What Is QSR Digital Signage and Why Are Digital Menu Boards Transforming Fast Food Restaurants?
by Scala Team
What Is QSR Digital Signage and Why Are Digital Menu Boards Transforming Fast Food Restaurants?
by Scala Team
This blog will share what QSR digital signage is, how digital menu boards work, and how these smart digital signage tools are changing the fast food landscape across Australia.
What Is QSR Digital Signage?
QSR digital signage is an electronic display used in quick-service restaurants to deliver dynamic, engaging, and real-time content that’s focused on menus, promotions, or informational messages. The formats it can display include: digital menu boards, order status displays, and promotional screens, which are designed to:
- Showcase menus with appealing and easy-to-update content
- Promote upselling with timely offers based on data
- Improve operational efficiency as it reduces reliance on static signage and manual updates
How do Digital Menu Boards Work in QSR Environments?
Instead of the usual printed menus that take time to print and install, digital menu boards are an essential tool for instant updates on products and prices. It can perform well with a reliable central content management system (CMS).
Scala’s CMS enables restaurant managers and marketing teams in corporate offices to schedule, update, and automate content updates based on weather conditions or the time of day. Imagine when rain starts to pour, and watch how your digital menu boards will update their content with a warm drink? Those who walk by will be instantly surprised and may be encouraged to drop in and order a beverage.
Scala’s CMS enables restaurant managers and marketing teams in corporate offices to schedule, update, and automate content updates based on weather conditions or the time of day. Imagine when rain starts to pour, and watch how your digital menu boards will update their content with a warm drink? Those who walk by will be instantly surprised and may be encouraged to drop in and order a beverage.
All-in-One Content Management Solution for QSR
Scala’s digital menu boards and fast food displays can help Australian QSRs deliver engaging, flexible, and efficient customer experiences that drive growth and brand loyalty. Here are some of Scala’s All-in-One AI-Driven QSR Content Management Solutions:
- Self-Ordering Kiosks – Minimise wait times and enable guests to place orders with digital self-ordering kiosks. Promote sales growth by prompting meal upgrades and recommending related items during checkout.
- Digital Menu Boards – Impress diners with attractive digital menu boards that bring food menus to life with striking visuals and video. Effortlessly update menu items and prices instantly.
- Advertise Special Offers – Promote limited-time sales with content that updates automatically throughout the day. Use striking imagery to capture attention and drive impulse purchases.
- Upsell and Cross-Sell – Use digital signage to maximise sales with meal upgrade offers, combo deals and meal add-ons such as sides and beverages.
- Increase Engagement – Enhance engagement with digital displays that feature cooking tutorials, nutritional information for menu items, live news, and weather updates.
- Predictive Ordering – Use digital sensors to record valuable data on customer ordering patterns and preferences. Use insights to personalise the customer experience and streamline store operations with predictive ordering.
Advantages of Digital Menu Boards for Fast Food Displays
To improve the customer experience in a quick service restaurant, those who choose to implement digital menu boards will benefit from:
- Enhanced Customer Experience: Help customers make decisions faster and reduce wait times with the aid of vibrant and visually appealing menus.
- Increased Sales: Easily feature combo meals or seasonal offers that can help maximise revenues.
- Offer Flexibility: Instead of incurring costly printing expenses when changing printed static boards, using digital menu boards allows for swift implementation of menu changes.
- Brand Consistency: Most quick-service restaurants have multiple branches in different locations. Using digital signage can ensure that all branches display the correct promotions and follow the brand guidelines through centralised management using Scala’s CMS.
QSR Digital Signage Trends in Australia
Quick service restaurants in Australia are increasingly embracing cloud-based digital signage solutions, which help them enable:
- AI-driven menu personalisation that’s based on the customer’s demographics and preferences
- Integration of loyalty programs that can allow targeted promotions and display it directly on the digital menu boards
- Real-time analytics, which can capture the interaction data to refine content strategy and operational workflows
Best Practices for QSR Digital Signage Deployment in Australia
To further optimise the usage of digital menu boards, quick service restaurants should strategically follow these best practices:
- Optimise Location: Place digital menu boards in areas that can capture maximum customer attention, such as order points or drive-thru lanes.
- Plan Content: Plan and schedule content based on the time, where menus will automatically change for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
- Platform Integration: For proper display of information, digital signage menu boards can be connected to kitchen display systems or other existing systems.
Here are some examples of how QSRs can strategically place their digital menu boards:
- Drive-Thru DMBs – Capture attention and increase foot traffic with eye-catching content on large-format digital displays. Easily update menus and promotions in real-time.
- Kitchen Order Management – Optimise kitchen workflows by assigning tasks to specific prep zones. With complete visibility and control, your team can handle high-volume orders with precision and speed.
- Digital Menu Boards (Indoor) –Display clear, dynamic menus at the counter or drive-thru. Utilise dayparting to serve the right content at the right time-no design or tech expertise needed.
- Order Pickup Displays – Keep the pickup area organised with real-time order status screens. Replace static clutter with a clean, digital interface that improves clarity and enhances service.
- Self-Order Kiosks – Empower customers to place orders independently. Kiosks are directly connected to kitchen screens, ensuring immediate visibility of orders and progress tracking for both crew members and customers.
Scala offers the leading digital signage solutions designed for fast food restaurants, enabling QSRs to create vibrant digital menu boards that enhance the customer experience, increase personalisation, and boost revenue. With fully integrated digital touch points, from drive-thru to pickup, Scala can connect it all, driving automation, improving accuracy, and elevating QSR performance.
To learn more about Scala’s QSR digital signage solutions, visit scala.com/au.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What kinds of digital signage can QSRs use?
The most common digital signage for QSRs is:
- Self-service interactive kiosks
- Drive-thru digital signage
- Order status screens
- Digital menu boards
- Promotional signage
2. How do digital menu boards improve operational efficiency?
Instead of static menu boards, implementing digital signage allows restaurants to enable instant changes to prices and menus, and reduce the costs for printing. This helps speed up operations and efficiently process orders.
3. Can digital signage integrate with POS or kitchen systems?
Yes, modern digital signage platforms, such as Scala’s, can be easily integrated with POS, kitchen displays, or loyalty systems.
4. What content formats do digital menu boards support?
Digital menu boards can support images, videos, animations, or interactive touchscreen options to enhance customer engagement and interaction.
5. How can QSRs measure the impact of digital menu boards?
QSRs can track the impact of their digital menu boards by checking dwell time, sales of promoted items, and overall order accuracy and serving time, with the help of data analytics.
6. Are there special considerations for Australian QSR digital signage?
There are various local food guidelines in each country, and for Australia, it’s best to check on compliance with local food labelling laws. It will also be helpful to offer multilingual options to support Australia’s diverse demographics, and choose Scala’s reliable hardware and software that’s built to withstand high-traffic environments.
About the Author:
Scala digital signage experts share their experience and thoughts in our blog to provide practical tips and advice for real-world applications. Our team aims to offer interesting content through a variety of formats including long form articles, video logs, interviews and infographics.
