It’s not just the food that shapes the experience at a restaurant – the level of customer service is equally important. Every minute spent there, from how fast someone can place an order to how they feel while waiting for it, has an impact on customer satisfaction and sales. That’s why smart businesses are turning to digital signage for restaurants to ensure a quality experience that keeps people happy and wanting to return.
There’s no denying that screens boost sales. In fact, one study found that 80% of brands incorporating digital signage claim a boost in sales reaching up to 33% [source]. So, whether you’re a fast food chain or a cozy local café, using digital signage from shopPOPdisplays will help you stay current and connect with customers. Let’s take a more in-depth look at how digital signage can improve your restaurant.
Key Takeaways
- Digital signage enhances both experience and efficiency. From ordering speed to overall ambiance, screens help restaurants create smoother, more enjoyable dining experiences that keep customers returning.
- Sales get a significant boost. Studies show that 80% of brands using digital signage see sales increases of up to 33%.
- Menus become dynamic and visually appealing. High-resolution digital displays let you update content instantly, showcase mouthwatering images, and switch between menus with ease.
- Customer engagement improves. Interactive displays promote loyalty programs, suggest meal pairings, and entertain guests with trivia or chef’s picks, reducing perceived wait times.
- Operations run smoother. Centralized content management eliminates printing costs, saves labor, and ensures brand consistency across multiple locations.
- Brand identity and atmosphere strengthen. Digital displays help tell your restaurant’s visual story—creating the perfect vibe for cafés, bars, or fine dining.
- Outdoor signage drives foot traffic. Weather-resistant displays attract attention with bold visuals, specials, and real-time updates for drive-thru or patio areas.
- shopPOPdisplays provides complete digital solutions. From portable rechargeable units to outdoor digital signage, their high-quality options help restaurants modernize operations and connect with customers.
1. Modernize Menus with Digital Displays
If you’re the type to scroll through food photos on Yelp and Instagram before deciding what to order, you already understand the power of presentation. That’s where paper menus and chalkboard menu boards fall short. Digital signage for restaurants lets you display high-resolution, mouthwatering imagery that helps guests visualize their meal before ordering.
Beyond vivid imagery, digital signage offers plenty of flexibility. You can update your displays in seconds by switching out daily specials, spotlighting seasonal favorites, or changing from a lunch to a dinner menu with ease. Even pricing adjustments are seamless and nearly instant.
Strategically placing indoor digital signs in a steakhouse waiting area or alongside the ordering line at a carryout restaurant helps guests decide what they want while making the wait feel shorter. For restaurants with outdoor seating or pickup areas, weather-resistant outdoor digital signs keep content visible rain or shine.
Digital signage for restaurants goes beyond just displaying menu items, though. It can also be used to engage customers.
2. Create Engaging Customer Experiences
Restaurants and cafés can use interactive digital displays to promote loyalty programs, suggest meal pairings, or share QR codes that let guests order ahead or join a waitlist. Animated content naturally catches the eye, helping draw attention to limited-time offers or new menu items, too.
Digital screens can also entertain and inform guests while they wait. Displaying trivia, chef’s favorites, or insights about the local area keeps customers engaged and reduces the perceived wait time. For busy restaurants, queue management screens that show estimated wait times or alert guests when their table is ready help create a smoother, more transparent experience.
shopPOPdisplays rechargeable portable digital signage is ideal for creating these dynamic experiences in flexible layouts or pop-up settings. These mobile units make it easy to move screens where they’re most effective, whether that’s by the hostess stand during the dinner rush, at the bar in time for happy hour, or even outside for special events.
Not only do digital signs for restaurants benefit the customer, but they also help increase your bottom line and efficiency.
3. Streamline Operations and Reduce Costs
Take a moment to think about all the printed posters, menu boards, and signs your restaurant currently relies on. Every time there’s a new price change, seasonal promotion, or collaboration, it takes time, money, and effort to update visuals the traditional way. But, with digital signage for restaurants, you can make these content changes very quickly chain-wide or by location via WiFi or cloud-based control. It eliminates printing costs and streamlines communication, all without extra labor or assembly.
Digital signage also ensures consistency. Maintaining cohesive branding across multiple locations becomes effortless, reducing the risk of outdated menus, mismatched designs, or uneven messaging. Your marketing team can update content remotely, and local managers simply keep displays powered and connected. It’s a smarter, faster way to keep every location visually aligned and operationally efficient.
And now that you’ve streamlined your workflow and cut costs, you can focus on creating the perfect vibe.
4. Strengthen Branding and Atmosphere
Ambiance is everything in a restaurant, and smart signage helps tell a visual story that shapes how you want guests to feel. A cozy café might use video loops of steaming coffee and crackling fireplaces to create a sense of comfort, while a sports bar could showcase game schedules, live highlights, and drink specials to keep the energy high. Even fine-dining establishments can benefit from displaying curated dishes or vineyard landscapes to enhance the mood.
Branded visual content also plays a huge role in establishing your identity. From consistent fonts and logos to signature colors and graphic treatments, digital signage supports a professional, polished look across your entire space. And because content is dynamic, you can adjust it to reflect holidays, cultural moments, or local events.
Being able to switch things up so easily keeps your restaurant feeling fresh, memorable, and consistently on-brand. And that same energy should carry over to your outdoor space, too.
5. Outdoor Promotions that Attract Foot Traffic
Weather-proof outdoor digital signage is one of the most effective ways to grab attention and bring new customers through the door. Whether you’re set up on a busy sidewalk, have a drive-thru lane, or offer patio seating, these screens let you showcase what makes your place worth stopping for.
Use them to display mouthwatering food imagery, highlight limited-time specials, or keep guests updated with current wait times. Eye-catching videos with bold colors and clever messaging help your content stand out from static signs.
If your place gets crowded, don’t let long lines scare people away. Letting customers know what to expect with a quick wait-time update, paired with engaging visuals, keeps them in the loop and more likely to stick around.
Bring Modern Design and Function Together
It’s so important for restaurants to adapt to the times. Utilizing modern technology, like digital signage, ensures the food service industry improves both the customer experience and the efficiency of daily operations. It allows you to reduce costs, improve communication, enhance ambiance, and increase sales, all while making your life easier.
shopPOPdisplays offers a full line of durable, high-quality digital display signage and solutions that cater to the pace and demands of restaurants. So when considering updating your menu boards, creating mobile signage for events, or installing durable outdoor displays, we’ve got you covered.
Ready to elevate your space and your service? Take a look at our digital signage for restaurants, and start benefiting today.