The role of digital signage in enhancing customer experience and boosting sales in the restaurant sector cannot be overemphasised.

Why? Few systems can inform, engage customers, and entertain like a digital signage solution powered by well-crafted content. 

More and more businesses in the hospitality industry are starting to get the memo, which is one of the reasons why it is hard to walk into any restaurant these days and not see the attention-grabbing content displayed on digital signs.

Digital signage is easy to design and easy to use, and it engages customers. Most importantly, they play a key function in persuading customers to buy in ways conventional signage can't do. 

To say digital signage has improved how restaurants conduct business would be an understatement. From interactive kiosks to simple menu boards and entertainment, this modern marketing tool plays a significant role in helping restaurant businesses connect more engagingly with customers.

With that said, let’s look at 13 revolutionary ways digital signage transforms restaurant experiences.

1. Captivates with a dynamic menu

Gone are the days when static menu items used to be the approach for showcasing menus and specials to customers in hospitality businesses. 

Today, innovative-thinking restaurants use dynamic menu boards to showcase various mouthwatering items that compel customers to buy.

Static menus and customer imagination offer a different level of interactivity and persuasion than interactive digital menus. 

Using digital signage solutions, restaurant owners can power up their menu dashboard to easily update the menu depending on the hour of the day, update prices in real-time, and highlight seasonal offerings, ensuring their customers always have the latest information. 

Even if you operate a fast-casual, casual, or fine dining establishment, menus powered by digital signage systems make ordering quicker and will often result in more sales.

Related reading: Maximising Earnings: Dynamic Signage Strategies for Higher Orders.

2. Enhances the ordering experience 

The growing number of self-service checkouts in retail and customer preferences to use them for convenience purchases/orders has spilled into the restaurant sector. 

Restaurants now incorporate self-ordering kiosks powered by digital signage in their customer service process. With a few clicks on a screen, customers can order directly from the screen. 

This helps improve the customer ordering process, leading to return visits and word-of-mouth recommendations, which can boost sales.

3. Seamlessly promotes special offers and events

Using digital signage to promote special offers, loyalty programs, limited-time offers, and upcoming events is one of the exciting ways restaurants can use digital signs to transform experiences. 

Unlike conventional signage, where you display posters every few days, with a digital signage system, specials can be updated in real-time to reflect ongoing promotions, making it more likely for customers to make more purchases.

Given the ability to use enticing visuals and the potential for sound, you can really spice up how you introduce offers and events and make them as appealing as possible to customers. 

Remember that almost 30% of customers think digital menus influence their purchase of a restaurant’s special, so place your digital signage in locations where customers will likely be waiting, and you’ll have a great marketing tool.

4. Streamlines takeout and delivery process 

We all know how frustrating, unproductive, and dull waiting can be. Sometimes, the long queue can become unbearable for customers. It has been shown that businesses lose up to 75% of their customers due to waiting times.

Using digital signs, restaurants can enhance the dining takeout and delivery experience by helping customers know how long they must wait before they can be attended to. 

When you add a menu option and items to the queue status screen, customers can quickly decide what they want to order while waiting, which cuts down table turnover time.

Restaurants powered by digital signage use interactive features to take the queue out of their business or entertain customers whilst they wait rather than walking out due to impatience.

5. Builds credibility by showcasing customer reviews and ratings

Another interesting way digital signage is helping restaurant owners transform the experience in their place is through reviews and ratings. For instance, you could use digital signage to share positive customer reviews and ratings to inspire confidence in new customers. 

Digital signage increases transaction margins by an average of 3%. You could significantly increase the average transaction margin by featuring positive reviews and comments from previous customers recommending certain dishes.

If customers feel they are in a well-reviewed location, they will feel much more at ease and likely increase their spending.

Additionally, reviews inspire confidence and help restaurant businesses understand their customer's preferences, identify areas for improvement, and personalise the dining experience based on feedback.

6. Facilitates upselling and cross-selling strategies

With the right upselling and cross-selling prompting, we can all be swayed to buy something extra or more expensive. 

This is precisely what some restaurant digital signage displays can do. And they do that engagingly and harmlessly, without seeming pushy or in their customer’s faces. 

For example, if you have a popular burger that sells like hotcakes in your fast food restaurant, you can use digital signs to entice customers to add fries and a drink to their burger purchase for a lower cost than buying fries and a drink separately. 

This creates a feeling of value for customers and also boosts the customer experience in the process. Use bright imagery, make the upsell deal very clear, and ensure your signage is visible so that customers will be aware of the items you are upselling. 

Ensuring you’ve got the right upsell or cross-sell strategies offers in front of your customer’s eyes is tested and proven to be a true way of increasing your daily sales and profits.

You may also like: Upsell with Digital Signage in your Cafe.

7. Enhances customer engagement

The beauty of incorporating digital signage systems for restaurants is that they can help engage customers adequately. You can introduce your staff members and their favourite menu recommendations. 

You can tell customers random facts about the farmers you buy the potatoes from, the ones you use in making the chips you serve them. This adds another flavour to the aura of dining out and gives people a reason to return. 

By creating, managing, and displaying your rich branded content and stories across all your venues, you bring life to your menus and products. 

Your customers will know who you are and what to expect whenever they visit your venues anywhere.

8. Creates buzz with interactive gamification displays

Savvy restaurant owners are using digital signage to entertain and engage their customers with interactive games, polls, or quizzes displayed on digital signage.

After all, what is a restaurant without some entertainment? 

Whether it’s live music, karaoke, or just a smart TV tuned into an exciting soccer match, entertainment sets the mood of any venue. 

And that is one of the reasons why some restaurants & bars have many loyal patrons among their customers.

Using digital signage, restaurants can turn their screens into leaderboards of popular multiplayer games that customers can play with or against each other while waiting for their orders to arrive. 

Fun games like Bingo, Scrabble, UNO, Chess, and Monopoly are typically popular among the younger and the older crowds.

Creating a buzz with interactive gamification displays is not just a genius way for restaurant businesses to transform the experience but also a chance to add an element of distinction. Giving free drinks or exclusive deals to the winners can be a clever way to market new products and build your brand.

9. Improves engagement via social media integration

According to Sproutsocial index data, 76% of consumers appreciate how quickly a brand can respond to their needs, and as of 2023, nearly 70% expect a response within 24 hours or less.

Source: Sproutsocial

The most successful restaurants realise this fact and actively engage with their customers on  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, or even TikTok. They do not stop there; they also use digital signage to boost engagement by displaying their social media feeds on digital menu boards. 

The more customers see you are active on social media, the more they will feel compelled to follow and interact with your page, expanding your reach beyond the physical restaurant walls.

10. Streamlines staff communication

Utilising digital signage, managers can reduce the chaos that often occurs behind the scenes in a restaurant operation. Behind the scenes, chaos can affect service quality. 

But with digital signs, you can help kitchen staff visualise orders in the window, call attention to overdue items, or provide information about specials and orders.

This helps you keep orders organised, communication clear, and business operations smooth.

11. Elevates the ambience of the venue 

Digital signage can elevate the ambience of a restaurant with digital decor. With just a click of a button, screens can start displaying calming nature scenes, bustling cityscapes, or thematic visuals to modify the mood to suit the time of day or a special event. 

Digital displays, coupled with lighting and music, can create a holistic sensory experience that complements the culinary offerings.

12.  Improves targeted promotions success rate

Restaurants leverage digital signage to capture the attention of their ideal customer. This approach requires precision and timing. 

By analysing customer data and behaviour, they are able to tailor advertising content to match the interests and needs of those passing by their displays, increasing the likelihood of repeat visits.

13. Facilitates quick adherence to changing nutritional guidelines

When your signage system is conventional, quick adaptation to evolving nutritional guidelines can be challenging. 

Digital signage allows restaurant businesses to quickly adapt their menu to new regulations without negatively impacting their business and customers' dining experience.

Menus can be instantly modified to reflect new regulations or nutritional guidelines without the need for reprinting or redesigning physical menus. 

Takeaway: Experience the transformative power of digital signage for restaurants

Top restaurants of all types are heavily dependent on digital signage. Without the interactive technologies provided by digital signage, they would be very limited in improving their customer experiences.

Digital signage technology has made it possible for restaurants to shift from the traditional to digital, providing a more engaging, efficient, and profitable restaurant operation.

By implementing the 13 revolutionary ways digital signage transforms the restaurant industry discussed in this piece, you can consistently create compelling and memorable dining experiences for your customers and boost sales.

However, you must use the right digital signage software. Luna Screens is a cloud-based digital signage system that can help you enhance your restaurant customers' experience even if you have zero technical skills. 

Do you desire to elevate your restaurant to new heights? Get started with Luna Screens today!