16 Great Reasons to Get a Pizza Menu Board
By Bryce Patterson
If you’re already running a pizzeria, chances are you’ve seen your competition get a digital pizza menu board, or at least heard some of the hype. After all, these days it seems like just about every restaurant and bar is investing in exciting new technology.
So is a digital menu board a good fit for your specific business? Let’s explore some of the reasons a pizza menu board might work well for your restaurant.
A Pizza Menu Board is a Huge Time Saver
To start, pizza menu boards are prized for the ways that they can speed along and streamline your processes. As they say, time is money.
1. Quick menu updates: Mid-way through a shift and low on italian sausage? Waiting on a supplier to deliver a case of craft beer? Digital menu boards are incredibly easy to update and you can make changes to your menu in seconds. Life happens in the restaurant industry, and it’s important to be able to move with the flow.
2. No back-and-forth with a print menu designer: For one thing, any menu software worth its salt will allow you to duplicate your digital menu board in print form, so you can make any updates yourself while maintaining your branding and style. You might even find that you can ditch paper menus altogether, or at least scale back your use of them.
3. Chalkboards stink: Okay, yes, they bring a certain level of charm (which, by the way, you can closely replicate on a digital menu board). They’re also a gigantic hassle, and are less clearly visible than digital boards. Even minor changes take work, and you might have to wait for a specific employee to be around to keep the look consistent.
A Pizza Menu Board Increases Sales
It might not seem intuitive right off the bat, but menu boards are a great way to increase the bottom line of your business.
4. Instant sales increase: On average, a digital menu board drives an increase in sales of 5-8%. Not bad for a one-time investment with incredibly low upkeep expenses. The hardware that you choose for your specific needs doesn’t need to be expensive, either — check out our post on the best (affordable) TVs in 2019.
5. Upselling high-margin items: A menu board can be a huge tool for upselling customers. In fact, 1 in 5 customers make an unplanned purchase after viewing a digital menu board. Don’t take it from us, though. When Nino Perna opened Nick & Nino’s Coal Oven Pizza three years ago, he had more than 20 flat-screen TVs installed in the restaurant. Of those, he chose to dedicate several of the screens exclusively to the pizzeria’s channel. These screens display high-quality images of menu items, as well as highlighting specials, events, and promotions. The system helps sell items, Perna says. In particular, they’ve seen a huge change since introducing their coal-fired baby back ribs. In his words: “At first, the ribs weren’t selling until we started showing the ribs as they came out of the oven on the screens. Now they are one of our most popular menu items.”
6. Clever advertising: As illustrated by Nino above, showcasing specific items can be a fantastic way to increase sales and get patrons interested in the full range of your offerings. There’s a ton of freedom to test and showcase different items and see what sells as well, so you’re really only limited by your imagination.
7. Easy price adjustment: The fact of the matter is that your operating costs are going to fluctuate, and your prices will likely fluctuate with them. In the words of David Kuban, owner of the Norwalk, Connecticut location of Planet Pizza: “One minute flour goes up, the next minute flour goes down, and you have to change the price of your pie.” Not only that–as the owner or manager, “You’re calling the sign guy, he charges ten bucks to change it, and you’ve got to get up there with a razor and scrape off the price.” A digital menu board, on the other hand, lets you update prices in the space of a couple clicks.
A Pizza Menu Board Improves Customer Experience
Patrons love digital menu boards as part of their dining experience. Why? Read on.
8. Guests like screens: The polls are in. Nearly 80% of diners agree that their experience is improved by the latest technology.
9. They’re easy to read: Not only does a clear, easy-to-read menu increase sales, it also creates a better experience for your guests. Three out of four patrons agree that an easy-to-read menu is a top priority for their dining experience.
10. Go green: Pizza menu boards save a ton of paper. Whether or not that’s a literal ton (i.e. 2,000 lbs) depends on your specific business, but regardless, it’s a lot. Guests appreciate restaurants that work to reduce waste and a menu board can be a fantastic addition to your other sustainability efforts. Speaking of sustainability efforts, these are easy to highlight on your board, giving your guests another reason to choose you again and again.
A Pizza Menu Board Builds Your Brand
Branding might not seem like a top priority for a lot of restaurants, but think of it like this: it’s the way that you stand out as a unique option, separate from your competition.
11. Connect to social: Social media is a huge part of the business landscape. Statistically speaking, customers that engage with a business on social media tend to spend 20-40% more at those businesses. So make it easy for them. Feature your Instagram posts and hashtags on your digital menu board. Encourage customers to follow you, check in, and share your content, all from one single, highly visible place.
12. Showcase your reviews: There are a ton of different ways that bringing positive reviews front-and-center can invigorate your business. For one thing, it can convince your existing customers to come back and try different items on the menu- or even to show up at another time, i.e. for lunch as opposed to dinner. Evergreen’s digital menu software makes it easy to showcase your reviews alongside your offerings.
13. Get more reviews: While we’re on the topic of reviews: a pizza menu board can be a great way to connect with customers and ask for their honest feedback. Remember: you don’t need to showcase everything you hear, but the input of your customers will be invaluable as you continue to grow.
14. Foreground your branding: At heart, branding for a restaurant is about creating an all-around memorable experience that will stick with your patrons long after they leave. Do you have a specific color palette you tend to use? A particular font or a logo you’re proud of? Your pizza menu board can help you showcase these.
15. Set your pizzeria apart: We’ve covered this in more detail elsewhere, but millennials and Gen Zs particularly value unique experiences when they go out. In fact, 61% of adults would rather put their money toward an experience than buy something from a store. Your menu can be one of the many elements that sets your restaurant apart from the pack.
Bonus (Reason #16): A Pizza Menu Board Saves You Money
These are all great reasons to look into digital menu boards, but the return on investment for your menu board is really the bottom line here. So how does it stack up? Well, a digital menu board can help your business cut costs and grow revenue at the same time.
Printing, for example, can be an important line item for pizzerias, with costs that can run up into the thousands each year. You can eliminate or at least massively cut back on this expense for years to come by making the switch. That’s not even mentioning the time you’ll save by streamlining your processes, allowing you to focus your time and labor elsewhere.
Ready to take the jump? Evergreen is an easy-to-use, highly adaptable digital menu board software. With minimal upkeep and the ability to standardize your branding and manage your inventory from any device, this powerful toolset is everything your pizzeria needs to jump headfirst into the 21st century. You’ll be amazed by the results.
Learn more here.
