Article
Digital signage for restaurants
Food service industry can reap great benefits from digital signage.
October 15, 2007 by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance
(This story is excerpted from the free guide, Restaurant Digital Signage.)
Everybody eats. Most people can cook. Many people work more than they would like.
Put those facts together, and you have the impetus behind the growth of the restaurant industry – the nation's largest employer outside of government. The foodservice industry in the United States employs 12.8 million people, according to the National Restaurant Association, providing work for more than 9 percent of employed U.S. residents.
The industry has experienced phenomenal growth over the past three decades. In 1970, foodservice in the United States was a $42 billion industry. In 2007, it is projected to reach $530 billion.
Americans are spending a lot of money on eating out. In 2005, the average person spent $1,054 on food away from home. And there are more choices for that consumer than ever — an estimated 935,000 locations in 2007 — making for a very competitive environment.
In such a dog-eat-dog arena, companies need to find as many avenues of differentiation as they can. Digital signage, which is proving its mettle in retail and financial services on a daily basis, can act as a major source of several key types of differentiation — from customer experience to branding to product education.
The food service industry may have greater potential for digital signage than any other. "The visual appeal of food and the impulse nature of the purchase make it the perfect marriage," said David Roscoe, president of ADFLOW Networks. "The customer is standing in line, looking at the steaming, delicious cinnamon roll on high definition screen — and it's just too good to resist."
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Digital media in the restaurant
Strictly speaking, digital media in the restaurant environment is nothing new. For years, wall-mounted television sets have been staples in certain types of restaurants, usually tuned to a news or sports station. Sports bars in particular are known to boast about the number of screens they have, and how many satellite dishes can snag how many Sunday games.
As digital signage evolves, this phenomenon is expanding beyond breaking news and football games. As digital media becomes a pervasive part of the customer experience, it is being used not only to entertain diners but as an integral building block of the store design.
"In our experience, restaurant customers appreciate the entertainment and information they get from digital signs" said Mike Abbott, vice president of ADFLOW Networks. "When it's done right, it's engaging. It adds to the atmosphere. And it also convinces them to add the sour or a side salad to their order. It works for everybody."
Customer expectations are, as always, a major factor, and those change drastically over time. Any retail establishment — be it a store, bank, restaurant or any other place where people make purchases — needs to be reassessed from a customer experience standpoint every few years. And at this juncture, the audience is one that has grown accustomed to digital media in almost every aspect of their lives.
"For a restaurateur, the question is not what customers expect, but rather what will maximize their experience," said Thomas McFeeley of EK3. "Having a TV screen gathering dust and showing a football game or CNN will keep the attention of some customers and may or may not generate more revenue for the time that customer has occupied that very valuable piece of real estate in the restaurant. Digital narrowcasting engages all customers with information they need and want, while they are making their purchasing decision. That allows the restaurateur to maximize the valued real estate."
Food is beautiful
Visit your neighborhood Best Buy or Circuit City this weekend, and you'll undoubtedly see one or two families gathered around the high-definition televisions, jaws open to some degree. As the quality of screens continues to improve, the ability of digital media to turn heads and capture attention grows.
All of this bodes well for the foodservice industry, for one simple reason: Food is beautiful.
"Our high definition LCD panels make the food look bigger and better than life," said Abbott. "The visual appeal is absolutely stunning. You can see the impact on customers right away. And the ability to tailor that message to different day parts — from breakfast to lunch to dinner — increases the appeal exponentially."
Purchasing food is also one of the most emotional buying decisions a human being ever makes. We could all eat simple, boring food that fulfilled our nutritional requirements, the same food at every meal. But few of us would be happy with that.
Instead, our minds wander from one style of food to the next; the hour before lunchtime becomes a mind-maze of possibilities. When introduced to this mindset, digital media can have a powerful influence.
"I was in some Mexican place last week when I was on the road, and I spent a good five minutes staring at all the little line-items of things they had," said Dave Haynes, vice president of Digital View Media. "One sexy video for a quesadilla or whatever and I would have been all over it."
About James Bickers
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