QSRs have adapted digital menu boards for displaying menus within their dining rooms for sit-down customers and they’ve done it with great success. However, since the typical location generates far more revenue at the drive-thru the window then it does indoors, it’s time for smart management to extend their win to this far more lucrative arena.
Flexibility is the Key to Success
Passersby can view your drive-thru digital signs even if they haven’t already entered the drive-thru lane so they can act as a beacon, grabbing the notice of people who are not yet your customers. Their attention span is short, so you have to strike fast and hard, by showcasing the type of food people will want at any given time. Because the messages displayed on digital menu boards can be changed instantly with a few strokes of a keyboard, this is easily doable.
Short powerful messages work best. Don’t clutter up your outdoor digital menu boards with dinner specials in the morning. Rather, talk about what people really want early in the day – breakfast food like bacon, eggs, and pancakes. This powerful technique, day-parting, is a sure way to boost revenue.
A Sharply Focused Message is Vital
Nowhere in QSR operations is throughput more important than in the drive-thru, so your outdoor menus must be short, concise and offer clear, easy choices so that the customer can make her choice quickly.
The drive-thru lane and its digital menu boards should be configured as to focus the customer’s attention, daily specials, new items, and any temporarily overstocked items. Upselling must be a prominent part of the strategy, too. But remember that above any other consideration, the most important goal is to guide the customer to make a QUICK choice.
Keep an eye open towards Future Enhancements
Once your organization has gotten used to working with outdoor digital menu boards and learned how to exploit them to their full potential, it will be time to consider the next steps. These include installing two-way digital and or audio links to your POS system. In this manner, customers can pay via apps on their smartphones, and when they reach to counter, there will be no time wasted in needless communications with your staff or fumbling for cash. Then, watch your throughput soar!
About Author:
Having been involved with digital signage and With several years of experience implementing indoor menu boards, drive-thrus and digital menu boards since its inception, Origin Display Group know what questions to ask and the routes to take when acting as a guiding hand towards a solution. Beyond our product line, it is our services that truly set us apart. We don’t just sell you menu boards, we provide solutions that meet your specific needs, budget, expectations and DEADLINES!
One of the great innovations in the QSR drive-thru lane in recent years has been mobile ordering.
No troublesome, error-prone verbal communication with your staff.
No cash handling, as the app has access to the customer’s debit card, and payment is coordinated between the app and your POS system.The problems start when your customer arrives, taste buds aglow and belly grumbling, awaiting the first encounter with that delicious cheeseburger, or perhaps a burrito special that she’s ordered.
That’s because some QSRs, even after investing in all this wonderful technology, still only have only one line.
Customer has ordered ahead, she still has to wait in the same line as everyone else, to wit, all your other customers who are still studying your drive-thru digital menu boards, deciding on what they’d like to order.She does save some time online, specifically, the time that she herself would have spent perusing your drive-thru displays for the perfect repast.
But she still could end up stuck behind a bus full of foreign tourists, unfamiliar with your menu, and each one of them insisting on her own separate check for the small coke she finally deigns to order.
