When Origin began to look to add digital menu boards to our product line, we were in the same situation I’m sure many of you find yourself in. We knew what we wanted, but the industry had become so saturated, where were we to start? A similar predicament you may be facing – where to even begin your digital menu board search. I’m sure you’ve read our blogs about ‘pitfall this’ and ‘shortcoming that’ when it comes to digital signage. Trust me, we’ve spent hours doing the research about which solution works best in what situation. Since we’ve already done the research, there’s no need for you to waste your time re-researching what we’ve already found.
When choosing which digital menu board solution is right for you, here are a few things that you should look for:
The system should essentially be autonomous.
Why? Time is everyone’s most valuable resource. Don’t waste yours dealing with a high-maintenance menu board system. The last thing you want to deal with is worrying about the setup of content on a daily basis or wondering if your content will play when the LCDs are turned on.
Making content changes must be EASY.
Why? This is the single most important aspect to 99% of digital menu board users. And just like us, most of you (restaurant owners) are not programmers. A lot of systems on the market use data fields that, when you exceed the restricted characer limit, will not display properly on your screen. To fix this, you’d better know how to write code! A simple user interface with a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” preview function is a must.
Content needs to have scheduling flexibility.
Why? A lot of restaurants don’t offer their full (or the same) menu all day. Having every option posted throughout the day can be confusing, distracting and a waste of space. By allowing day-parting, users don’t have to worry about misrepresenting what is available at any given time. The ability to EASILY schedule different menu offerings at different times during the day is one of the most powerful benefits of a digital menu board system. You can promote different items by day part, demographic and cost of goods in one area of the screen while maintaining your other day part capabilities for your menu items and pricing only.
It must be easy to deploy.
Why? Most small restaurants and even multi-chain concepts do not have full-time IT personnel to manage a complicated menu board network. Besides, who would want to deal with a complicated menu board system anyway? Minimizing the components and complexity of a digital menu board system makes it easier to install on the IT end while keeping costs down.
To Summarize:
- The journey Origin took to find a digital menu board system we wanted to market, I’m sure, is very similar to the one you are experiencing right now in your search for a menu board.
- Since we’ve already done the legwork, stop your research and take our advice – you should choose a digital menu board solution that is autonomous, content changes should be easy to make, content scheduling flexibility is a must and your entire system should be easy to deploy with minimal IT integration necessary.
Check out a digital menu board solution with these capabilities here or give me a call today at 888-235-2579 for more information!
