The Future of Dining: Electronic Menu Boards

As observed, the food and beverage industry is a highly competitive industry, the businesses in this sector are always in search of ways that can help them to offer better services and improve their performance. One of these innovations that has been embraced in the market is the e-menu board. These digital displays are changing the face of restaurant, cafe and food chains by providing dynamic content and better customer interaction.

What is an Electronic Menu Board?

An electronic menu board can be defined as an LED or LCD based screen that is used to display the food and drink menu. As opposed to the conventional printed menus, these boards come with a lot of flexibility since they can be altered in real time, can contain animations and other functionalities. They can be operated remotely and can be adjusted according to the style and products of a specific brand.

Benefits of Electronic Menu Boards

1. Enhanced Customer Experience

Electronic menu boards have a better appearance with easily readable texts, high-quality images, animations, and videos that can influence customers to order particular products. Digital menus that are concise and well-organized also minimize the time customers spend waiting for the menu since they can quickly make an order.

2. Easy Menu Updates and Customization

Electronic menu boards give the business an opportunity to change the price, offers, and menu options in a blink of an eye. This saves the company a lot of money in reprinting costs and also guarantees that the customer is always provided with the most relevant information.

3. Increased Sales and Upselling Opportunities

This is particularly useful in displaying offers, specials and combo offers, which are timely to help in the selling process. Animated visuals and rotating menus may help to attract the attention to the featured items and thus increase the sales of the high-profit products.

4. Cost-Effective and Eco-Friendly

While implementing the electronic menu boards may require a large capital investment compared to the printed ones, it is more cost effective in the long run due to the constant printing costs and paper wastage. Digital menus also have the advantage of being eco-friendly thus making the business more environmentally sustainable.

5. Remote Management and Integration

Most of the electronic menu boards can also be controlled through web-based software, this means that the owner of the restaurant can update it in all the restaurants at once. Integration with point of sale (POS) systems also enhances the operations and guarantees accuracy.

Industries Benefiting from Electronic Menu Boards

Although electronic menu boards are most often used in QSR segment, they are used in other industries as well, namely:

•       Casual Dining Restaurants: Advertise the day’s specials and encourage customers to join the club.

•       Cafés and Coffee Shops: Promote the products that are available in a specific season or recommend certain brands.

•       Bars and Pubs: Highlight the beer of the month and other offers available at the bar.

•       Hotel Dining Services: Provide multilingual digital menus for international guests.

•       Corporate Cafeterias: Provide healthy meals for the corporate employees and the nutritional value of the foods that are provided.

Final Thoughts

Electronic menu boards are now changing the way business establishments approach their customers and improve their operations and sales. With the advancement in technology, these digital displays will advance to be able to incorporate artificial intelligence and touch screen technology.

Explore also about digital signage software.

For restaurants and food businesses that want to move to the next level in a competitive market, the use of an electronic menu board is a good move towards a more technological, effective and customer satisfying dining environment.