You have committed to the investment of digital menu technology. You have your restaurant menu boards installed and running engaging digital menus. You have poured all of your creativity and resources into your menu design and content. Now it’s time to see if all your effort was worth it. Understanding the impact of your video menus isn’t as simple as noting a few positive comments from customers (though that would be nice). So, how can you track and measure the effectiveness of your digital menu campaigns?

Luckily, there are several ways to gauge the success of a campaign with WAND’s digital menu boards. Use these tips to tweak your marketing strategy, optimize your displays, and make sure your business decisions are bringing you the boost in revenue that you’re looking for.

1. Compare Digital Vs. Static Campaigns

Track the results from your digital menu boards and compare them with your previous traditional marketing strategies. In what ways do your customers respond differently to interactive color monitors versus paper signage? What’s the general mood in the restaurant? Do you notice more impulse purchases of menu items highlighted with a slick image or moving graphic? In order to get a clear comparison, you’ll have to pull some data from the your static days, e.g., the month prior to implementing a digital strategy. Alongside improving non-tangible factors like ambience and energy,  digital menu technology also helps you achieve sales lift and significant increases in ticket size while simultaneously reducing marketing costs.

When you can update any part of a campaign from your computer or mobile device, you don’t need to spend money or time on printing, shipping, and other expenses. This cost savings helps you focus your attention where it needs to be. It only takes 12–18 months to reach a return on investment for digital menu technology. 

Test it yourself: Look back at the sales data from your point-of-sale (POS) system from your pre-digital menu board days. Targeting the same day of the week and daypart, compare the average ticket size of your customers. If you haven’t purchased digital menu boards yet, or if you’re considering switching providers, be sure to ask the right questions upfront. Learning what kind of ROI you can expect, on top of what customer service and support is available, is an important step in the qualifying process. For example, WAND’s ROI is crystal clear: All Enterprise customers are guaranteed a 3–6% sales lift when they work with award-winning designers to create engaging and tempting menus.

2. Test Two Different Promotions in the Same Conditions

With digital menu boards, it’s easy to swap out content for new menu items. With the click of your mouse, you can vary your promotions by location or daypart. Does one campaign do better in urban areas? How about during the lunch rush? What if a heatwave suddenly drops on a region (and an icy lemonade is too tempting not to add to an order)? 

The ease of changing out a static image on a menu display for one with movement or prominence makes testing simple. When you can take A/B testing into your own hands as conditions change in a moment’s notice, you can gather more data and insights. The more data you have, the more you can lean on and infer when making decisions down the line. 

Test it yourself: Create video and static images of an asset, like that icy glass of lemonade, and test them for a certain amount of time. Then compare data from your POS system to determine the winner and roll out that asset to all stores within minutes.

3. Make Slower Dayparts More Effective

Have you ever wondered what to do about the slower, sluggish dayparts that occur between main mealtime rushes? Digital menu technology can help you turn quiet dayparts into targeted marketing opportunities that can attract customers and drive sales.

Try it yourself: Create a specialized daypart menu, like “snack time” or “happy hour,” that highlights specific menu items or features a promotion. Compare the POS sales data from before the creation of the specialized daypart menu and make note of the average ticket size and mix of products sold.

By using the features available in WAND’s digital menu technology software in addition to the data in your POS system, it’s easy to test your campaigns and measure your results for maximum success. When you see how your content is performing, you can respond and make changes more quickly, which translates to a boost in revenue and a more satisfying customer experience.

Want help creating your next digital menu board campaign? Check out the WAND Digital Agency page to see our work in action.

Are you thinking about upgrading your static restaurant menu boards to digital menu displays? Not only can this switch add a modern look and feel to your restaurant, but it’s also been proven to drive increased revenue and success for your restaurant. Upgrading your restaurant technology isn’t all about the screen and player, though—in some ways, that’s the easy part. Even if you only have a few stores, managing menu content across multiple locations can be the biggest challenge.

Rich media, such as videos and animated graphics, is what makes digital menu technology compelling and helps boost revenue through flexible offerings, enticing animations, and engaging customer experiences. Creating rich media, though, requires attention from the creative side, an easy interface to support operations, and adaptable technology to support the unique needs of each location. As you evaluate digital menu technology options for your restaurant, make sure you are asking the right questions.

Like most strategic initiatives inherent in running a restaurant or franchise, these must-ask questions are combined business and technology decisions. From inception to completion of your signage upgrade, you can decide the amount of work done by your internal team versus work that can be accomplished by partners. Be sure to involve marketing, operations, and technology teams so everyone can work together to determine the best way to take advantage of digital menu technology and choose the options that fit your store and your customers best. 

WAND Digital always considers the unique challenges and needs of each restaurant we team with. For a clearer idea of the features we value and standard we believe you deserve, the chart below compares some of perks to the other digital menu providers. Take a gander and learn what’s possible as you think about upgrading your tech and experiences. 

Line out the door? People hate waiting. This is a statement that seems to be true for everybody, whether it’s waiting at the doctor’s office, waiting for the elevator, or waiting in line at a restaurant. And when it comes to customer wait time, you don’t want a bad rep. Some may think that time is a constant, and that waiting 10 minutes is the same regardless of the situation.

In reality, waiting is less about the actual time spent waiting and more about perception. The importance and impact of perceived waiting time is why you’ll often find a full magazine rack or a fish tank in your doctor’s office waiting room. These items are there for a reason—to busy, preoccupy, entertain, and engage customers with the goal of making their experience more pleasurable and their perceived wait time less.

When it comes to the restaurant industry, the perception of how long your customers wait to order their food, and then wait to get their food can affect, their perception of your business. And a sour perception can definitely sour your bottom line. Over the years, there has been a lot of research that has gone into minimizing the customer’s perceived wait time in different industries. One major recommendation is to give the customers an experience in the line using video displays. Digital menu boards provide a great avenue for displaying video and could result in a 15% shorter perceived wait time.

By providing customers the opportunity to review your product offerings while they wait in line or engage in a new way, digital menu boards not only give customers something to do while they wait, they also speed up the actual ordering process. Customers who have the ability to view the full menu while waiting in line are more prepared to place their order by the time they reach the front of the line.

You can use digital menu restaurant displays to feature promotions, improve product familiarity, and build brand loyalty while customers wait in line, too. Think critically and strategically about your use of colors and video as well, as motion has been proven to capture the consumer’s eye. Digital menu boards can help you meet a variety of business goals, but at a minimum, they help reduce perceived customer wait time and create a more efficient ordering process that leads to increased customer satisfaction and a better overall customer experience.

This is one of the most commonly asked questions we receive about digital menus at WAND Digital. After all, a screen is a screen, right? When it comes to hardware longevity, durability, and capabilities, we’re about to learn that a TV is no substitute for what a restaurant needs.

Sure, this DIY combination of a jump drive and typical consumer TV screen may work in a pinch for very small operators or short-term needs. However, this duo is definitely not a feasible, long-term solution for multi-unit restaurant concepts or restaurant operators who want worry-free, reliable equipment in their restaurants.

If you’re looking to upgrade your restaurant signage with digital menu technology, investing in commercial-grade screens is a smart move for both your customers and your bottom line.

The old adage “you get what you pay for” doesn’t break down when we talk about menu display technology. Consumer-grade TV screens only need to last for about 20,000 hours of operational time before failure in order to receive a UL listing (UL is ISO standards for display technology). If you run your displays for even just 12 hours per day, every day of the week, you’re looking at a 4-year lifespan in a best-case scenario.

Compare that milestone with a commercial-grade display that generally needs to provide three times the operational capacity. Looking at this as a value proposition, this means you’ll go through three of those “cheaper” displays in the same span of time as you would with just one of the more durable commercial-grade screens. In the long run, the cheaper option could end up costing you more than investing in a quality commercial-grade screen from the get-go.

One thing we all know about the restaurant industry is it gets hot and greasy—fast. The typical TV screen is made to be viewed from the comfort of our temperature-controlled living rooms where they might endure a layer of dust and cat fur from time to time. The screens that operate for a few hours at a time (unless you’re binge-ing a particularly great series) aren’t designed to withstand the heat and grease of a quick-service or fast-casual restaurant.

As a result, the TV screens we pick up at the big box store aren’t likely to last longer than a couple of years in a restaurant setting. Commercial-grade screens, on the other hand, can take the heat and will last years longer in the conditions of QSRs and fast-casual restaurants. This durability and longevity gives restaurant owners peace of mind and their wallets a bit more cash.

Most TV screen warranties clearly detail that commercial use of the TV screen falls outside of the product’s warranty. Even if this isn’t the case for your TV screen, warranty repair work often requires that the owner bring the screen in for repair service. Imagine having to take down and transport your only menu display during an extremely busy day. (We all know that issues only arise on really busy days!)

Not only that, but how well will your business operate with only a portion of your menu on display? Most commercial-grade screen providers, in contrast, offer a warranty program that covers repairs and will ship and install a replacement or temporary screen when issues arise. For example, WAND’s warranty guarantees next-business day system repair or replacement, giving you added peace of mind that your equipment will always meet the demands of your restaurant.

Your typical TVs have lots of different settings that can be used to control color, brightness, channel labels, inputs, and more. If you’ve ever accidentally stumbled into the settings menu on your TV, and somehow turned everything green, you know what we’re talking about!

A restaurant manager may become extremely frustrated when setting or adjusting the TV settings properly to display their menu boards in their unique setting. Likewise, an employee may unknowingly change the TV screen settings and not know how to resolve the error. These situations are frustrating and, unfortunately, all too common. Commercial screens, however, include a tailored user interface that allows the operator to set up the screens and ensure they’re programmed to accurately display the menus.

Commercial-grade screens are built for rigorous and demanding environments, which means beefed up durability and capabilities that align with the needs of a business owner (and not a movie buff nestled in their home cinema). After all, there’s a reason that commercial-grade digital menu displays in lieu of off-the-shelf TVs.

Our eyes were designed from day one to see motion. Using our peripheral vision to help us spot a food source or a potential predator were the key to survival, motivating us to move closer or further away from the action. Today, this survival mechanism might help us in different situations—dodging moving cars or rogue bicyclists—but it still definitely exists.

What does this have to do with your restaurant menu? Well, it only makes sense as a business owner to apply this same principle and give consumers what their eyes seek—a motivation to move to action. Whether it’s displaying a slow-motion video of crispy chicken tenders bouncing into a basket of fries, or capturing a drizzle of caramel cascading down a fresh scoop of ice cream, digital video menu boards provide the perfect channel to bring motion into your business.

Using video can help achieve a variety of business goals. It can attract consumer attention, amplify your brand, elicit new purchases, and so much more. In fact, an average 30% of video viewers make unplanned impulse purchases. Before utilizing video on your digital menu boards, it’s important to consider your business’ key messaging goals.

Try this now: Take a step back metaphorically to consider what your business goals are, then take a step back physically and see if your menu boards are helping you accomplish those goals.

If your restaurant goals are to display and showcase your menu items, best-sellers, and daypart goods in the best (most alluring) way possible, a static menu isn’t doing as much as it could. If you’re noticing the untapped potential in front of you, it may be time to consider implementing a video strategy for your digital menu boards.

Utilizing video on your digital menu boards does not have to break the bank. Consider using video assets you already own and use across other marketing channels, like television or social media. Conversely, if you do need to create new files, make them with those same channels in mind and squeeze the most use out of every video asset. Consistent messaging across multiple touchpoints creates a cohesive brand story and customer experience. Don’t forget, when it comes to video, the quality of the file can impact the consumer’s perception of your business and product. Sometimes, it’s good to call in the pros.

If you are presently using only still images on your digital menu boards, you have a major opportunity to influence and motivate your consumers through the use of video menus.

The Ultimate Guide to Designing the Best Digital Restaurant Menu

If your kitchen creates mouthwatering dishes but no one ever orders them, does your restaurant even stand a chance? In short, not so much. Static images, nondescript menu items, hidden promotions—all of these impact what and how people order. Digital restaurant menus, on the other hand, showcase your cuisine in the best light while giving customers the details they need. 

Menus are an introduction, a guide, a selling tool, and a promise. How you design and construct your digital menu matters. Put your best format forward using these expert tips.

Diners read menus the same way they read books: left to right, top to bottom. Design your menu accordingly — with crucial information in the upper left-hand corner and loss leaders toward the bottom right. It’s also not a bad idea to glean information from other restaurant menus. For example, if the majority of restaurants stick their side dishes in the bottom right-hand corner, it makes sense to place your sides there, too, and dodge confusion or frustration.

Also remember that solid blocks of text are difficult to read. Instead, use categories, columns, and rows to give your menu structure and flow. Boxes are ideal for highlighting high-margin items or signature dishes, while lines come in handy when you want to make a clear demarcation between course offerings or emphasize a header.

People like to order the same way they eat — appetizers first, salads and soups second, entrees third, etc. Lay out your menu similarly so guests can find what they want without getting frustrated. The more you can reduce friction while ordering, the better. Not only will a thoughtfully planned menu mean quicker service for all you customers, but it’ll eliminate any stress that could otherwise crop up. After all, you don’t want to be remembered as the restaurant that stressed someone out so much that they’ll never come back.

Photographs are optional, but if you’re going to include pictures on your menu, they must be used strategically. Unless you’re opening an eatery serving exotic dishes few locals would easily recognize, providing a photo for every item is overkill. Focus on a few dishes — perhaps one in each category or dishes with presentations guests have to see to believe — and rely on your servers and menu descriptions to sell the rest.

Invest in a professional photographer, no exceptions. Forget about smartphone shots or shaky videos; bold, skillfully staged pictures work best and showcase your food in the best light (literally).

Much in the same way that the smell of cinnamon might remind you of the holidays or the taste of Champagne makes you want to celebrate, certain colors have major sensory impact:

Those are just a few examples of how colors can shape guest perception, but there is an endless array of shades within each of those color categories. Finding the right combination is a process, but the results could help you influence consumer buying patterns and boost sales. When using digital restaurant menus, it’s also easy to test colors. Easily adjust and update your menu design, gather data, and make informed decisions based on your own in-house testing.

Above all, your digital menu should look like it belongs to your restaurant. Match the vibe, color scheme, font, voice, and other key attributes to the rest of your establishment and your marketing materials. Cohesion is the foundation of effective branding. When each element seems like it’s part of a bigger whole, guests develop a sense of familiarity that helps them feel more comfortable. Comfortable guests are also more likely to stay longer, order more, and return frequently. 

You already know that digital menu boards are an attractive way to showcase your products, motivate your customers, and streamline the management of your business. However, if you don’t have content that is fresh, modern, and interactive, you run the risk of losing out on the full benefits associated with digital menu technology. So, how do you get your hands on digital assets like high-quality images and videos to complete your menu board design (without breaking the bank)?

Before you invest your time and money, which could add up to thousands, in hiring a professional photographer or videographer, here are three more cost-effective ways to find digital menu board photos and videos:

Believe it or not, there are great photo resources out there that won’t cost you a dime. Although you won’t find exact photo representations of your products, generic pictures of food items, fresh vegetables, or the individual ingredients are often available. In some instances, these types of generic images can work well in conveying your products or their ingredients.

Start by searching through the image archives offered by the software programs you already own. If this strategy doesn’t meet your needs, try searching the internet for keywords more specific to your restaurant. Unsplash is a good one for starters.

If you have a little room in your budget, purchasing the rights to stock photos can give you more flexibility. Years ago, photos were expensive and limited on how you could use them. Today, you can find image resources all over the internet, which has made stock photos and videos more affordable. Look for paid images that resemble what you offer in your restaurant and buy the rights to use them. Websites like iStock and Shutterstock are just two of the many available.

Utilize WAND Digital’s award-winning menu board design team and their archive of available images and videos. Or even better, let a WAND Digital designer turn a photo into a video for your digital menu board. The WAND Digital design team is experienced in sourcing and creating digital menu board content that’s proven to be successful.

How successful you might ask? We guarantee all enterprise-level customers a 3-6% sales increase when they hire our team for menu board design. With the right colors, motion, and quality, customers stay engaged and hungry for more. 

No matter the budget of your organization, high-quality image and video files are readily available that can help you take your digital menu boards to the next level.

Upgrading your restaurant signage to digital menus isn’t just to align with a tech-forward future or keep up with the fast-food Joneses. Engaging digital menus have been shown to not just enhance the overall customer experience, but they also show menu items in an irresistible way. Bright colors, subtle movements, and informative photos light up the senses—and your bottom line. How do we know? By conducting our own digital menu case study.

WAND Digital conducted a test with a major deli concept to show the impact of our unique technology and creative solution. The sales results were measured across over 70 locations with half utilizing WAND’s digital menu technology and creative design, and half using static menus. The results showed that the deli concept could influence over $2 million of increased sales in their stores by utilizing WAND’s solution.

The Challenge: Cracking the code to influence customer behavior to drive orders of featured items and add-on purchases to increase average check size.

The Result: An increase in average check size of 6% in stores using WAND’s technology and creative.

WAND’s user-friendly menu software solution gives customers full control to customize and edit their menus in real-time. The system is fully scalable across one store or thousands, and it’s cloud-based, meaning customers can access their system online from any device and make changes within minutes. Day-parting is done automatically to change between breakfast, lunch, dinner, and happy hour or snack times. The power to make quick changes empowers owners and operators to adapt quickly to the changing needs of their customers day to day or even minute to minute.

Industrial-grade hardware is specifically built to withstand the challenges of a restaurant environment. WAND works with leading manufacturers to provide customers with hardware built for heat, moisture, dust, grease, and other factors, including the need to be up and running all day, every day. WAND’s unique TechProtect solution also guarantees all hardware for 5 years, and if there is ever an issue, it is repaired or replaced on the next business day. Reliable hardware can be the difference between selling more and shooing customers away.

WAND’s award-winning menu design squad is fully dedicated to creating powerful menus that drive sales lift for restaurants. Our experienced team of designers work with customers to provide the right solution to help meet their business objectives. Your restaurant, your menu, and your customers are all unique—one-size-fits-all photos and videos just won’t cut it. Instead, the best digital menu solution is tailored to what you offer and showcased in the best light possible. 

The battle is over and the winner is clear. When it comes to your fast-casual or quick-service restaurant menu strategy, digital menu boards are tremendously more effective at driving sales and scaling operations than static menu boards.

As any restaurant operator could attest, the environment within the food service industry bustles with fast-paced activity and stiff competition. And perched above the action on the floor, the menu boards are perhaps the most important objects in the restaurant. They tie the story together, showcasing everything the store has to offer.

That’s why it’s important to carefully consider the type of menu boards you use. More and more restaurants have been transitioning to digital menu boards, and it’s not hard to see why. Digital menu boards offer a host of benefits not found with static, printed menu boards. Large printed menus are cumbersome, not durable, time-consuming, and more.

If you still use static menu boards in your multi-unit operation, it might be time to rethink your restaurant menu strategy. Consider these benefits of digital menu boards as you think about making the switch from static.

As restaurant companies grow, it can be difficult to ensure consistency across locations. With static menu boards, it can be a guessing game to determine if all your restaurants received the appropriate materials from your marketing team and have implemented them correctly. Is your messaging consistent? Is the brand aligned? Are customers confused?

Digital menu boards take away that uncertainty and empower restaurant operators to display the same branding, design, and content across all stores.

Instead of having multiple employees in different locations continuously climbing ladders to update static menu boards manually, digital menu boards allow you to change all menus across all restaurants at once with just a few clicks. This increases franchisee control, enabling them to display content and engage customers by changing price points and swapping out LTOs. It also saves you time and frees up your employees to focus on more important things, such as the food and the customers.

It’s easy to tie merchandising messages to web, print, or TV in real time. You can also highlight national advertising messages to promote recollection and brand loyalty with your customers. Digital menus are endlessly versatile and flexible no matter what each day brings.

Have you ever considered how much it costs to print, ship, and deploy materials on static menu boards (that may or may not be used properly)? Digital menu boards eliminate those costs. They decrease the time and payroll costs associated with updates and changes, with everything done on one computer through a central management platform. Unlike static menu boards, digital menu boards cut down on time and money spent making seasonal, campaign, and daily menu changes.

Alongside reducing the cost of printing static materials and the labor to put them up, digital menu boards can actually help lower food costs as well.

There’s no disputing that wasted product eats away at the profitability of any food service establishment. Digital menu boards help control food costs and reduce waste by allowing you to easily highlight items close to expiration, remove items that are out of stock, and achieve a higher margin per transaction (the gold accounting standard in the restaurant business). Saving money and food should a be a part of any modern restaurant menu strategy.

A limited-time offer or a manager’s special may be exactly what’s needed to encourage sales and reduce the odds you’ll soon be tossing untouched product into the dumpster. And promoting higher-margin items on the menu board can help lower food cost percentages, ultimately increasing profits. Did you know WAND guarantees all enterprise-level customers a 3-6% sales increase when they team with our team for menu design?

Today’s customers already incorporate technology into all aspects of their lives, from mobile phones and tablets, to flat-screen TVs and voice-activated home assistants. Consumers have come to expect a digital experience tailored to their needs, and the last thing a restaurant operator wants to do is create the impression that their business is old, tired, and inconsiderate of changing customer needs.

Customers correlate digital menu boards with restaurants that are modern and clean. That increases their brand loyalty and encourages them to return, tell their friends, and share their customer experience on social media. Digital menu boards help customers make clearer and quicker decisions, which gives them a better experience and strengthens their connection to your stores. 

Digital menu boards also offer the opportunity to deliver a brand’s message in new and exciting ways. Static boards are there to simply display menu items; digital menus are there to tell a story and enhance the overall design of your restaurant. Bright imagery, subtle motion, and video menus also diminish wait times, further enhancing your customer experience.

Use your digital menus to call out signature dishes and high-margin items and to showcase your brand’s personality. A digital menu board doesn’t just offer the opportunity to show off your best menu items, it allows you to put your brand on display.

All restaurant operators (and customers) know there is a huge difference between a restaurant that is run efficiently and one that is not. Digital menu boards can help enhance that efficiency, improve operations, provide better food and service, and ultimately boost the bottom line.

It’s not enough, though, to simply stick up a digital menu board and wait for the profits to mount. As with most things in life, when it comes to digital menu boards, you get out of them what you put into them. Like any technology, the more you understand it and use it to your advantage, the more you’ll benefit from having them in your restaurants.

At the end of the day, though, it’s clear that digital menu boards can offer tremendous benefits for the operator and a vastly improved experience for the customer. If you’re still using static menu boards, is it time to make the switch? Let’s update your strategy and get your bottom line growing. 

When Carolyn Conner, a franchise owner for Church’s Chicken in New Mexico, noticed that sales at each of her four locations had stagnated, she knew it was a problem she needed to address quickly. Part of the problem, she believed, was that her employees struggled with upselling at the cash register despite the time and effort she poured into training them to do so. She needed a business solution that could help her address this issue in a way that was economical and scalable for all four of her Church’s Chicken locations. To test her theory, she ran her own digital menu case study at one store before finding success and expanding what she discovered.

The restaurant industry was a vastly different place when Conner started working with Church’s Chicken in 1981. Without modern technology to help her, she relied on verbal descriptors to paint a picture of a delicious meal in her guests’ minds.

“Back in my day, the way that I operated in upselling was with a description,” Conner said. “Instead of simply asking if someone wanted to ‘add a biscuit,’ I’d ask them if they wanted to ‘add a honey butter biscuit.’”

While Conner herself might have been a natural at upselling with descriptive words, it was not a skill her newly trained employees easily or quickly grasped. Because of that, upselling opportunities were missed and sales ultimately suffered.

As Conner struggled with employee upselling and training problems, she considered alternate ways to promote sales in her restaurants. Perhaps better printed in-store signage featuring add-on menu items or formalized employee training programs would give ticket sales the bump they needed.

But these ideas didn’t add up to be a cost-effective solution to Conner’s needs, and they certainly weren’t original or innovative. Instead of investing more time and money into these exhausted and repetitive business methods, Conner sought to try something different—a fresh, modern approach.

Conner first saw digital menu boards at another fast-casual restaurant and fell in love with them right away. They showed bright, stunning visuals that perfectly depicted the food offerings and created an extra level of excitement and enjoyment for the guests before they even ordered their meal.

When corporate Church’s Chicken’s expressed interest in elevating the franchise brand through digital menu technology, Conner was immediately on board. With WAND’s digital menu solutions, they all knew they had a system that was scalable to the Church’s Chicken brand, economical for all parties, and proven to increase sales.

Conner was eager to see how digital menu boards would impact her restaurant, employees, and guests, so she promptly introduced them to her franchise location in Santa Fe, NM.

Increase in Overall Average Ticket Size
After the switch, Conner noticed remarkable improvements immediately. “We went back over the data from years before [having digital menu boards], and we are up anywhere from $1 – $1.69 per transaction.” Conner went on to explain that the average ticket lift came despite the overall price points on combo meals going down over the years.

“For us to be up on our transactions is pretty amazing, and I credit it to the visuals the guests are receiving when they walk in the door and look up at the menu board … that’s the first place their eyes go!”

Better Menu and Pricing Control
Conner loves that the digital menu boards have given her complete control of pricing and her menu with WAND’s system. She has been able to easily adjust prices without needing to spend money on new static menus or waste time waiting for them to arrive and installing. This has proved to be a significant benefit to Conner whose Santa Fe store is in a higher minimum wage market than her other stores. With dynamic pricing on digital menus, Conner can effectively offset the higher labor costs for that location. Menu updates used to be a long and tedious process for Conner.

With WAND Digital, she can now see changes to her menu almost instantly with either the click of a button or through a simple phone call to WAND.

Easier, Consistent Employee Training Process
In addition to the boost in sales, Conner enjoyed immediate relief in training new cashiers. “The digital menu boards really take a lot of the work out of training. In the beginning, when you have the cashiers up there, they don’t know [the whole menu] yet. The digital menu boards take that guesswork out.” Conner continues to teach employees to upsell, but the pressure of producing add-on sales falls squarely on the digital menus.

Improved Customer Experience
The guests at Conner’s Santa Fe Church’s Chicken location have noticed the improvements as well and remark on how beautiful the menu imagery is. Customers also comment on how clear and easy-to-read the menu boards are, which is something Conner knows is especially helpful for her senior customers. With clearer details, more information, and crisper imagery, employees can spend less time describing menu items or reiterating the menu, which diminishes overall wait times and makes for happier customers. 

Higher Sales of Previous Under-performers
Conner also noticed how particular highlighted items on the digital menus started flying off the shelf. “Before digital menu boards, we were only selling five to seven apple turnovers a day,” Conner explained. “Now we’re selling about 21–26 apple pies a day. That’s pretty amazing in my opinion. We went from ordering four cases per week of hot buttered corn, and now we’re ordering eight to 10 cases per week. That’s more than double!”

Next, Conner plans to introduce digital menu boards in her other locations because of the success at her Santa Fe restaurant. “I can’t wait to get them in Gallup, NM … [the residents] in Gallup order big bags of chicken, so our check average is higher, in the $16-17 range, so I’m really excited to see what they can do for us there!” The WAND solution not only helped Conner achieve her goals of increasing sales lift and improving employee training, but they did so in an easy, smart, and professional way.