Over the past couple of years, a wide variety of new technologies have surfaced in the hospitality industry, including the emergence of customer facing digital signage ranging from in-store point-of-purchase/print advertising and menu boards to order confirmation displays that scroll ads and up-sell messages.
While adoption has been slow in the restaurant community, this can be correlated to the slow down in the economy and larger initial investment when compared to magnetic and backlit menu boards. Investing in digital signage consists of purchasing commercial grade LCD panels which vary with screen size, a content manager, design services and fees to retrofit and install. As the need to offer more value and a differentiated experience to consumers continues to grow, when will restaurants adopt digital signage or digital menu boards and in what form? As commercial LCD panel costs decline and more and more digital signage companies emerge overnight, it seems immanent that traditional poster prints and static menu boards will begin to evolve into interactive technology within the restaurant. With the push to re-vamp the interior of restaurants, New York and California leading the way with mandated nutritional label laws, and the flat lining of the recession, we can start to anticipate the rise of digital menu boards in early 2010.
Industry webinars broadcast a variety of the content management solutions that are available today and include “interactive advertising.” The application can alter restaurant advertisements on the display board by time of day, inventory levels, facial recognition, sales data and consumer behavior patterns. This presents an opportunity to replace in-store print advertisements and save money by getting rid of rush fees, misprints, shipping charges and delays in changing outdated signage in the restaurant. With the click of a button, corporate can update products, messaging and pricing in near real time.
Sales of digital signage solutions are rising at a moderate pace. In the current environment, we can expect to see consolidations and failures among the digital signage providers. Those standing at the end of the year should have an aggressive market going into the first half of 2010.
Tags: digital signage, menu boards, order confirmation displays
Michael, these are all valid points and probably not the right solution for a one site diner with table service as menu boards are typically placed in the quick service and fast casual environment. Legislation has been passed in many states requiring quick-serve and fast-casual restaurants with 15 or more locations to display nutritional content for their customers. Digital menu boards would be a great fit for clients that need to meet such requirements. This legislation takes effect January 1, 2010 for Maryland, New York City, California and Pennsylvania. Instead of replacing static menu boards every time a calorie count or amount of fat content changes, this information will automatically be reflected when a change is made in the point of sale. In many cases, the content does not have to be a distraction, but rather a subtle enhancement to the guest experience. For more information on Content Management Systems, the DigitalSignageToday.com has published a whitepaper on the topic (http://www.digitalsignagetoday.com/white_paper.php?id=58&overview=1).
This is an interesting trend for sure Liz.
I don’t know, I’m a self proclaimed nerd, and love technology just as much as the next person, but, this particular area, customer facing displays and electronic menus and digital signing technology, I’m not sure how I feel about.
A large part of me doesn’t really want all of that to get in the way of my experience at a restaurant. And really, I guess this is going to be targeted at your larger chains and such, which I honestly try to stay away from whenever possible.
I still want to be able to go into the local diner, read the specials on their chalkboard, be handed a food stained, laminated menu, have my order written on a little carbon copy notepad, and pay using my “ticket” from that same order pad, ya know?
How would you pitch this kind of technology to a client who might feel this would all just be…noise to their customers?
I’d also be interested in learning more about the CMSes that are behind this aforementioned technology.