Upgrading your drive-thru experience with digital signage

Given the volume of traffic coming through the drive-thru, any opportunity to improve the experience can spell big rewards for customers and brands alike. Digital signage, with its high adaptability and minimal management requirements, can help elevate drive-thru visits for better customer satisfaction and added revenue.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Meet your customers where they are.” For quick-serve restaurants, that often means the drive-thru. In a recent survey from RMS, it was the most popular channel among respondents, with 80% reporting they used the drive-thru at least once a week. That reflects an ongoing preference over takeout, dine-in, and delivery.

Given the volume of traffic coming through the drive-thru, any opportunity to improve the experience can spell big rewards for customers and brands alike. Digital signage, with its high adaptability and minimal management requirements, can help elevate drive-thru visits for better customer satisfaction and added revenue.

Order accuracy and confirmation

Getting customers’ orders right the first time is the foundation of a positive experience. However, data from Intouch Insight’s most recent Annual Drive-Thru Study shows that order accuracy was 86% in 2023, up just 1% from the previous year. That leaves significant room for improvement. Drive-thru order takers are tested when competing against road noise or loud in-restaurant environments. By providing visual confirmation that each customer’s order is correct and complete, digital signage solves long-standing noise challenges and helps close the order accuracy gap.

Even when customers order through an app or online, digital signage still enhances the drive-thru experience. Displaying digital purchases reduces the potential for confusion at the window and ensures drive-thru personnel are ready with the correct order once the customer moves through the line.

Suggestive selling helps boost average order values

Visuals are among the most compelling sales tools and are where digital signage shines.

Research conducted by TransUnion reveals that 54% of consumers say attractive menu items influence their choice of eating establishments. Few things can convince someone to add items to their basic combo meal more than an image of a gooey chocolate brownie or a burger piled high with extra bacon. And because digital signage is easy to update, you can choose which items to showcase.

Are you suddenly deep on wings? Put them front and center to tempt drive-thru customers. Have a Black Friday promo going on a higher-priced seasonal coffee flavor? Make it a banner on your drive-thru display to plant the idea as sleep-deprived, early morning shoppers pull up to order. You don’t need to settle for static images, either. On a hot day, who isn’t craving something cool? A short video of water dribbling down the side of a cold beverage can do wonders for soda sales.

Customers want it fast—digital signage helps deliver

Order accuracy is one key to a faster drive-thru visit, but digital signage enables speedy service in other ways, too. Its dynamic nature makes it a perfect tool for avoiding all sorts of time-sapping interactions. For example, if you run out of an item, you can add an “out of stock” message on the fly or simply remove the product from the displayed menu. Your window personnel no longer need to answer the same question dozens of times during a shift, and customers move through the line faster because they aren’t left deciding between alternatives at the last minute.

Where menu offerings are limited to particular times of day—lunch, late night, etc.—digital signage takes the time burden out of that, too. Once breakfast is done, your menus can automatically switch to your lunch menu. It’s okay that no one remembers to change it on time because the solution can be programmed to update without further attention. The drive-thru doesn’t bog down with customers trying to order products that aren’t being offered, and cars don’t pile up while a worker blocks the lane, struggling to lift the glass for a manual menu board change.

Put on a fresh face without the disruption (and price tag) of a remodel

Some restaurant locations have been around for a while. As new stores join the mix or as competitor locations pop up, your much-loved older establishments can look out of date and tired. Digital signage gives brands a quick and cost-conscious way to refresh, revitalize, and modernize existing locations.

The right visual tools convey the message that the service is efficient and accurate, the food is fresh and inviting, and it’s all delivered by a team excited to interact with customers. Store remodels are expensive and often require temporarily closing parts of the location while the work is done. Drive-thru digital signage puts restaurants’ technology dollars where customers are most likely to benefit from them and ensures your investments are optimized for today’s market landscape.

An experienced managed services provider (MSP) can help your brand understand how a digital signage solution aligns with your business goals and technology transformation strategy. Innovative platforms deliver valuable customer engagement capabilities and opportunities for new operational efficiencies. Your MSP will work with you to ensure that your digital signage solution fits your technology infrastructure and that integrations with other systems, from POS solutions to loyalty programs and beyond, work together to create a positive drive-thru experience.

Source: https://www.digitalsignagetoday.com/