On average, a restaurant has to update its menu 3-4 times a year to reflect changing prices and to swap out items.
With inflation on the rise, some paper menu enthusiasts have found that they need to reprint menus even more frequently, which – depending on the style of the menu – can be a costly endeavor. Menu covers alone range from $10-$50. Fancy menu designs, thick paper, and colorful pictures drive prices even higher.
However, technology has a solution: digital menus, which are becoming more and more popular in the restaurant industry.
At its worst, a digital menu is a sloppy outdated PDF that’s hidden somewhere in the bottom right corner of the restaurant’s “About Us” page — but, at its best, a digital menu is a beautiful and seamless way for restaurants to stay on top of their offerings without having to print new menus every couple of months — and explain to the occasionally irate customer why their burrito was actually $10.85, not $9.45, because that menu they found was from last June.
Digital menus are electronic versions of traditional paper menus used in restaurants. They can be displayed on screens at the restaurant or accessed through customers' own mobile devices. They can refer to a variety of displays that customers regularly encounter, including:
Scott Sharon, a “Digital Signage and Digital Menu Board Expert,” claims to have developed the first-ever digital menu for an Arby’s franchise in Richmond, Virginia, in 1990. Since it was prior to the development of flat screen technology, he and Dick Ripp, the owner of the Arby’s franchise, used old-school tube-style televisions to play ads alongside menu offerings.
However, some dispute this claim. Digital menus are at least as old as the internet. In the late 1990s, digital menus started popping up all over the place.
Regardless of who was first, one thing’s for sure: digital menus are on the rise. In quick service, a whopping 88% of restaurants are considering switching to digital menus.
According to a study from OpenTable, 86% of diners check out menus online before going into the restaurant. In today’s fast-paced world of two-second reels, diners who can’t easily access a menu might lose interest.
Highstreet’s Living Retail Lab performed a study on digital menus that found that digital menus with images massively increased sales. When slight animations were added to the board, a man who was looking at the display was 800% more likely to order an Old-Fashioned cocktail. By intelligently using the board to focus consumer’s attention on high-ticket items with good profit margins, restaurants can massively improve sales.
Digital menus don’t actually make the staff work any harder at getting orders out the door. Without the use of a kiosk, they might not even actually increase efficiency. They do, however, increase the perception of efficiency.
When customers who are waiting in line are given something to look at, they perceive that the line in front of them is moving faster. “Occupied time feels shorter than unoccupied time,” says David Maister in “The Psychology of Waiting Lines.”
While constantly replacing paper menus can seem tedious, sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. The cost of implementing digital menus is often cited as one of the top reasons why restaurants haven’t yet done it. For example, in their move to “dynamic pricing” (which fluctuates minute-by-minute based on demand), Wendy’s is spending $20 million on new digital menu boards. Of course, this is more extensive than just buying some television screens, but regardless, digital menus do require an upfront investment that not all restaurants may have readily available.
For all of the problems that restaurant technology solves, it, unfortunately, also introduces a myriad of issues. Tech glitches are among the most common (and the most frustrating). Phones die, websites go down, television backlights go out, and colors become inverted. Solving these on the fly when you have ten orders in the queue can feel like an impossible task.
While digital menus offer exciting advancements (like those that we talked about above), they can create accessibility challenges for certain demographics. Non-tech-savvy customers may find navigating unfamiliar interfaces frustrating. According to Pew Research Center, 96% of adults aged 18 to 29 use smartphones, but only 61% of adults aged 65 and over use smartphones, which leaves a lot of seniors still using flip phones — or no phones. If you have a menu that’s only accessible online by scanning a QR code, you might alienate this demographic.
The future of digital menus promises a more sophisticated dining experience. Imagine AI recommending dishes you'll love, AR letting you see your meal virtually plated, and increased customization options for spice levels or protein choices. This, along with integrated loyalty programs, will transform digital menus into interactive hubs for personalized culinary adventures.
In conclusion, digital menus are a great option for restaurants that have a desire for menu flexibility and easy customization. While some initial investment is required, the potential for increased sales, improved customer engagement, and a more streamlined operation make digital menus a compelling option.
However, it's important to remember that not everyone embraces technology. Offering a paper menu alongside the digital version ensures a smooth experience for all diners, tech-savvy or not. As technology continues to evolve, digital menus will become even more interactive, offering features like AI recommendations and AR visualizations.
The future of dining is digital, but with a warm touch of hospitality.
If you’re looking to boost your profits but you’re not ready to make the move to digital menus, another way is to streamline operations. Push can help with that with our all-in-one, cloud-based people management software.
“In the labor numbers, we were reporting about a $300 to $400 difference than what we were getting through Push!”
-Tara Hardie, ZZA Hospitality Group, 16 locations
