QSR March 2023

SmartChainDigitalSignage

Winning Over Customers What do customers expect from digital signage?

and daypart changes, but there’s more to it. “The ability to easily adapt and update digital signage also improves the customer experience by making sure all informa tion is communicated in a way that is fast and easy to read when skimming a menu or product description,” Zeller says. Regularly updated messaging helps keep consumers from tuning out. “People are becoming used to being entertained while they are being sold to,” says Gary Kurtz, vice president of sales and marketing for The Howard Company . “When it comes to menu technology, peo ple expect to see the best that the com pany has to offer. You know you are see ing what that company wants you to see in the first five seconds.” These are challenging criteria to meet, but with the right strategy, operators can find success. “You have mere seconds to convey what you want the consumer to know,” Kurtz says. “Make sure your best information catches the eye and get rid of what is superfluous.” “The one thing that dominates con sumer’s expectations is interactivity,” says William Bear, vice president of sales and marketing for Crimson AV. “This is driven by ubiquitous smartphone usage setting the standard of interaction. This ports over to digital signage. On the heels of interactivity is ease of use (‘don’t make me think’) and speed of entry and response. This all goes in the experience and begets loyalty and return business.” Restaurants can use innovative tech nology like artificial intelligence (ai ) to surprise and delight customers as they place their orders. The digital drive-thru experience can now include live upselling influenced by customer choices, in a man ner similar to a casual dining server

Peerless-AV

A s the competition for consum draw their customers’ eyes away from their smartphones and other devices and engage them with messaging. “A success ful digital signage program engages the target customer from the time they enter the location of the signage installation to the time they leave with targeted and rel evant content,” says Ken Neeld, president and CEO of Delphi Display Systems . The window for winning attention is narrow, and the bar for quality is high. Short attention spans dominate the market. “When it comes to digital sig nage, consumers want easily digest ers’ attention grows steeper, quick serve restaurants must do more to

ible and quick information, especially when it comes to quick-service restau rants where efficiency is key,” says Megan Zeller, senior director of business develop ment at Peerless-AV . “Having legible con tent design, along with a display that is made specifically for the environment it is placed in, is imperative to making sure proper resolution, brightness, and overall clarity are achieved.” Digital displays must be able to show case animated and visually appealing con tent. These tactics can be used to draw and hold attention without overwhelming the viewer. It’s also critical that digital signage be easy to update—of course, staff must be able to update prices, limited-time offers,

PEERLESS-AV

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SPONSORED CONTENT / MARCH 2023