Ways to Increase Restaurant Sales Up to 8% Using the Drive Thru Lane

Digital signage at the Drive thru Lane

Did you know? Your drive thru lane is one of the best ways to increase restaurant sales by as much as 8 percent. That’s on top of the estimated 70 percent of sales that take place at drive thru windows. What’s the secret? Digital drive thru menus hold the key to boosting sales for your QSR chain...

As profit margins are squeezed, competition increases and operational costs rise, chances are your fast food restaurant chain is looking for a new angle to boost revenue. There are many voices offering ideas on how to increase sales in fast food. You may have tried some of those suggestions, without success.

The problem is that many of the suggestions put forward are based on the experiences of fast food chains that have seen success as a result of following such advice. However, tactics used to improve fast food sales by one restaurant won’t necessarily work for the next QSR outlet.

Digital Drive Thru Menu Boards Give You The Edge

Drive thru digital signage on the other hand is one of the most proven ways to increase restaurant sales consistently, on a weekly, basis for small and large fast food chains alike.

How? It all stems from the use of digital menu boards indoors. Fast food chains upgrading from static, illuminated poster menus to digital menu boards with moving images experienced a shift in customer spend.

Using Prime Burger - a UK-based hamburger chain - as an example, a press release issued by the company described how ‘like-for-like sales across their chain’ increased by 50 percent as a result of installing digital menu boards in mid-2016.

It was early success stories like this that led to the next evolution of digital menu boards used by the fast food industry, as the focus switched from indoors to reaching customers outdoors.

digital menu boards indoors
'The success of digital menu boards indoors sparked interest in outdoor menu board use, including at the drive thru.'

With upwards of 70 percent of QSR sales occurring at the drive thru, going digital outdoors represents a logical step when the goal is to boost sales of fast food. What makes drive thru digital signage so effective is the versatility it gives fast food chains, stripping away the limitations of static posters and panels.

How to Leverage Digital Menu Boards at the Drive Thru

A digital signage network at the drive thru can serve multiple functions at once, for instance:

  • Presales... Promote a brand new menu item at the drive thru entrance and sow the seed for a potential unplanned purchase
  • To upsell... Displays can feature high ticket items to tempt customers into additional purchases
  • To run promotions... Drive thru digital signage can be used to present eye-catching meal deal promotions
  • Segmenting menu items... Point customers to your bestselling menu items rather than having them trawl through your entire menu. This also speeds up the number of orders you can process in an hour

Fast food joints are cashing in on drive thru digital signage because of its ability to attract customers, speed up the drive thru lane and improve the customer experience.

Improving the Customer Experience is Where the Money is at

However, digital signage isn’t a guarantee of more sales. What really drives sales is the way in which your menu is presented at the drive thru. An easy to read menu prompts quicker buying decisions, speeding up the drive thru lane, which ultimately leads to a positive customer experience.

Digital menu boards at the drive thru
'Digital signage at the drive thru makes ordering easy, enabling you to process more orders per hour.'

Used correctly, digital signage enables fast food chains to present easily digestible content, and with 74 percent of QSR customers putting an easy to read menu at the top of their list for making a purchase - according to a study conducted by Panasonic - a simple menu layout not only attracts customers, it keeps them coming back for more.

‘Leverage digital signage at the drive thru to improve the customer experience, which in turn will lead to repeat customers. Meanwhile, regular customers will recommend your fast food joint to potential new customers.’

Digital Signage is Convenient too

Digital signage drive thru menu boards
'Digital signage at the drive thru is infinitely changeable, without any added costs.'

Aside from the sales boosting benefits that drive thru digital signage brings to the table, outdoor digital menu boards offer convenience too. Updating menus with new items or price changes can be done almost instantly, whereas a print run to replace static menu boards can take up to two weeks, plus you have to pay for the privilege.

Dayparting is made easier too, your fast food chain can switch between breakfast, lunch and main menus, seamlessly. Better still, this can be done across multiple sites so that menus change in sync.

As a means of increasing sales across the fast food industry, digital signage at the drive thru offers the complete package and represents an excellent return on investment. In fact, Eclipse Digital Media estimates that QSRs will recoup the cost of their digital menu board investment anywhere between 9 and 18 months.

Boost your fast food sales by up to 8% - Download the meta-research infographic that reveals why drive thru digital menu boards are the hottest fast food formula for supercharging sales at QSR drive thru windows...

increase sales in fast food