Boost Drive-Thru Orders With QSR Digital Menu Boards

According to the NDP Group, drive-thru orders account for 42% of all restaurant traffic, and the trend is still rising. It is important for restaurateurs to ensure they optimize their drive-thru operations to attract and retain customers.A QSR digital menu board is one of the best tools to help you achieve these business goals.

Why QSR Digital Menu Boards can Increase Your Turnover?

1. Easy-to-read menu board

According to research, 74% of fast food customers consider easy-to-read menus a top priority. One thing is for sure, making your menu easy to read can help customers make decisions faster and ensure your drive-thru line moves through effortlessly.

With QSR digital menu boards, you can ensure that your menus are always presented in an engaging and organized manner that is easy for customers to read. Most importantly, you can include high-quality photos of your menu items to catch the eye of your customers and encourage them to make a purchase.

Best of all, unlike traditional outdoor menu boards, the QSR digital menu board features a high-brightness screen that ensures menus are always visible and attractive, even in direct sunlight or in any weather condition. This way, you can ensure your drive-thru experience remains the same, rain or shine, to keep customers satisfied every time they visit.

2.Easy to update content:

QSR digital menu boards offer the flexibility to update menu content at any time through cloud-based content management software. From pricing to item names, descriptions and images, you can easily edit them with just a few clicks, and the changes will appear live on your digital menu board.

Imagine the process you need to go through when replacing a static menu board. You need to redesign, reprint and ship the final product to your store. With digital menu boards, you can update menu content and apply changes across multiple screens anytime, anywhere.

This also gives you the opportunity to test marketing strategies. For example, you can highlight the most popular items based on what your customers are buying, or continually tweak your menu to put high-margin items in the spotlight. This way, you can also keep up with your clients and increase your revenue.

Showcase your most popular items during peak hours, making it easy for customers to decide what to order and expediting your drive-thru service. During breaks, you can boost your sales by showcasing discounted menu items or happy hour deals.

3. Speed up the ordering process

With most major fast food restaurants reporting approximately 70% of their sales occur at drive-thru windows, the speed and efficiency of drive-thru service has become key to increasing sales and overall revenue.

According to a 2020 drive-thru study, digital menu boards have been proven to reduce service time by an average of 12.3 seconds. The digital menu board presents menus in a concise and easy-to-read manner. They also allow you to display menus with attractive animations and visuals to grab the attention of your customers. With digital menu boards, customers can easily read menus and make ordering decisions faster with more confidence.

QSR digital menu boards can also help you reduce the chances of errors during the ordering process. For example, integrate an order confirmation area on your menu board screen that displays the customer’s order items and gives your customer the opportunity to review their order details again before proceeding to the payment window. This way, you can ensure a smooth drive-thru operation while minimizing confusion between employees and customers.

4. Trigger impulse buying

Restaurants offer many point-of-sale impulse buying opportunities, such as daily specials, limited-time offers, or seasonal items. Impulse buying almost always happens at the point of sale. However, how to encourage impulse buying has always been one of the strategic questions business owners need to answer.

With QSR digital menu displays, you can introduce promotional or high-margin menu items with captivating images and animations to spark customer interest. You can also use weather-based data to your advantage and influence customer buying decisions at the right time—for example, allowing digital menu boards to automatically serve ice cream and cold drinks on the hottest days.

Also, as one study suggests, keep in mind that customers sometimes use food consumption to satisfy higher-order needs, such as maintaining a happy mood or alleviating sadness. It’s beneficial to include some “emotional appeals” alongside menus with pleasing animations, such as “You deserve it,” to promote impulse purchases.

5. Instant Cross-Sell and Up-Sell Tactics

Digital menu boards are very flexible as they allow users to change the content at any time. You no longer need to waste time waiting for event materials to be printed. QSR digital menu boards allow you to implement the latest cross-sell and up-sell strategies based on sales data to keep up with your customers. For example, you can strategically place your best-selling menu items close to each other on a digital menu board to subtly influence customers’ purchasing decisions.

You can also add eye-catching promotions to showcase side dishes, desserts, and meal combos to motivate customers to buy more. Best of all, you can modify your strategies based on real-time customer buying behavior and exclude campaigns that don’t work right away.

6. Simplify restaurant operations

Research shows that fast food restaurants can save up to $30,000 per year in printing costs by implementing QSR digital menu boards. Additionally, the QSR digital menu board facilitates smooth operation:

-Help your staff process orders faster and with fewer errors
-Help your customers make faster decisions and keep production lines running
-Reduce the hassle of waiting for events to go live
-Automatically display and remove promotions and events at the right time
-Automatically switch menus based on time of day
-Change the menu content anytime and anywhere.

These factors allow you to easily manage your restaurant, allowing your staff to focus on food preparation and keeping your customers happy when they leave the queue.

7. Reduce Perceived Latency

Customers often feel like they are in long lines at drive-thru restaurants. One study found that customers will wait an average of 382.39 seconds at a drive-thru restaurant in 2021. We all know keeping customers waiting is not ideal; however, sometimes it is unavoidable. So the key question becomes how business owners can help make the wait more bearable.

With a QSR digital menu board, you can give your customers the opportunity to view the menu while they wait in line. This means customers can make a decision before it’s their turn to place an order, which will help speed up the actual ordering process. On top of that, you can incorporate captivating visual effects and animations to grab your customers’ attention and keep them happy.

You can use this time to let customers know about rewards programs, mobile order information, and ongoing events to keep them busy while they wait for their orders. This helps reduce perceived wait times and enhances customer experience.

In conclusion, implementing a QSR digital menu board is an excellent way to boost orders and generate more sales. QSR digital menu boards can help customers decide what to order faster, promote events more effectively, and simplify drive-thru service. Plus, they reduce operating and marketing costs, enabling your fast food business to increase overall profitability.