other dishes. Be sure to write the name of each dish and don’t forget popular upsell items such as side dishes and condiments.

#2 Improve Menu Visibility

A bland menu can be a failure when it comes to highlighting and showcasing your best items. Old minimalist menu’s are hard to read and the wary customer may just order something they are comfortable with instead of trying new options.

This benefit is closely related to highlighting your digital menu board options but a bit different. Whether printed or posted, there is always a section of your menu that goes unnoticed. You strategically put your best sellers at the top of their category, but now you can give lower selling but delicious menu items more visibility.

It’s ideal for calling attention to new items, improved items, seasonal dishes, and dishes with ingredients that are about to expire.

#3 Reduce Real And Perceived Wait Times

A vibrant digital menu board instantly engages customers waiting in line to place their order. Reading and watching the alternating menu images improves perceived wait times. However, a well-designed menu will reduce the actual wait time as it should answer some of the common questions customers have when they get to the cash register. Just make sure your team is ready to keep up with the new pace!

#4 Boost Your Sales

With more images, improved communication, and shorter wait times—your new menu can boost your sales by up to 20%! Just like when you add a new poster to your restaurant window or lobby, the item on the poster sells more. Now you can implement this strategy for more of your menu items.

Again, don’t forget to highlight your add-ons and upsells such as extra cheese, coffee flavors, smoothie add-ins, and popular side dishes—as every little bit you can increase your ticket average grows your business.

#5 Multiple Cost-Savings

An HD menu is an investment, but when utilized strategically it will pay for itself. We mentioned its revenue-generating benefits above, but it can also save you in labor and marketing costs. While you may still invest in printed posters and menus, you’ll print far less with digital. However, many restaurants are ditching their printed menus all together. This is especially easy if you have a digital app or sell your products on delivery sites such as Uber Eats or Postmates.

You’ll also save in labor dollars as your team won’t have to manually update the sign. Instead, all updates are done remotely or from the back of the house from the software that comes with your sign. Your menu will be fast and easy to clean. All you need is a microfiber cloth and an electronics-safe cleaning solution.

#6 Time Of Day Menus

If you currently have a posted paper or chalk menu, it lists your items for the entire day. With a digital menu board, you can preschedule your menu by the time of the day. This might mean alternating between a breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu. It could also mean serving all menu items all day but arranging the menu differently by the time of the day.

For example, if you serve breakfast all day you can place breakfast on the left of the menu until 10 am, then to the far right during lunch and dinner.

#7 Regulatory Compliance

Many states require restaurants to post the calorie count on their menus. Sometimes this changes when you update a recipe. If you don’t update the calorie count, you are out of compliance—which can be costly. However, printing new menus can be costly too. With digital, you can update calories in real-time.

In addition to updating calories in real-time, you can post the calories in a more visually appealing manner on digital.

#8 Easy Menu Updates

On that same note, there are a variety of menu updates that are far easier with a digital menu board. For example, if an ingredient changes, the price changes, or you want to upload a better image.

With a digital menu board, you may find that you want to update your entire menu or layout several times a year. Or even as often as every month!

Work with a designer to visualize your layout, ensuring that they design in a manner that the mini-updates to price, calorie, images, and ingredients are something you can perform yourself in real-time.

Unlike printed and chalk menus, all layouts are uploaded so you can update and repost older layouts anytime.

#9 Brand Consistency

If you have more than one restaurant location, you can ensure brand consistency at each location by sharing nothing other than the latest menu design file. You can allow each location to manage its digital menu board in-house, or you can control the menu remotely. This ensures brand consistency, which ensures loyal customers will enjoy the same menu from one location to the next.

That being said, leave room for regional digital menu board differences—which can be quite lucrative.

#10 Custom-Built

Most digital menu boards are a series of one or more side-by-side rectangular screens, but that’s not your only option. Your new menu can be designed in any square or rectangular shape to fit your available wall space.

Ready to upgrade to a digital menu board? If you are ready to upgrade or would like to learn more, we invite you to reach out to Mega LED Technology. We offer a FREE and pressure-free quote to answer your additional questions. Let’s get started!