What Restaurant Businesses Can Learn from McDonald’s Billion-Dollar Investment on Digital Menu Boards & Ordering Kiosk
Menus often appear to be a tiny and insignificant aspect of any restaurant business. They are underplayed when it pertains to their role in making the dining experience more enjoyable. But the truth is that the presentation of restaurant & QSR menus directly impacts consumer psychology.
Let’s see it with an example.
Suppose, after a lengthy and tedious day at work, you’re craving sushi and scallops. You park your car, and as you’re about to enter the restaurant, you catch a glimpse of delicious pastries on a digital display offered by a pastry shop at the other end of the road. And before you even know it, you completely forget about sushi and scallops, and you’re dying to get a bite of those pastries first.
So, it’s no surprise that customers remember McDonald’s digital screens. Behemoths such as KFC, Domino’s, McDonald’s spend billions of dollars on their alluring digital menus. Other chains such as Panera and Chilis have also joined in on this trend. Subway, another big name in the genre, also has over 20,000 digital screens in its stores throughout Europe.
So, there has to be some underlying marketing strategy that makes spending billions of dollars on digital menu boards a sensible decision.
Earlier, McDonald’s has confirmed that the company has a $6 billion plan in play to redesign most of its sites throughout the United States. This strategy extends to self-service digital kiosks, bright and dynamic digital menus, phone orders, and curb-side takeouts.
If we talk numbers, more than 8000 restaurants around the world are now inclined to employ the use of digital signage. One of America’s most popular fast-food chains, Burger King executed a massive rebranding rollout throughout its 6500 outlets in just a couple of months.
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According to statistics, more than half of restaurants have embraced self-service digital kiosks and digital menu boards in the Land of Liberty alone. When we’ve cited statistics, the most pressing question is why such big names of the restaurant business are shifting to digital menu screens. It is paramount to identify why eateries require digital signage screens and how they might contribute to better consumer retention, service, and return on investment.
Why Did McDonald’s Shift to Digital Menu Boards and Kiosks?
To keep up with the likes of its rivals such as Subway and Starbucks, who have put big bucks going digital. As a result, their client base, as well as revenue, have skyrocketed. Learning from this, McDonald’s also planned to pursue digital transformation. McDonald’s has responded to the concept by fixating on ensuring the standards of its snacks and vociferously promoting them.
Nevertheless, the company also intended to revamp its consumer engagement and service while transitioning into the digital world. Considering the meal standards and its predefined notions were exceedingly difficult to modify.
Putting into the words of the Chief Executive Officer and President, since the implementation of digital menu boards, “Sales has grown to $3 billion for both McDonald’s company and franchise restaurants globally, and we believe there’s a lot more opportunity to grow.”
Both McDonald’s drive-thrus and restaurants have embraced the use of screen menus. This strategy was put in place owing to a plethora of factors. Specials that upsell and bring in most revenue are emphasized using factors such as local weather, seasons, and, believe it or not, traffic levels.
For a business like McDonald’s, this is a novel technique to reach out to the core of its consumer base.
