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Design Menu Boards For Your Restaurant TV Screens

Posted on May 11, 2022 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Design Menu Boards For Your Restaurant TV Screens

You can design excellent menu boards for your TV screens. TV screens provide you brilliant screen quality by which you can convey your menu board and your marketing message effectively.

DS Menu can assist you in creating your menu board designs on our site. These menu boards you can upload on your TV screen at real times.

Benefits of tv screens for your digital signage

Enhances The Aesthetics Of Your Restaurant: Makes it a cozy, homely ambiance wherein people can feel comfortable, relax and enjoy a delicious meal. Keep in mind to place the TV indoors and in a convenient place.
Enables Promotion Of Your Up-Sells Effectively: If your burger stocks are being depleted and you want your incoming customers to have steaks or pizzas, you can advertise the same on the TV screen, and push those items for better profitability.
Enables You To Display Day-Parting Menus: The three sets of menus: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, can be conveyed to your ongoing and incoming customers at the appropriate times. Makes ordering process simpler.
Enables You To Push Your Combo Offers: In a cozy setting your TV screen speaks the best for your food offers. Be it Colas and French fries with burgers at a discount, or a single price point on a meal for couples and family, your TV screen will say it all !
Along With Food Menu You Can Display Local News/Entertainment : Apart from food menu customers want entertainment. Your TV screen can display good music, or a local football/baseball match, or the local news. Keeps customers happy and engaged.
Enables Videos And Playlist Displays : A sizzling BBQ, Do-Your-Pizza, Mexican Tacos, Chinese chow mien, all of these have an impact on your TV screen when displayed, which delights customers and induces them to order more. Best for you !
Enables Display Of Local Advertising To A Captive Audience: Business tie-ups with local advertisers is productive for all. The advertisers get a captive audience who get informed and entertained, and you make an extra buck on the side !
You Can Connect With Customers More Effectively: TV screens help you to engage with customers on an one to one basis and become friends. They in-turn will promote your restaurant to others. Great way for bonding and branding!

Easy Installation At Point-Of-Sale Locations

For maximum impact of your marketing message and promotion of your food menu, it is vital to have your set-up at POS locations. Get your indoors in order: the décor, arrangement of tables and chairs, the payment counter, the mobility of your staff and coordination with the kitchen. Minimize wastage of time. The following are a couple of pointers which you may adapt for a successful TV screen installation and display for your digital signage requirements.

DS Menu’s Menu Board Designs + TV Screen + Memory stick

Create your menu board design from DS Menu
Copy the menu board to a memory stick
Place the memory stick onto screen/TV
Display the content

Benefits:

Cost Effective: Only screen and a memory stick needed.
Low Maintenance: Any non technical person can design and handle this application without any hassle.
Huge Template Gallery and designer support provided by DS Menu

DS Menu’s Cloud Solutions

DS Menu + Smart TV with Browser + Internet connection

Create your menu board design from DS Menu
Copy the URL and paste the URL to the browser
Display the content

Benefits:

Instant content update.
You do not need to down load.
Can be operated from anywhere.
Physical presence on business site not mandatory.

The Brunch Menu – A Profitable Repast

Posted on April 19, 2022 | by admin | Leave a Comment

The Brunch Menu – A Profitable Repast

Brunch is a combination of breakfast and lunch eaten usually during the late morning to early afternoon, generally served from 10am up to 2pm, and regularly has some form of alcoholic drink (most usually champagne or a cocktail) served with it.

The Brunch, was originally conceived for the wealthy as an elaborate drawn-out affair, who essentially looked forward to a relaxed laid-back Sunday morning at their favorite restaurant.

The restauratuer, on his part, realized the business importance of his target audience in the weekends, and has conceived a menu that was a delectable mix of the breakfast and lunch. In a typical QSR, the brunch menu may include the basics of breakfast ( bread, eggs, fruit juices, sandwiches, cheese, tea/coffee) as also a wide spread of the lunch meal ( corned beef hash, hams. sausages, bacon, clam chowder, seafoods etc ).

The Rising Popularity Of Brunch

Brunch has a dedicated following : Considering the meal’s upper-class roots, and reality that spending money on brunch, especially when it entails pricey cocktails, requires a bit of disposable income, you might also expect brunch searches to be correlated with income.
Brunch offers the ultimate indulgence during the weekend. Days become delightfully leisurely when you can order a plate of eggs Benedict at 1 p.m. You can sleep another hour or two, nurse a mean hangover, or get ready for a mid-morning gym class without having to skip breakfast or be limited to the lunch menu.
One of the most enticing qualities of brunch is that it appeals to all types, across all demographics.. Families can coordinate a simple meal out, knowing there will be something for everyone to enjoy in a laid-back environment. Health aficionados can enjoy an early lunch that incorporates nutritious (and delicious) ingredients.Retired married couples,a group of friends and the gourmets too look forward to a good time.
Breakfast isn’t the family affair it used to be ( in the US). The meal, in its traditional form, has been on the decline for more than two decades now. The youngsters ( one out of four, at least) are choosing convenience foods in the fast food space for their daily breakfast. This has opened the door for brunch – to be eaten on weekends when schedules aren’t quite as tight, and cravings having built up over the week.
Brunch is inextricably tied to drinking culture. Not only did the meal popularize the habit of daytime drinking, but it gave birth to several cocktails, like the Bloody Mary and Mimosa. In fact, it’s attributed with spreading the now common practice of mixing alcohol with juices and other drinks.
The popularity of the brunch have induced the restaurant and hotel fraternity to extend it’s offers for special occasions, such as weddings, Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s or Easter. And these form a major part of the restaurateur’s bottom lines in recent years.
Guy Berringer, a British writer, opines that by eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday-night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well. Brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting. It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.
The notion that a meal could improve tempers, boost happiness, and wash away lingering stresses might have been a bit far-fetched. But brunch has actually proved more significant, both culturally and historically, than many might realize.

Although brunch has trickled down from its privileged beginnings, it remains a signifier of class. In the same way that the opening of higher end coffee chains, like Starbucks, says something about the current socioeconomic makeup of a neighborhood, so too does the local ubiquity of brunch menus.

Bluetooth Beacons – Empowering Digital Signage

Posted on September 22, 2021 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Bluetooth Beacons – Empowering Digital Signage

Beacons are witnessing growing penetration across high volume verticals. At the same time, the markets for both existing and new applications are maturing, leading to larger roll-outs. Growing integration of beacons in cameras, LED lightings, point of sale (POS) devices, digital signage, and vending machines is expected to propel the industry growth over the forecast period. Apart from retail applications, beacons are also projected to become a common commodity in industrial applications.

The relatively lower price point of Bluetooth-based solutions is playing a pivotal role in their large-scale adoption in various domains. This, coupled with the usage of smartphones by virtually one and all has taken marketing communication to the next level.

What exactly is beacon technology?

They are low-powered, low-cost transmitters that can notify nearby mobile devices to perform a particular action when devices cross paths. The adoption of beacons by several businesses currently is primarily for marketing purposes and compliments the business’s promotion and advertising strategies. They can be deployed on retail stores, restaurants, real estate properties, amusement parks, hotels, gymnasiums, car service garages or on any business which has a point-of-sale relevance.

Bluetooth beacon are poised for large-scale adoption throughout the forecast period, with a projected CAGR of 95.3% from 2017 to 2025. Key industry players include Estimote, Inc.; Kontakt.io; Accent Advanced Systems, SLU; Onyx Beacon Ltd.; and Bluvision Inc.

How Does it work : The B2C Phenomena

To understand how beacons work let’s take an example of a Berger Quick Service Restaurant with beacon deployment.

Let’s assume, beacons are deployed at the entrance of the restaurant
These beacons transmit signals in its range which vary from 20m to 300m.
Potential customers’ Smartphones with Bluetooth functions and within the range of beacons pick up the signals from the beacons.
The customer then sends the ID number attached to the signal to the cloud server.
The server responds with the action linked to the beacon ID. It could be a notification or a marketing message conveying introduction of a new appetizer, it’s special offers, combo deals and up-sells.
Ideal for communicating with motorists and inform them how near the restaurant is (in meters or Km)..
These notifications entice customers/motorists to visit the restaurant.

How Is The Beacon Activated

Depending on the kind of beacons you are using, indoor beacons, long range beacons, keychain beacons, pocket beacons and outdoor beacons, the activation process will vary. Some of these requires you to insert batteries whereas some of them have inbuilt batteries. Indoor and Outdoor beacons will need external batteries. Likewise, Indoor beacons and keychain beacons do not need external power button. It is these batteries and power buttons that activate beacons. Once it is activated, it pulls the campaign assigned to it and broadcasts it to smartphones nearby.

The Appeal Of Beacons To Marketers

Very Cost-Effective Way To Communicate To The Target Audience ; Just the need of a battery, or not even that. The cost for running it are negligible compared to the returns. Retailers reveal at least a 10% increase in profits in the first three months. Restaurants endorse 200%-400% ROI. Only the digital menu board can be as effective.
Location – Based Personalized Advertisements : Since the beacons send signals to smartphones nearby, they can connect well with potential customers within their vicinity. Assuming the business has demographic and psychographic details of customers, personalized messages and notifications can be sent.
Bridges The Gap between Offline And Online Marketing : Restaurants, retailers, gymnasiums, car garages, salons and the hospitality sectors can promote their offline business by advertising them online through the beacons. The smartphone user can also download the app of the store enroots to the town and visit the store. And people living within the vicinity get connected on a gular basis and are reminded of the various offers, lucrative deals and a great in-store experience.
High Click-Through-Rate : The CTR of beacon campaigns are far higher than other communication platforms such as RFID and WiFi, which entail high upfront costs and more. The average CTR of beacon campaigns are 3-4%, as compared to 0.119 in Facebook and 1-5% in Twitter. The CTR in beacons is approximately 80 times the CTR of display ads across all formats. All these facilitate better customer tracking and engagement apart from innovations in deliverables.
Smart Integration With Facebook And Google Ads : Bluetooth technology enables marketers to keep track of their customers by reiterate communicating even after the customer has left the store. They can convey advertising messages on Facebook and Google ads and keep the customer engaged with information on new products, services, events, loyalty programs, special offers etc.
Measures Offline Analytics And Customer Behavior : facilitates best marketing strategies by analyzing customer preferences and buying trends/ patterns. Further it analyses : Number of notifications sent out : Click-Through-Rate of individual places and campaigns : Which type of campaigns/ brands are performing well : Customer details, duration of visit and more.
Opportunity For Small Businesses To Compete With Larger Ones : While it was speculated that larger businesses will adopt beacons, with the encouraging results revealed, more and more smaller businesses are adopting it and getting better results. The benefits enable smaller businesses to design the best mix on their structured offerings with their targeted audiences. This way they build loyal customers and keep competition at bay.
Order-Ahead Facility and Mobile payments : From the customers’ point of view , beacons offer the next step in convenience. While a motorist is driving he can order-ahead from a restaurant upon receiving a beacon and make payments too. On arriving at the restaurant he can sit down to eat straight-away as his order has already been processed in advance. Same can be applied to car garages, hotels and salons.

DS Menu Designs For European Restaurants

Posted on September 20, 2021 | by admin | Leave a Comment

DS Menu Designs For European Restaurants

Kind attention!! For all you restaurateurs who have your restaurant business in U.K., Germany, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, France, Belgium, Italy and Spain.

DS Menu, which pioneered online menu board template designs way back in 2012, has an enviable track record today in the US. Its software services in menu board designing have become an exemplary model for designing menu boards online.

DS Menu’s Core-Competence lies in the exclusive synergies of technology and creativity, which have, over the years, enabled many restaurants worldwide to achieve illustrious heights in menu board display. And these in-turns have significantly contributed in enhancing their restaurant sales & profitability.

Facilities in menu designs offered by DS Menu

(With a nominal yearly subscription)

You Get Access To Thousands Of Menu Board Templates: The unique expertise of our graphic designers have ensured the best menu board designs in the online market. We have built up a huge data-base of menu boards for all categories of restaurants and with all genre of food cuisine.
You Can Create/Design Your Own Menu Board: An unique opportunity for you to be the master of your content and full control of your design and creativity. You can do anything you wish on your menu board, in colors, symmetry, menu, food offers, captions et al!
You Get Access To Unlimited Colors, Graphics, Fonts And Designs: While creating your menu designs you will have complete freedom to use our tools in any which way you like. We want your menu board to have the best display.
Will Take You Just Five Minutes To Do The Needful: With our Tutorial guide, your work will be done in just five minutes, and you can display it on your digital screen first thing in the morning.
We Can Design Your Menu Board For You: In case you have paucity of time, we can do your work for you. On receiving a briefing on your menu content, we will create the most marvelous menu designs which will get you increase in sales and customers.
We Offer Menu Designs For Best Digital Applications: Our menu designs have cloud-based facilities which go best with signage system integrations. Regardless of the choice of your hardware your digital screens will display our exquisite menu boards.
We Offer Visually Appealing Playlists : You must entice your customers with food demos and entertaining food offers. Ask your chef for a BBQ cooking live ! The more you promote yourself through our playlists, the more customers you will get.
We Can Advise You On Your Signage Requirements: Given the impressive list of our clientele that we serve, and the deployment of digital signage by our clients, we can certainly offer consultation on your signage requirements and easy installations.

Various categories of menu designs offered by DS Menu

Menu Designs For The Fast Food/Quick Service Industry: Burgers, Pizzas, Sandwiches, Entrees, Breakfast, Brunch and many others are host to this category. Dynamic and vibrant color combinations and graphics to allure your customers.
Menu Designs For The Full-Service/Fine Dining Industry : Lunch, Dinner, Meals in continental cuisines, celebration in ethnic cuisines like Italian, Mexican, Japanese, French, and Indian. Vintage colors, sophisticated and elegant designs and traditional food is the hallmark of this category.
Menu Designs For Occasions And Events : Such as Christmas, New Year’s, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, St. Patrick’s Day and many other exclusive menu boards are designed by us. Best graphics, color display, content and punch lines for digital display.
Menu Designs For Bakery /Confectioneries : Donuts, Cookies, Cakes, Pastries et al. Menus mostly in chic and trendy colors to illuminate vibrancy and attractive to kids and adults alike. Innovative with bright colors adorn the designs of the menu.
Menu Designs For Ice Cream Parlors And Coffee Shops ; Visually appealing, fresh and distinguished colors and graphics decorate these menus. The graphics are appetizing and entice the target audience.
Menu Designs For Wine Shops And Bars: Classy and vintage menu listings are prominent in these boards. Induce popularity with wine offers and delectable snacks to go with them. Will make your target audience spend time and money.

For a comprehensive menu board template collection please visit our Gallery.

Ways To Advertise The Digital Menu Board

Restaurant Menu Boards In Challenging Times

Posted on September 13, 2021 | by admin

Restaurant Menu Boards In Challenging Times

Panic, shock and anxiety do have a major positive impact: they galvanize the victim to act. This is perhaps the most inspiring reality of the restaurant industry worldwide, including the US, given the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.In the initial stages of the pandemic, complete lockdowns were made to happen by the States and the Governments. Gradually, in phases, trade and establishments began to open up amid certain health safety norms which included social distancing, use of hand sanitizers, wearing of masks, gloved hands while cooking, washing and sanitizing all décor inside restaurants, table tops, payment counters. The medical fraternity has also come out with body temperature-check machines.

Essentially, for the restaurant business, only one equation counts: that between the restaurateur and the customer. And the valued customer, despite wanting to venture out and taste his favorite burger or pizza, has been forced to hibernate during this pandemic.

Although things have opened up in the past two months, customers are still wary to venture out to a restaurant and dine indoors, given the still rising rate of infections. Many customers now make do with take-away and curb-side eating while seated inside their vehicles. This has left the restaurateur little choice but to come to the customer. This makes the digital menu board and the marketing message all the more purposeful.

Ways To Advertise The Digital Menu Board

Get your restaurant listed in the Google’s My Location or yelp. This would increase visibility to those searching for a menu.
Ensure a top ranking in the Google SEO. Also post your menu online for easy viewing. Customers too would be searching for their gourmet palates!
Organize and erect more signage points near your restaurant. Apart from mention of new business hours and safety precautions, you can place appetizing food graphics.
Update the restaurant’s website. On the opening page, place your digital menu board along with timely and essential information.
Be accessible: show your customers their options; call-ahead ordering or take-away, or curb-side service. Accordingly, you need to design your menu board with your offerings.
For home delivery service provided by you, reassure customers on the promptness and safety precautions. Also, ask customers to check your digital menu board online.
Enable customer’s access through Apps: ensure that your digital menu is incorporated. This will reassure customers that you are in business and happy to serve their favorite items.
Offer Gifts Cards and Merchandise coupons on a threshold meal purchase. This will build brand loyalty and effective customer engagement in these times.
Keep your messages positive. Create humorous promos and videos and entertain your customers. Communicate sensitivity. Customers too will reciprocate with empathy.

Focus On Safety & Healthy Foods On Digital Menu Boards

We at DS Menu suggest that your activity should be as much online as possible ( for Quick Service/Fast food), in re-creating your menu board for digital screen display.
New and Attractive Menu Designs for Take-away. Recommended that you have a menu with fewer items: only those items preferred or in demand to be displayed on the digital screen.
Focus On Healthy Foods: Preferred food items should be Soups and salads, cheese, stews and sandwiches. Along with health drinks like milk, orange juice, lemonades, green tea, ginger tea etc.
Safety Measures To Be Highlighted on Menu Board (1): the social distancing norms, provision of hand sanitizers, waiters serving them by wearing gloves on their hands.
Safety Measures Mention on Menu Board (2): Well cooked food, clean and sanitized cutlery, table cloths and furniture, and non-touch payment options.
Menu Board Designs for Home Delivery: Select food menu for online display: text, colors, graphics and content can be designed appropriately.
Menu Board Designs For Curb-Side Service: A digital screen advertising the day’s specials, combo offers, meals and coupons for two or more customers. Safe and hygienic food containers.
Communicate Your New Digital Menu Board Effectively by messages on customers’ smart phones and social media sites such as facebook and instagram. Let them be informed, always.

Eating out/ dining out is an age old recreation for all. As human beings we eat food. And sometimes we crave for the delicious foods that we cannot cook at home, and hence the need to visit a restaurant and eat all that we desire. A pandemic cannot take this craving away.

We at DS Menu look forward to serving you with care and empathy in these trying times. For more details on our exquisite menu board templates please log onto https://www.dsmenu.com/menuboard-gallery

Valentine’s Day 2021 – A New Perspective

Posted on February 11, 2021 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Valentine’s Day 2021 – A New Perspective

The ongoing pandemic refuses to dent the enthusiasm of most Americans when it comes to going out for dine-in at their favorite restaurants. We have seen this during Christmas and New Year’s just a month ago. And while the Holiday season still persists, this gives you another opportunity to showcase your food offers and enhance your sales for the year. We at DS Menu are always seeking the best ways to encourage your business. If you are happy and do well, it will be good for us too!

We assume you have digital signage systems and digital menu boards which currently showcase your delicious menu post the pandemic. This Valentine’s Day therefore gives you an opportunity to ‘create’ the right mood and flavors for your menu, as well as advertise the same on your digital screen.

As we know, Valentine’s Day is usually celebrated by young couples, but over the years it has come to signify love in all relationships. Hence, to innovate on your food menu for the target audience is both exciting and challenging. We present a few pointers:-

Come Up With A Theme

Roses, candles, a pink décor. You can choose the most suitable motif for the occasion. Its celebration and fun time. People are in a good mood to spend. And your restaurant’s décor need to be in sync. Your digital screen too should be ready to accommodate the best designed menu board!

Advertise On Social Media

Imperative for all occasions these days. Plan and post your menu well in advance. Announce your food offers, discounts, gifts. Create a catchy caption to entice all age groups. Also, if you have a data base of your customers, communicating on their mobile phones could be effective as well.

Create A Lovers Menu

The more popular romantic eats (aphrodisiacs) are oysters, lobsters, scallops, chocolate or anything with honey like avocado, arugula or chilli peppers. Given these offers, most would prefer the more expensive ‘specials’ for their loved ones anyway!

Update Your Drinks Selection

The occasion is not just about eating, but about classy drinks too, in order to support the eclectic menu. You can innovate on the cocktail on a romantic theme: offer savory margaritas: have a good (and preferred) collection of wines. Make-your-own-cocktail can also be a good incentive.

Promote Gift Cards

Gift cards are one of the best Valentine’s Day promotions as it is a good incentive for you and your customers. They provide an immediate increase of your cash flow, while at the same time secure future business from your customers.

Offer Take-Away & Home Deliveries

Prepare pre-set menus for customer’s take-away option which would consist of Valentine’s Specials, and also have a prix fixe menu for two with a package of starters, entrees and dessert. Assure customers of best and safe packaging methods used by your restaurant.

Attend To Online Ordering

Your social media promotions will reap benefits now. Customers will order online on seeing your delicious menu. Contactless payments through their smart phones would suit you well as money comes in, any which ways!

Vouchers and Complimentary Offers

Although these are tricky (as these eat into your margins and profits), there is a need to pamper your customers, just the same. A good incentive could be a tie-up with a taxi company say, Uber, and offer customers (who have had a meal at a threshold price point), a part-fare for their ride back home. They might just have another one-for-the-road last drink!

Think beyond Valentine’s Day

All this planning and preparation should not be for this one day alone. Do extend your delicious menu for the week or weekend. Name the occasion ‘This Valentine’s Week’ and advertise your menu accordingly. Besides, many customers too join in the fun after the 14^th, in the hope of saving some bucks!

Innovative Food Marketing With Digital Menu Boards

Posted on January 27, 2021 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Innovative Food Marketing With Digital Menu Boards

The ongoing pandemic has induced many restaurants, particularly the QSR’s, to innovate on their food offers and market them effectively on their digital screens.

When restaurants closed down during the lockdowns, their suppliers and vendors closed down as well. Therefore, many restaurants were left with unconsumed stocks which they could not return and had to bear the losses. In fact, the entire food delivery chains, from the raw material suppliers of meat, fish and vegetables to the delivery vans and trucks, who bring these supplies into the restaurant, were laid redundant. The entire logistics function had closed down.

As the restaurant business and their vendors re-opened in July/August 2020, all of them realized that the dynamics of the restaurant business has changed. Given the restrictions in indoor dinning with social distancing, fresh seating arrangements outdoors, mask-wearing, sanitization of all and sundry, the restaurateur was compelled to review his business.

Meanwhile, the preferences of customers too have undergone changes. While the pleasure of indoor dining could not be whittled away, online ordering, take-away, and curb-side food orders have rapidly gained momentum in the last few months.

We at DS Menu have been keenly observing the developments unfold in the restaurant industry in the last few months and as we deeply empathize with the fraternity, we bring forward the following tips, which we hope will assist in resuscitating their businesses.

Tips on Effective Marketing with Digital Menu Boards

Enhanced Importance of Digital Screens

With limited seating arrangements indoors, the need to entice the motorist cruising past your restaurant is all the more crucial. Therefore, your digital screens should announce your take-away and curb-side offers effectively. Attractive designs, colors and appetizing graphics should do the trick, without much content.

Focus on Up-sells, Combos and Popular Items

Devise a lean menu with few items which can sell well. A running video or a playlist highlighting your popular items such as up-sells and combos will create demand as customers will be looking to snack quickly in these times.

Efficiency and Faster Table Movement

Given the social distancing norms and limited seating arrangement inside the restaurant, the efficiency of your staff in taking orders quickly, conveying the same and coordinating with the kitchen, becomes a cardinal point. The quicker the entire serving process happens, the faster are the chances of table turnovers, and you can get more customers even with a limited seating capacity.

Look to Increase Your Working Capital

At the end of the day sufficient cash at hand is crucial for running the business and for the purchase of the following day’s stocks from your vendors and suppliers. Therefore, innovate on fresh food items which you feel the customers would prefer, and sell them at a profit. Even if this means moving slightly away from your regular menu.

Have An Effective Pricing Strategy

You could devise a food spread consisting of both fast food and single item meals like steaks, seafood dishes; Mexican dishes such Burritos, Tacos, and Fajitas; Italian dishes such as Lasagna, Stuffed Macaroni & Pasta. The burgers and pizzas will give you the volumes while the meal items will give you the margins.

Social Media Marketing

As you re-open, reaching out to your customers is imperative. And for this, effective promotional and advertising strategies are imperative. Post your menu on Facebook and Instagram and place your marketing messages on all online platforms, including food apps and restaurant apps. Urge people to come. Communicate. Go beyond business.

Promotions In The Neighborhood

Place banners and standees on street junctions and cross-roads within a one mile radius of your restaurant. Announce you’re re-opening. Design graphics of your most popular items. Convey eagerness to serve the best quality food/snacks at an economy price. And of course, assure patrons of all safety measures taken by your restaurant.

Encourage Business Tie-ups

Since most businesses have lost much during the pandemic, it is natural to assume that they will help each other as they re-open. Hence, your restaurant can tie-up with local manufacturers and advertisers whose products/brands you can display on your digital screen. It’s a win-win situation for both. The advertiser gets a captive audience and you get to make some money on the side.

Merry business for Christmas 2020!

Posted on December 16, 2020 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Reopen Your Exotic Christmas Menu! Merry Business!!

As they say ‘every cloud has a silver lining’! The ongoing pandemic has inadvertently fuelled the desire in people to unwind themselves in various ways during this Christmas & Holiday season. Not that the pandemic is over. But by now people worldwide have accepted and adjusted to the new normal’s safety protocols in wearing masks, social distancing, sanitizing and the rest, while performing their diurnal duties.

We at DS Menu assume that you – our valued restaurateur – have reopened after some very difficult times, and with the necessary safety protocols. While we deeply empathize with you, it would also be our kind suggestion to look forward to better times, now that the Christmas and holiday season have opened up and your customers are more than willing to patronize your business once again.

Before we delve into offering some marketing pointers for your business, we wish to share some Christmas promotion ideas which could increase sales and engage customers effectively. These could be trendsetters!

Christmas Promotion Ideas For Your Digital Menu Board

Along with your menu items, you may add any of the following promotion/s to entice customers and accelerate sales and revenues. However, do take care to analyze the cost-revenue equation carefully before you commit to the incentives.

Free distribution of Christmas-themed masks to your customers.
20% off all Christmas-themed drinks provided this does not dent your bottomline!
Everyone who can recall five of your Christmas specials on your facebook post gets a complimentary coffee.
Customers who make at least a week’s advance reservations for Christmas Day get 10% off on certain items.
3-for-2 appetizers if purchased along with drinks.
Everyone who donates (a threshold amount) to a charity gets a coupon for a free alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink.
Bring a loved one and they get a complimentary dessert of their choosing, if the total meal purchase is above $100.
Everyone who buys the full Christmas Day menu gets a loyalty coupon for $100 redeemable within three months.
Complimentary Christmas cookies, goodies, chocolates and other gifts by Santa for self and family.

These promotions can be made effective from Christmas Eve right up to the New Year’s celebrations.

Marketing tips on the Christmas menu & sales

Make Effective Use of the Digital Menu Board: Announce your Christmas menu and new offers well in advance: assure customers of a memorable time with food and entertainment. Request for advance reservations for facilitating suitable seating arrangements.
Update Social Networking; Post your facebook, instagram, whatsapp and all other communication channels with the Christmas menu and message. Promote flyers and banners in your neighborhood. Announce your safety measures as well.
Decorate Your Restaurant For The Occasion: Place a berries wreath at the entrance door along with a pine cone; decorate your windows; hang fairy lights; bring in a Christmas tree. Put together a themed centerpiece and post them on social media. The ambiance matters as much to a customer as the food.
Christmas Special Menu (unique and creative): the items should be a mix of popular and innovative dishes with known ingredients. You may have a diverse spread and offers with Christmas breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. However, for best business try and keep the menu lean with potential of robust up-sells and entrees.
Christmas Menu (2); some suggestions: Roasted turkey and stuffing, roasted beef, chicken and duck. Honey glazed ham, mashed potatoes, Cranberry-apple gravy, Brussels sprouts with ginger and orange, Christmas pudding, Gingerbread topped fruitcake. Others such as Egg and ham breakfast sandwiches and glazed blueberry rolls for brunch.
Christmas-Themed Drinks: despite the ongoing pandemic customers will want to unwind themselves and special alcoholic drinks as well as cocktails along with hot chocolate and coffee would be most welcome. Suggestions: Margaritas, Hot buttered rum and Pecan pie martini!
Create Your Own Branding For The Event; along with the digital menu board you may add playlists and videos advertising your restaurant’s name and its brilliant track record. You may create your own hashtag and innovate suitable names for your menu items.
Entertain Your Customers Along With The Food: Suggestions: You may arrange a Caption Contest by posting a Christmas-themed picture and ask customers for a suitable caption, and then reward them when they come in. Also, you may arrange for ‘make a food wish for Christmas’ and offer the same at a discount. Live music could be great too!
Give Back to Frontline Workers; Suggestion: place a donation box in the restaurant which will enable customers to donate for your staff and also for health-workers charity in your locality. Customers will be encouraged to purchase more for a good cause. For customers who donate above a threshold gift coupons could be offered.

Restaurant Technology In The Post Covid 19 World

Posted on September 28, 2020 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Restaurant Technology In The Post Covid 19 World

While the restaurant industry emerges scarred from the Covid 19 pandemic, there isn’t any doubt that keeping safety measures in mind, the operational dynamics in restaurants, as also the dining experience for customers will change in the foreseeable future.

Change is the essence of life. Perhaps this axiom is best perceived with Einstein’s quote ‘Necessity is the mother of all invention’. Already, technology driven companies are burning the midnight oil in innovating new digital sanitizers, surface cleaners, latex gloves, face shields, designer masks and what have you.

Likewise, the customers too are eagerly looking forward to their ‘joie de vivre’ having being deprived of their delicious ‘a la carte’ menu in the last few months. Many are empathizing with their favorite restaurants, thus advocating loyalty and unstinted support. The one thing this pandemic has done is to bring human beings closer in every sphere of life.

Post Covid 19 we will see the restaurant industry worldwide adapting new business models and emerge into a different operational and technological landscape.

Apart from the 2.5 meters distance in table arrangements,

we enumerate some of these major changes which are happening now or will happen in the near future.

Reopning after covid 19

Digital Menu Boards

will play a greater role in not just showcasing food items but will also announce safety measures for customers. Some food menus too will see a shift towards real-time freshly cooked items (like BBQs). The chefs will play a greater role in videos and playlists.

Contactless Dining

for customers too, the restaurant experience in ordering, seating and payments will change while the fun and entertainment elements will remain. After all, good food and good times will always be cherished. And the restaurateur will ensure this.

QR code based payment after covid 19

Contactless Payments

Enhanced QR Code systems in menu item pricing will enable contactless payments. The plastics, credit cards, diners cards will be replaced by EVM, contactless tap & pay digitals, and mobile wallets. At cash counters (if any) surfaces will be sanitized regularly with a tray-like tool for transactions.

Restaurant Construction Changes

As this pandemic has accelerated a rapid demand for Drive-Through and Take-away foods, existing as well as new restaurants are constructing a sales counter as an extension to their premises through which contactless transaction and deliveries could be implemented.

Contactless Valet Service

Contactless valet service will help to make payment at parking lots while cutting the wait time and getting rid of the crowd. This will be particularly relevant for premium and upscale restaurants where customers will get this extra benefit on their commute.

Supply Chain Visibility

Food supplies technology process from the farm to restaurant kitchen to the customer’s plate will be made much safer with a GTIN Code placed on raw materials. This will enable better tracing and accountability.

Employee Health Safety Methods

Employee Health Safety Methods (1)

It has become mandatory for all restaurants to ensure daily health and temperature checks, provisions of disposable masks, gloves and the effective use of sanitizers. Voice ordering digital machines may come in to replace touch-less services.

Inventory and Storage

Ordering of supplies from tried and tested vendors will be better coordinated for freshness and safety. The ordering cycle will become shorter as the focus will be on freshly cooked items and up-sells. Better refrigeration facilities will be adapted.

Employee Safe Working Digital Tools (2)

Invention of the ordinary time-clock’s ability for temperature checks could happen. This apart, surfaces like POS Touch screen, a Biometric thumb scanner, and anti-microbial POS scanners could make their debut.

Customer Food Take-away and Deliveries

Safety measures for these can only be more emphasized as they go through the process of food preparation, packaging and storing at a proper temperature. New and safer packaging materials will come into the market.

Third Party Food Deliveries

While companies such as Zomato and Swiggy have safety processes in place, third party deliveries cannot fully be controlled by the restaurant. However, along with temperature checks, a digital log-in method could enable tracking, securing and recording the person picking up food packages for deliveries.

New Platforms in Advertising

As many are now working from home, commute is still restricted and ordering through the mobile phone is on the rise, most businesses will focus on sales locally. Hence, restaurateurs will advertise more on customer’s mobile phones, local city pages and by strategically placing banners in their neighborhoods’.

DS Menu Restaurant Menu Design Application

Posted on July 3, 2020 | by admin | Leave a Comment

DS Menu Restaurant Menu Design Application

DS menu, the reputed online site for menu board designs has been the pioneer in its work since 2012. It has been hugely successful in creating menu board templates for digital signage applications. Its growth has been synonymous with the progress of digital signage hardware and technology over the years.Let us therefore enumerate the NEED for Menu Design applications.

The Need For DS Menu’s Menu Design Applications

(Increase your customer base 4x and your sales 100% in four months)

Offers Pre-designed Few Thousands Of Templates: DS menu’s Pre-Designed templates give you a wide choice in the designs and creativity of menu boards. We have a well-diversified genre of menu board templates for all categories of restaurants and occasions.
Make Your Own Design In JUST FIVE MINUTES ; The dynamic business always has you under pressure everyday ; coordination with your staff ; inventory monitoring ; connecting with vendors and suppliers. Hence, DS menu can assist in designing your menu board in Just Five Minutes when you start your day.
Our Tutorial Will Enable A Step-by-Step Guidance on designing your menu board : You need not be tech savvy. Our Tutorial guide will offer you guidance on how to create your own designs. We offer unlimited use of colors, fonts, typefaces, graphics, designs and the combinations therein.
Offers Real Restaurant Content : Apart from offering menu board templates as a model, our contents are unique in that it has features encompassing all aspects of a genre. If you have burger fast food our menu content will have several variants of burgers on the menu for you to place on your display.
We Ensure Own Design Application And New Features Enhancement : For effective application and integration of all signage systems and networks. We also update our menu board designs based on the latest worldwide trends and pass them on to you, which will keep you ahead of your competitors.
You Will Not Need Offline Agencies To Prepare Your Menu Board : with a nominal yearly subscription, you can get your work done on our website. Makes offline agencies redundant. Saves you time and cost.
Reduces Waiting Time Of Customers (By At Least 40%) : Our menu boards offer complete balance between graphics, content and colors. Hence, this enables customers to see the menu clearly and give their orders quickly. Likewise, staff coordination with the kitchen is quick too.
Cloud-Based Benefits of Digital Signage: DS Menu designs are ideal for remote controlling your restaurant menus, promoting your up-sells, day-parting of your menu, and coordination of your menus by a single admin.

DS Menu’s Menu Board Designs Hardware Applications

( Saves you $5000 on Hardware Applications )

DS Menu’s Signage Solutions On Applications Is Truly Trend-Setting : For all categories and sizes in scale of restaurant operations. Particularly for those who have a shoe-string budget. Hardware components such as a digital screen (LED Screens, Flat-panel Screens, High-Definition Screens ) are still expensive today despite Installations being easy, and with zero maintenance cost. Hence, if you are a medium sized or a small sized outfit with little or no budget, then here are your solutions!

The following are the ways in which DS Menu can serve your signage hardware systems :-

You Save $1000 On Running Costs Without Media Player (1) : Media Players are an important tool in the signage system but the better quality one’s are also expensive. DS menu has provided you with two alternatives to showcase your menu board on the digital screen: Create your menu board online with us: Store the menu board in Jpeg or Png file : then, transfer the file to the USB drive : connect the USB drive to the Tv screen or signage screen. And then display. Simple ! Isn’t it ? Of course, please ensure that your Tv has an internet connection.

For further details and guidance please log onto the Tutorial https://www.dsmenu.com/doc-dsmenu-signage-solution

With URL (2) : DS Menu’s Menu design uploaded on your computer ; you have a Smart Tv or a Signage screen which has facilities for internet connection, a browser support and a USB port. Copy HTML unique URL from DS Menu and place it on the screen browser. So simple again ! For a pictorial illustration please log onto https://www.dsmenu.com/how-to-integrate

With Media Player And Signage Screen (3): Have your menu board designed online with DS menu : connect your computer with the media player with a USB port : also, connect your media player with the signage screen : your menu board inputs in the computer will display the same on the screen and you have to tune the resolutions of the screen by the media player to get maximum impact and visual appeal.

Signage Application Benefits From DS Menu

Update Menu Board Anytime And Remotely: If, for instance, you are away for a holiday with your family in the Bahamas and your restaurant menu board in New York needs to be updated – this can easily be done through your computer anytime, and remotely.

Manage Multiple Locations: Multi-location menu boards of shops/stores/restaurants can be monitored by a single admin system. When you save the inputs of menu updates in your computer you can monitor & manage your multi-location digital screens without you even being physically present at the business sites.

No Hardware, No Startup Cost: The best part of digital signage technology is that it obviates the need for hardware. Or rather, it entails the use of minimum hardware – only by way a Digital signage screen or a Smart Tv. Therefore, you do not need to invest in a media player.

Run Without Internet Access: Digital signage technology entails essentially a computer and a digital screen. If for any reason the internet service blanks out temporarily, the digital screen will keep running and can be monitored by the computer. Alternatively, a pen drive or a memory stick can also light up the digital screen with as much glittering effect.

Major benefits of custom digital signage menu in restaurants

Menu Board Design Solutions For Digital Signage

Posted on June 18, 2020 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Menu Board Design Solutions For Digital Signage

In the fiercely competitive business world of today, Point of Sale displays can make or break a business. This is why you, the restaurateur, have spared no efforts to conceive new and fresh innovations in conveying your marketing message. Bright and bold electronic displays placed within the business premises can create a stupendous visual impact and make a big difference to sales.

Adapting to Online Solutions : conventions, which have for decades advocated the assistance of advertising agencies and freelance designers become redundant in this internet age. By opting to design the menu board online you save time and costs. In most situations, the discerning, collating, coordinating and completing the nuances of designing takes time, while all the time your customers have to adapt to the outdated paper menus.

Designing an effective and impactful menu board has always been and still remains the topmost priority of the restaurateur worldwide and particularly in the US. In recent years the progress of digital signage technology, with its cloud-based facilities and benefits has enhanced the value of designing the menu board for digital signage upon maximum effectiveness in driving sales.

Digital Signage Evolvement and Progress ; The advent of Digital screens in the market heralded a new era in menu board display and advertising. There was a need for an integrated platform which would obviate the expenses of advertising on television and outdoor media. While these media platforms have been effective to some extent, what was needed was an impactful Point-of-sales digital platform which could entice the target audience immediately with a powerful advertising message and appetizing food visuals.

High Powered Digital Screens along with the Media Player have become affordable by medium and small restaurants today, particularly in the US. As completion becomes more and more intense, each business is making a desperate endeavor to create the ‘perfect’ menu board and showcase the same on a digital screen. Hence, the LED and High-definition screens per se have become an all important digital hardware. Likewise, the Media player has become an important support as it plays the role of an intermediary between the computer menu inputs and the digital screen.

The Necessity Of Online Menu Board Design

Does installation of digital hardware necessarily entice your customers ?
Is the best LED digital screen enough to give you the best graphics ?
Does investing in an expensive Media Player guarantee you the best caption and punch line ?
Do the most expensive digital signage hardware guarantee you customers ?

The answer to these questions is a resounding NO.

Your investments in digital signage is not complete until you have the best menu design

Hence, no matter how sophisticated your digital hardware, it is imperative to first invest in the best online menu board design and creativity that will fulfill your hardware needs.
It is ultimately these menu board designs that will make the best digital display and entice your customers.
It is the live videos by your chef showcasing your food menu and playlists that will enthrall your customers
And this is where ds menu comes in. DS Menu provides you those unique menu board designs and creativity that will deliver you the most effective results by way of getting you loyal customers, enhancing your brand equity and increasing your sales.

Online Design Solutions By DS Menu

( With A Nominal Yearly Subscription Your Business Grows 4x ! )

100% Increase of Customer Base Within The first Four months :

We provide for exclusive menu board templates with fascinating designs and creativity. All keeping in mind your customers. Each of our templates are designed to entice your customer and increase your sales.

Easy and simple menu integration with the digital signage systems

You Can Design/Create Your Menu Board Within A Few Minutes : And reputed companies like Sign Menu and DS Menu are doing excellent work in servicing the restaurant industry worldwide, including the US.

Remote Control Facilitation: In an event where you are vacationing with your family thousands of miles away from your restaurant our menu board designs will ensure real time updating of menus by remote control. You can coordinate with your staff as well and also with customers.

Relevant Aspects Of Custom Menu Design for digital signage

No Technical knowledge Required On Your Part; DS menu and Sign Menu sites enable you to design your menus in as little time as five minutes and without any technical savvy on your part. And you can place them on screen on a day-to-day basis.

A digital platform for “360deg.” Business promotion

We Can Design Your Menu Board For You : When you brief us about your menu, we will make templates of several designs and show them to you online. You can edit/modify and choose from these . awe will download them and accordingly you can place them on your signage screen.

Best Screen Impact of Online Designing; The colors, designs, graphics and content that we will provide will be ideally suited for the digital screen. We will ensure that our designs will entice your customers to visit your restaurant and try out the delicacies.
Offer Most Effective Content For Your Menu Board : Captions, branding/logo designing are our forte. We’ll make you thrive as well with best catch lines and punch lines on your food menu, special discounts, food offers, combos, and much more.
Videos and Playlists of Food Menu/Offers : Particularly, the audio-visual dynamics of food videos and Playlists. Quite often, the main Chef is seen giving a live demonstration of a BBQ dish or a Do-Your-Own Pizza. Food offers and Combos, games, entertainment and a fun-filled ambiance enhances the brand equity of the restaurant and ensures it’s prosperity.
Halloween/Thanksgiving Day and other Event based menu boards : We will design for you for all occasions. Events/occasions gives both an opportunity to showcase our exquisite and unique skills in creativity. It’s all for optimum marketing impact and offer the customer value for money.
The Novelties Of Cloud-Based Features ; You can update your menu from anywhere, by a single admin, if you have chain stores in the cities or across many cities. Likewise, you can update your menu at real-time during the busy hours and offer customers their preferences while you make money !

Digital Menu Design Company

Posted on June 13, 2020 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Digital Menu Design Company

The new millennium has thrown open several opportunities online. The advent of several software developments coincided with the progress of digital signage technology. And the development of online menu board design was one of the major concomitant of it.

One of the pioneering online companies in online menu board designing was DS Menu. Initiated in 2012, we are a well-established online company in the domain of menu board designing and it’s integration with digital signage technology. Today, we ride on an impressive reputation for delivering the best menu board templates by leveraging on our strengths and empowering the restaurateur to design/conceive of his own menu board on our website.

Our core-competence lies in the exclusive synergies of technology and creativity, which have, over the years, enabled many restaurants worldwide to achieve illustrious heights in menu board display. And these in-turn have significantly contributed in enhancing their restaurant sales & profitability.

The Essence of DS Menu

Around the year 2012, most in the restaurant fraternity were reliant on offline agencies for designing their menu boards. And these were eating into their time and money. Hence, with a view to making things easier and simpler for the restaurateur, we were the first to conceptualize the designing of digital menu boards in the online space, and offered the restaurateur a powerful tool in devising his own menu board in quick-time with slender spends. This is why DS Menu is unique in offering online menu board services.

With a very affordable yearly subscription you receive the following benefits

You may select menu boards of your choice, and download from our vast database of menu board templates.
A huge gallery consisting of menu templates ranging from the quick service snacks of pizzas and burgers to ethnic cuisines, bakery and wines, we have a wide spectrum of menu board choices on offer.
Enables you to make your own menu board on our website by the easy-to-use method and download the same. And we can assist you on this, if necessary.
We enable you unlimited access to our graphics, colors, fonts, designs in Landscape and Portraits and vertical menu board creativity.
We offer creation of Videos and Playlists on your food menu : we welcome sharing of ideas and concepts and translating them into concrete video and playlists for best visual and marketing impact.
We offer functional advantages on your Chain-store solutions / multi-location menu boards : you can update your menu boards by a single admin.
We offer operational advantages of the Cloud-based program for your restaurant menu board : even if you are many miles away from your restaurant you can easily update/edit your menus with your laptops.

Sign Menu – A Novelty For Menu / Signage Designs

Special Features Include :-

Exquisite Signage Designs for Gymnasiums, Car garages, Salons, Hotels and Restaurants : A wide spectrum of exclusively designed signage for your businesses. Best for Point-of-sale locations and suitable placements on your site.
Step-by-step guidance and Tutorial to guide you on your designing the signage boards. You will have all access to colors, fonts, sizes. You need not be tech-savvy either.
New and innovate content to entice your target audience : We offer relevant content for your business, be it a classy Salon, the ruddy-knuckled Gymnasium, the engineering wiz crafts of Car Garages or the trend-setting hotels.
Beautiful graphics to exhibit class and sophistication : Our designs are created to get you customers. We want to see you succeed, to increase your sales and have a healthy bottom line. Our well-crafted designs will give you a visual leverage on which enable you can encourage premium pricing.
Best Integration With Your Signage Hardware : Regardless of your hardware choices, our designs will effect the best display on screen. Hence, be it a Tv screen, or a digital one, or even a memory stick, our creativity will come through to enthrall your customers.
We are proactive with all our valued clients ; We offer the best advice on signage menu / boards and screens, always. If you need to download multiple templates or want us to update/edit a template to suit your needs. We are always at your service.
Keep you updated on the latest design trends ;As and when fresh ideas come along in menu board designing, you will be first to know. Even in current operations of your business we will interact and offer solutions or updating to your menu boards/signage screens.

The Value Of Our Designs ( DS menu And Sign Menu )

For us, you come first. As you are a valued restaurateur, we want you to display the best possible menu board for maximum audience impact, with optimum sales potential and profitability.
If your restaurant makes money, we are happy. Hence, we do not compromise on the quality of our templates. And we eagerly share these with our trade partners and affiliates.
Our vibrant team of graphic designers are consistently updated on the menu board dynamics prevalent worldwide. And yes, we also advocate the powerful integration of our templates with digital signage technology. Which is why we can offer the best there is.

Digital Signage Menu Board Designer

Posted on June 11, 2020 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Digital Signage Menu Board Designer

Designing an effective and impactful menu board has always been and still remains the topmost priority of the restaurateur worldwide and particularly in the US. In recent years the progress of digital signage technology, with its cloud-based facilities and benefits has enhanced the value of designing the menu board for digital signage upon maximum effectiveness in driving sales.

In the fiercely competitive business world of today, Point of Sale displays can make or break a business. This is why you, the restaurateur, have spared no efforts to conceive new and fresh innovations in conveying their marketing message. Bright and bold electronic displays placed within the business premises can create a stupendous visual impact and make a big difference to sales.

Today, online technology has enabled marketers to design a menu board or any digital display board independently and quickly. Alternatively, there are online companies such as Sign Menu who can custom design a digital menu board or any digital signage online. For details please see www.signmenu.com.
Breaking Conventions: which have for decades advocated the assistance of advertising agencies and freelance designers become redundant in this internet age. By opting to design the menu board online you save time and costs. In most situations, the discerning, collating, coordinating and completing the nuances of designing takes time, while all the time your customers have to adapt to the outdated paper menus.

Effective Integration With Hard Ware; Regardless of which signage hardware systems you have deployed, our designs will ensure best connectivity with your digital screens. And these days the best LED screens are affordable with flat-panels and exquisite pixel resolutions to offer best visual impact. If you have only a Tv screen with internet connection and a pen drive, this will adequately suffice to display online designs. And if you have a budget for a media player, even then the online designs will facilitate the best screen display.

Job Of An Online Menu Board Designer

(Increases sales by 70%-100% within four months)

Online Expertise In Menu Board Designing has burgeoned in recent years: And reputed companies like Sign Menu and DS Menu are doing excellent work in servicing the restaurant industry worldwide, including the US.
You Can Design Your Menu Board In Quick Time; DS menu and Sign Menu sites enable you to design your menus in as little time as five minutes and without any technical savvy on your part. And you can place them on screen on a day-to-day basis.
Step-by- step Guide and Offer of a Tutorial: Our Sign Menu site will guide you to make your own menu board with the best tools in business. We offer facilities that go beyond mere drawings : we can work together to create something really marvelous.
We Can Design Your Menu Board For You: When you brief us about your menu, we will make templates of several designs and show them to you online. You can edit/modify and choose from these . awe will download them and accordingly you can place them on your signage screen.
Exquisite Visual Impact of Online designing; The colors, designs, graphics and content that we will provide will be ideally suited for the digital screen. We will ensure that our designs will entice your customers to visit your restaurant and try out the delicacies.
Offer the Best Content on your menu board: Captions, branding/logo designing are our forte. We’ll make you thrive as well with best catch lines and punch lines on your food menu, special discounts, food offers, combos, and much more.
Christmas/New Year and other Event based menu boards: We will design for you for all occasions. Events/occasions gives both an opportunity to showcase our exquisite and unique skills in creativity. It’s all for optimum marketing impact and offer the customer value for money.
Designing Videos And Playlists; It’s certainly a novelty today. Well-crafted videos of food items and some demos by the chef has an impact. So does the playlists which feature the different variations of menu items in a sequence. The BBQ menu sizzlers, the Pizza Do-Your-Own offers, Burger combos, all make a difference.
Cloud-Based Feature Novelties; You can update your menu from anywhere, by a single admin, if you have chain stores in the cities or across many cities. Likewise, you can update your menu at real-time during the busy hours and offer customers their preferences while you make money !
Designing For Remote Control: In an event where you are vacationing with your family thousands of miles away from your restaurant our menu board designs will ensure real time updating of menus by remote control. You can coordinate with your staff as well and also with customers.

Some Designing Tips

5 Care must be taken to maintain proper balance of fonts, sizes , and color.
Balance Of texts And Images:It is imperative for the customer’s eye to feel comfortable reading the menu. Hence a proper balance of text and images need to be placed. To many images / graphics could disturb the visual The same for texts. Clutter must be avoided. If the menu is large with many items, two landscape or portrait boards could be used.
Need For empty spaces; At times there is a need for empty spaces around items. This makes the item important in the eyes of the customer. Or a picture menu board design which envelops the menu item, with content and price point mentions.
Screen Placing And Orientation: Another point to note is the screen placing and orientation. If placed indoors, appropriate lighting arrangements and the menu board proximity to the customer should be appropriate. Last, but not the least, the restaurant owner must find away to place his Brand/ Logo prominently on the digital menu board.

Most Cost-Effective Signage Software

Posted on June 9, 2020 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Most Cost-Effective Signage Software platform to create digital display boards for your business using cloud-based custom templates and playlists feature.

Lowest price
always
With/No
hardware
Easy
to use
Massive
resources
Instant
Update

Signage software is directly related to digital signage. Hence, let us first briefly define Digital signage.

Digital signage is a form of communication using dynamic digital display

As opposed to static displays such as paper menus, wooden/tin standees for menu boards. Although digital signage systems or menu boards have been around the last two decades, it is only in the last 2-3years that the technology has been most widely adapted worldwide, particularly in the restaurant industry in the US.

More affordable Digital signage Hardware

This has led to the facilitation and progress of digital software. To begin with, the prices of digital screens or flat screens have dropped significantly: cloud-based software have been introduced introducing a slew of benefits for restaurants ; Wi-Fi and Broadband services have been introduced for more efficient computer and smart phone connectivity ; PC prices have also fallen, and Android-based devices which can serve as Digital Signage Players, have been introduced.

Advent Of Software Development Methods In Recent Years

Web designing/Coding along with HTML/CSS : Java script, Java, C++, Python, Block chain, SQL, and Git are the several important software that have facilitated a host of benefits in business, public service and education. In fact, within these developments specializations have been brought in such as CRM software for customer data-base which is immensely helpful for Retail, Travel, Tourism, Hotels and Restaurants. Web Work Time Tracker is a time tracking and employee monitoring software. It includes Time track and screen shots, collates export time sheet reports and adds billable contracts and generates invoices.

When it comes to presenting software services for restaurants our two websites namely, DS Menu and Sign Menu has no parallel. The following are the benefits and offerings.

Hardware Software Integration With Digital Menu Boards

The digital signage technologies have developed and evolved in such a way in the last five years so as to integrate with software programs of menu boards. For instance, when you have a computer and a TV screen only, the menu board inputs are stored in a pen drive and the computer software displays your menu on the TV screen. Similarly, if you have a media Player and a Digital screen, your computer software will showcase your menu board, videos or playlists on the digital screen.

Software Offerings By DS Menu

With a nominal yearly subscription

Opportunity To Create/Design Your Menu Board/Software : The best novelty of our sites. Sign Menu offers you a Tutorial and a step-by-step guide to designing your own menu board and down loading them. Sign Menu also offers exquisite signage templates for Gymnasiums, Car Garage, Salons, and Hotels.
Classy and Sophisticated Templates ; Both DS Menu/Sign Menu templates integrates graphics, colors and content perfectly. Each and every of its templates have a unique design which you can imbibe and place on your digital screen.
A Menu Board Gallery With All categories of Menu Boards : The Gallery houses templates spanning a wide spectrum: from Fast food and Quick Service Restaurants, Full-service Restaurants, Fine dining, Catering to even Wine Bars and Cannabis. Our valued clients take delight is placing them on Digital screens.
Cloud- Based Services (1) ; Chain stores and multiple location restaurants can update menu boards remotely by a single admin. This saves a lot of time and coordination offline.
Cloud-based Services (2) ; You can update your menu board without even being present on site. You could be holidaying two thousand miles away from you restaurant site and yet control your menu boards from your computer.
Enables You To Promote Up-sells ; If you wish to sell hotdogs instead of burgers at 4pm, all you have to do is click on a computer button, and your menu will change instantly at real-time. Thus, you can promote your up-sells and make more profit on those items you wish to sell.
Videos And Playlist Integration ; Perhaps the most effective software developed for the restaurant industry. Videos and dynamic images can present entertaining demos of food items on the menu, apart from entertaining customers. Similarly playlists offer a visual treat as the food menu is showcased in a delightful sequence.
Enables Day-Parting Of Menu Boards; Most often you may have multiple menus for different times of the day. For instance, breakfast/brunch till 1pm, lunch from 1pm to 4pm, and evening fast food snacks from 4pm to 9pm. The templates software is appropriately geared for these changes and you can change your menus at real-time thereby announcing the same to your customers.

Hence, as you can gather, the software hardware integration is here to stay. The latest LED Screens with HD and UHD qualities have become affordable and your software does the needful in maximizing the impact of the visuals on your digital screen.

It is all for the objective of sales, revenues and bottom lines. As the intensity of completion reaches a crescendo in your locality you will have to rely on digital signage more than ever. The novelty of exquisite food visuals on a digital screen could make your evening !

A nice menu within a restaurant for customers

Most Affordable Digital Signage Solutions

Posted on June 5, 2020 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Most Affordable Digital Signage Online Solutions that Matches Your Requirement In Just 5 minutes With NO Technical Knowlwdge!

Access to a wide spectrum of templates, free registration, free downloads,and easy tools add to the finesse in creating menu boards.

Whether you offer fine dining, full service snack & meals, or quick service fast food, you have to find a way to entice your target customers. Every template is customizable – adorned with a unique design and creativity as with images, fonts,colors and graphics. So, get cracking !

View Full Gallery

Digital signage technology has progressed remarkably in the last decade and the restaurant industry worldwide and particularly in the US have seen an impassioned adaptation of them. This has been the lifeline for most Quick Service Restaurants and the Fast food restaurants who have point of sale locations, and also for chain stores who have restaurants spread all across the US.

For those of you restaurateurs who have yet to deploy digital signage systems in their business the need for it should be quite obvious to you by now.
Digital signage systems have become very affordable today. When it was first adapted by restaurants more than a decade back the average cost was around $4000, plus maintenance expenses. Today, it costs only $1500 on an average (with zero maintenance ) which includes a top-quality Digital Screen and a Media Player.

But even these are optional. That’s the best part for you !

We elucidate below a few interesting pointers on the Cost-effectiveness of the digital signage systems.

Economical Designing Of Your Menu Board Online

Even before deploying digital signage systems you need to have your menu board ready. Today, in this digitally and computer fuelled socio-economic milieu, you no longer have to depend on offline agencies such as an advertising agency to create your menu board.
Reputed online sites such as DS Menu and Sign Menu offer thousands of templates at a nominal yearly subscription.
You get the benefits of designing your own menu board in JUST FIVE MINUTES with the myriad tools of graphics, images, fonts, colors and content at your disposal.
You don’t need to be tech-savvy to create designs of your choice. We can guide you step by step.
These marvelous templates are integrated with cloud-based facilities which can be placed on any digital screen.
We have menu board templates across all genre of restaurants: from Fast food and Quick Service to Full-service and Fine-dining. Also includes ethnic cuisine such as Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, you name it !

Digital Signage Options For Your Menu Boards

( 60% to 100% increase of business in the first 4 months)

With intense competition bearing down at your backyard and the pressures that you deal with everyday in running your business it is the digital screen display of your menu board that will be the light at the end of this tunnel. Almost literally !

With the advent of affordable Digital screens (Range $400-$600 and more if budget permits) are of high quality like the HD LED Screens, UHD Cathode Rays, Flat-Panel displays of different sizes. These LED screens are of various high intensity Pixel (Density 1920 x 1080) resolutions. Some of the best brands are LG, Samsung, US-LED. With these buys the visual appeal of your menu board will be unmatched !

The price of an average Media Player costs between $150-$200, and there are several brands available with Amazon. If you have the budget you may even go in for a $1000 buy. Please bear in mind that the Media Player is a one-time investment.

Here are some suggestions for your digital signage deployments :-

A Tv Screen And Pendrive/Memory stick is all a small and medium size business needs for digital display. Minimum cost. The Tv needs to have internet connection. All you have to do is connect the pendrive with the menu inputs and these will be displayed on Tv .
A Digital Screen And A Media Player can be used if you have a budget . as per latest estimates in the US, it costs only $1500 at an average to set up a digital signage system at point of sale locations. The Media Player will enhance the resolutions and visual appeal of the menu board on screen.
Only A Computer And a Digital Screen can suffice if the business can do without the Media player. Here too, the visual impact will be as good on the digital screen and the URLs stored in the computer will light up the digital screen. And just in case the internet connection is disrupted the computer can operate the screen without interruption.

Set Up a Restaurant Menu Board Online That Matches Your Requirement In Just 5 minutes With NO Technical Knowlwdge! — Set Up a Restaurant Menu Board Online That Matches Your Requirement In Just 5 minutes With NO Technical Knowledge!

Benefits Of Cloud-Based Digital Signage Deployments

Multi-store menu board locations can be controlled and monitored by a single admin : You can edit/update your menu boards concurrently at all your stores anytime just by a click of a button.
Enables updating you menu even if you are not on the site and thousands of miles away : Your laptop computer will do all for you. You can also be in touch with your staff, inventory, customers and more.
Facilitates real-time menu updating quickly. No need for tedious manual chalk board writings and dusters . With a click of a button your breakfast menu will change to a lunch menu at 1pm with the entire fresh spread on display.
Best for promoting up-sells ; If you want your customers to have burger combos at 4pm instead of hotdogs as your hotdogs are running out, all you need to do is announce the same on the display screen with an offer or a discount.
Branding of innovative food items : Specially for occasions such as Christmas, New Year’s, Thanksgiving, Halloween and several others. The digital screen will do all for you in showcasing your special sea food delicacies (example).
Exhibit Entertaining Videos and Playlists : With a nominal yearly subscription you can download templates of videos and playlists from our sites in Sign Menu and DS Menu. Great way to promote your business.
Effective Customer connects : Your digital screen menu board can be showcased on facebook, instagram, and other social media sites which will enable you to increase your customer data-base with demographic profiles.
You can create Apps for the Smart phone including Beacon technology : These days restaurants are promoting their business effectively on mobile Apps and tie-ups with delivery companies like Uber Eats, Swiggy and Zomato.

When you ponder on the above benefits a one-time investment of only $1500 for your signage systems becomes insignificant. Digital signage is here to stay. We can see signage all around us. And despite being ubiquitous it’s novelty refuses to diminish. Virtually all big names like McDonald’s, KFC, Subway, Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut and many others have increased their revenues manifold by conveying their menu spread effectively through the digital screens.

Custom Menu Design for your Restaurant

Posted on June 4, 2020 | by admin | 1 Comment

Custom Menu Design for your Restaurant

You ( Restaurateurs of Quick Service Restaurants and the Fast food restaurants) have a dynamic business and face intense competition in whichever city you are based in. The daily pressures of coordination with suppliers and vendors : the monitoring of inventory : meetings with the chefs: managing the staff: getting the décor indoors ready for customers, are already some of the important jobs performed by you. In all this, preparing the menu board for display is perhaps the most important of jobs that you have to deal with.

It is here that Custom Menu Design plays a crucial role along with digital signage. Given that the food items are already planned in advance, you have the option today of creating/designing his custom menu from reputed online site such as ours (DS Menu). You have to design a menu board that will not only entice the customer into coming in, but also has to contribute to your sales. Hence, the need to focus on an effective menu board display, at your point-of-sales locations. The following are the ways that you can install a digital signage system and integrate this with your Custom Menu Board Design.

Custom Menu Design And Digital Signage

60% – 100% increase in sales in first 4 months

Digital signage has revolutionized the restaurant industry in the past decade and has facilitated Custom Menu Designs like never before. Digital screens of different and attractive sizes, particularly the LED screens, have been passionately adapted by the fast food restaurants. These screens present best visual appeal of food items/graphics and also display color and content most effectively to cater to the sales strategies of your business. The following are the several ways in which you can adapt digital signage.

A Tv Screen And Pendrive/Memory stick is all a small and medium size business needs for digital display. Minimum cost. The Tv needs to have internet connection. All you have to do is connect the pendrive with the menu inputs and these will be displayed on Tv .
A Digital Screen And A Media Player can be used if you have a budget . as per latest estimates in the US, it costs only $1500 at an average to set up a digital signage system at point of sale locations. The Media Player will enhance the resolutions and visual appeal of the menu board on screen.
Only A Computer And a Digital Screen can suffice if the business can do without the Media player. Here too, the visual impact will be as good on the digital screen and the URLs stored in the computer will light up the digital screen. And just in case the internet connection is disrupted the computer can operate the screen without interruption.

Relevant Aspects Of Custom Menu Design

90% customers recall the visual appeal of a great menu board And become loyal customers

When it comes to designing a menu board several factors have a bearing on the inputs. Online designs have a basis with two sizes which can be placed best on a digital screen for best visual appeal and impact. Whereas the basic designing of the menu headers, food items, captions, special offers are the prerogative of the restaurateur, there is an imperative need to balance all aspects of designing for maximum results.

Graphics

The axiom ‘A picture can speak a thousand words’ is most relevant for menu boards. Since it directly impacts on visual appeal and allures customers indoors. Depending on the spread of the menu, you have to have a judicious mix of graphics and content, and balanced by colors. For instance, for a burger or a pizza restaurant with 12 items, the graphics of these two items can be placed in various places on the board so as to make it most attractive for customers. Often, many reputed restaurants go for just one large visual of a burger or a hotdog or a pizza on their menu board and these are sell-outs !

Colors

Another vital part of the menu board. Footfalls in US restaurants have increased by more than 80% month-on month. Red, yellow and brown are usually perceived as dynamic colors where as blue and green colors are perceived as having a calming effect of the mind apart from projecting cool and fresh. Salads, soups, sea-fish items, lobsters, fruit juices, smoothies are some of the items in the latter category, where as burgers, hotdogs, pizzas, steaks, sandwiches, entrees come under the dynamic category. The chalk board menu is also effective as it has a vintage appeal. White and black background colors can be very classy and sophisticated too.

Content

They say content is king. It really is. The best captions can generate an additional sales of upto 200% in a single day. On a menu board it is good content that drives sales. Like a bright catchy caption. Or a graphic with content, combo offers, special items, food offers – are all important facets of content. It is content that conveys the restaurant’s marketing message most effectively. Particularly for events and occasions such as Thanksgiving Day, Mother’s Day, Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s and several more.

The Menu Items Spread

If menu items less than ten profits jump by 70%, is the experts opinion in the US. Essentially, you have to decide based on certain factors like demand, tastes and preferences of customers, the restaurant’s inventory, the up-sells and cross-sells, food offers, combos and the rest of it. However, too many items can create a clutter and interfere with the overall design.

It is advisable to have the best mix of economy items, expensive items, combos, that can generate the maximum sales per day and have a healthy bottom line at the end of the month.

Benefits Of Custom Menu Board Design With Digital Signage

(Will ensure healthy profits for many years)

Cloud-based Facilities

You can monitor and update menu without being present on the site. You could be vacationing with your family in the Caribbean’s and yet can edit/update your menu board in New York. Also holds good for chain stores wherein all the menu boards are synchronized under one admin. Makes a great impact on sales increase and customer engagement.

Updating/Editing Menu Board At Real Time

You can have multiple menus at various times in the morning, afternoon and evening can update his menu at any time by only a press of the button. Example, from 9am till 12noon you can have a breakfast/ brunch menu, from 12 noon to 4pm a lunch menu and after 4pm till 9pm snack menu and so on. You will be in complete control of your sales.

Marketing Of Up-sells/Cross-sells

If you need to sell burgers at 6pm you can convey this message on your digital screen. Offer combos, burger+ French fries or coke. Or a slew of Sandwiches. Persuade your customers to try. They will, not just to oblige you but there may be yearning for it just the same. Quite often you need to push your offers.

Improvise On Video And Playlists

This is the best part of a Custom design. You can create your own sources of marketing your menu and displaying the same on a digital screen. Videos of sizzling BBQs, appetizing burgers and hotdogs, lip-smacking pizzas and ice creams, refreshing beverages, juices and smoothies, and with your chef demonstrating the cooking of various items adds to the fun-filled and vibrant ambiance.

Marketing Of Custom Menus’

Given the numerous social media platforms today and our increase usage of the Smart phone, marketing of custom menus are a novelty. Personal messages like latest on your menu, special food offers, combo discounts, upcoming festivals/events or even a Hi Hello to your customers will bring you loyalty. You can also create your restaurant Apps or tie in with a food delivery companies like Swiggy, Zomato or Uber Eats or any other and they will promote your business for you.

Restaurant open after corona crisis with full safety

Digital Menu Board Strategies For ‘Novel’ or Covid-19 Times

Posted on June 3, 2020 | by admin | Leave a Comment

The proverb ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’ – could well apply, among others, to the restaurant business worldwide, given the deterrents and constraints of the business arising out of the present Covid-19 pandemic.

With social distancing norms in place, people have been asked to stay indoors and maintain good health and hygiene, and people in many states/countries are witnessing severe lockdowns and restrictions of movement in their daily lives.

Hence currently, your business is really in an ‘unusual’ phase wherein your digital screens on the Point-of-sale locations may not create the same impact as it does during normal times, since many of your potential and current customers would be advised to stay indoors. Just the same, it will be indispensable to attract customers if vehicular movements are permitted in your city. And of course, there will be a surge for online ordering.

So, as a restaurateur and a owner of a Quick Service Restaurant, how would you run your business in these difficult times ?

Please ensure social distancing, offer hand sanitizers to customers, and serve with safety delicious and quality food with lucrative offers. This will go a long way in enhancing your revenues and reputation which will translate into brand loyalty.

We offer below a few broad pointers.

Stimulate Business With Focus On Safety As A Priority

Stimulate Business With Focus On Safety As A Priority:

If you are a QSR with point-of-sale locations, and if you are allowed to keep open, you need to prepare an in-store ambiance which will focus on the health and safety of your customers.
Abiding by the social distancing norms, you may place your tables a few feet apart, provide soaps and sanitizers to customers for washing their hands, and your waiters serving them by wearing gloves on their hands.
The food needs to be full- cooked and served in clean dishes. In short, you’ll have to put the safety of your customers as top priority.
At the cash counter too, you or your staff need to take precautions to avoid any physical contact with customers and transact business by covering the mouth and nose by a mask and your hands, with gloves.

Prepare For Demand Potential For Take-aways/Home Delivery

Prepare For Demand Potential For Take-aways/Home Delivery:

This is of course, subject to state/country advisories given the present pandemic situation. If vehicular movement is permitted in your town/city then there could be a vast potential demand for take-away food/home delivery.
People who are unable to come to your restaurant due to social distancing norms may well come in their cars and line- up outside your restaurant. In which case, you need to be prepared with your digital menu board at all times.
Also, you may network for potential customers staying at make-shift accommodations like hotels, motels, lodges, paying guests, shared-apartments who may need home delivery of food or take-away.

Change Of Menu Items And Their Preparations:

Stands to reason in these times. If you have a Quick Service Restaurant you need not go completely out of the way to change your menu, but keep in mind that your customer will prefer health foods (or foods that boost immunity) over fast foods.
Preferred food items should be Soups and salads, cheese, stews and sandwiches. Along with health drinks like milk, orange juice, lemonades, green tea, ginger tea etc.
Meat preparations must be fully cooked. Chicken should be the most preferred meat. Steaks, beef preparations, rolls such as Tacos, and other spicy fast foods in meats including hotdogs should preferably be kept out of the menu for the time being.

Gear Up For Effective Social Media Networking:

As many cities during this time will be in lockdowns or the movements of people severely restricted, the best way to promote your business is online. You will get a large captive audience to whom you can promote your digital menu board. Hence, this is the best time for digging into your customer database and advertising your health foods through facebook, instagram, and other food apps.
You may also share with them your current plans on cuisine innovations and ask for their feedback, tastes and preferences. This will help you in your sales strategies as well as stocks in inventory.
Excellent opportunity for scouting for potential customers staying at make-shift accommodations like hotels, motels, lodges, paying guests, shared-apartments who may need home delivery of food or take-away.

Enhance Customer Engagement:

Go beyond business. Communicate with the smart phone. Share your concerns on the pandemic. Empathize with your customers. This is a good time to build customer engagement by advising them on food safety if they are staying at home and cooking.
Being sensitive and offering suggestions on your customers’ best interest will go a long way in strengthening the bond with them, as your customers will realize that you think (and feel) beyond business relations.
When normal times return, these potential customers will flock to your restaurant recalling your genuine concerns.

Promotions Through Digital Menu Boards /Screens:

At any point in this current pandemic, if your business is open, point-of-sale promotions will be indispensable. If you change your menu, focus on advertising the health foods.
Present offers like ‘have a bowl of chicken soup for $10 and any other entree on the menu free’. Or, ‘have a cheese sandwich plus a carton of milk for $12’. If you wish to stick to burgers/pizzas & steaks you may offer free extra meal with a price point.
If you see a good demand for take-aways prepare and design your menu board so as to emphasize on the graphics as people coming with their cars will see it clearly and place their order immediately.
A good opportunity for you to promote select items and advertise them on your menu board. The digital screen will certainly illuminate your vicinity and will be best noticed by motorists.
Even in a pandemic effective advertising pays. Make your marketing message short and sweet. Let your customers know you have what they want and that you care.
Be sure to mention the working hours, as this will help your customers plan a visit in advance. In these difficult times, you may hike-up your prices depending on the demand of certain health food items. And your BBQ videos and animations will certainly entertain and perk-up your customers.

While it is truly sad to see the Covid-19 pandemic taking a heavy toll, it is indeed heartening to learn that the medical fraternity and pharma companies worldwide are racing against time to bring out a vaccine to combat the virus at the earliest. We at DS Menu empathize with the restaurant fraternity in these difficult times and hope we all return to normal (and better) times soon. Be rest assured, there is light at the end of the tunnel !

Digital menu board for Multicuisine Restaurant

Customer Engagement With Digital Signage Menu Boards

Posted on February 6, 2020 | by admin | 1 Comment

Take away restaurant menu for digital signage

Digital signage menu for restaurant visible at a bus stop

Digital signage restaurant menu in front of a escalator

Let’s stick to basics. A potential customer decides to enter a restaurant for one or more of the following reasons ; to satisfy his hunger ; to have a good time alone or with family and friends : to check out the restaurant’s specials which are also his favorites.

Customer Engagement With Digital Signage Menu Boards

There is however a more compelling reason why people like to lunch-out or dine-out. To de-stress. For, people across all socio-economic segments claim that good food and a good restaurant ambiance induces a feel-good factor. This uphoria, even if only for a couple of hours, does wonders to soothe the stressed mind.

The advent of digital menu boards at Point-of-sale locations with it’s synchronized facilities with iphones and social media provided the real impetus into customer engagement. Further, playlists and videos of appetizing cuisines and their riveting advertisements on a digital menu board did (as still does) create a scintillating impact on the targeted audience.

Having explained the need for customer engagement from the customers’ perspective, let us now elucidate on the efforts made by the restaurants at their Point-of-sale locations and chain stores in the recent years.

Customer Engagement Today Is More About Building Relationships

Yes, profitability does play a major role, and it is profitability through relationships that restaurants have learned to thrive. By relationships we mean lucrative food offers, a comfortable ambiance in-store, friendly waiters and staff, good service, loyalty schemes and coupons, all that attracts the customer and entices him to visit the restaurant again and again. Further, a satisfied and happy customer recommends the restaurant to others by which the business gains goodwill over time.

Make The Customers See More Through Digital Signage

It is an established fact that customers buy more of what they see. Studies have revealed that 80% of passerby will enter a restaurant on sighting a bright and bold menu board screen and a good 40% will purchase that which is flashed on the menu board, just in case they had planned in advance the food items to order.

Mc Donalds have put in place AI powered digital screens along the drive-thru’s of their 700 restaurants which has garnered amazing results. Upsells have gone up by 60% on all day-parts

Design And Create Innovate Videos Of Appetizing Food Items

A well-crafted audio-visual video on the restaurant and its offerings go a long way in entertaining, informing and engaging customers. Mc Donalds have put in place AI powered digital screens along the drive-thru’s of their 700 restaurants which has garnered amazing results. Upsells have gone up by 60% on all day-parts.

Business Tie-ups To Woo Customers

Loyal customers keep the restaurant’s business alive in times of recession. Hence, in order to retain them tie-ups with local theaters, shopping malls, amusement parks and such like foster better business opportunities for all . Virtually all customers will cherish discount coupons, exclusive club cards, special offers, free gifts from retailers if they order food items above a certain threshold from the restaurant.

Special Events and Musical Programs at Restaurants to grow business

Special Events/Musical Programs

It’s all about pleasing the customers’ mind really. To provide them leisure and pleasure through good food, great music and entertainment wherein the customer can unwind effectively in a salubrious and friendly ambiance. Even some soothing and melodious music playing softly in the background inside the restaurant does volumes in de-stressing the stressed customer after a hard day’s work. And customers don’t mind paying that 15% extra on drinks and entrees.These apart, musical bands and soirees can always be organized for Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day and such occasions.

Smartphone And Social Media Integration

The impassioned adoption of which has truly gained momentum. Today, restaurants communicate with their customers through beacons and apps, informing them of their specials, events, and offers. This helps customers to take informed decisions and can even order food items in advance and pay through their smartphones.

Partner With Delivery Chains

Off late in India there has been a spurt of food delivery chains such as Zomato and Swiggy, which have facilitated restaurant sales like never before. This is concomitant of the stupendous rise in online food orders which is increasing by the day. Likewise, take-away restaurants are also getting a share of the pie with a judicious mix of quality and price.

In recent years digital technology has made rapid strides, which has induced certain paradigm shifts in customer engagement and communications. While restaurants’ adopt digital signage with fervor, it is also used as a powerful tool to be one-up against the competition. Hence,the challenges of business go hand-in-hand with evolving digital technologies. And will continue to do so.

Future Trends In Digital Signage for Your Business

Posted on September 28, 2019 | by admin | 1 Comment

While the exuberance and passion for deployment of digital signage continues unabated across many businesses, vendors and trade pundits are already anticipating the next wave of innovations , and how these will fit into their scheme of things.

In recent years however, innovations, new developments and upgradations in digital signage has been fast, without giving much breathing space to the many businesses they serve. Perhaps this was a synergistic parallel with fresh upgrades in mobile phones with its burgeoning ‘Apps’ culture and the frenzied embracing of social media sites by people worldwide.

Having discerned the present, let’s now endeavor to delve into the future. While it’s true that digital signage screens and menu boards have (and are) playing a pivotal role in enhancing sales, profitability and customer engagement across many businesses, there is space for fresh innovations too.

The report revealed that end users across the board have already deployed digital signage or plan to deploy additional digital signage in 2019.

54% of restaurants planned to deploy digital signage to more locations
40% of retailers planned to deploy digital signage in the future
63% of banks have deployed digital signage or plan to deploy it

Fresh Screen Shapes Apart From The Rectangle

So far the rectangular screens have ruled the roost in digital signage. But round, convex and curved LED screens will also be in huge demand in the coming years. They will enlarge the viewing angle, attract attention by their unconventional shapes and merge better with the architectural designs.

While its all about screen structures, panels, vertical resolutions , 4k Ultra High Definitions, and many other such technical innovations which are at play to make viewing better and better…..at the end of the day, most businesses should be happy to have invested in this new form of digital signage which will reap rich dividends in the form of enhanced sales and profitability.

As LED Technology matures, it poses fresh challenges to hardware and software engineers alike. Now that huge outdoor screens with a 360 degrees view have been customized on commercial buildings like hotel chains, educational institutes and banks, this will be extended to many other businesses with economical costs.

Artificial Intelligence And Digital Signage :

As digital screens and menu boards are doing their work, it has become imperative to measure and quantify the results. This particularly relates to the retail and the restaurant industries wherein the sales dynamics are a direct function of customer preferences.

This is where Artificial intelligence comes in. AI software will evolve further to group customers based on their psychographics and demographics and will be of invaluable help to all relevant businesses where profiling of customers is imperative for marketing strategies. Better analytics also assists advertising derivatives.

Personalized experience to customers. This new and novel service will engage customers to the business like never before. As human beings we all have emotions and it’s not really strange that most often we react to a robot and see him as a human being. When we enter a retail store a well-attired robot will greet us ‘hello, good afternoon’ and proceed to show us on a screen what all is available on that day. Further ‘seeing’ our attire he will analyze our profiles in a second and display the products that we are likely purchase.

AI puts data in context or creates personalized advertising, both of which are invaluable to the retailer.

Hardware Upgrades With Affordable Prices

It’s all about the relentless human endeavor in seeking to create the best visual impact on a digital screen. The latest in LED technology includes MicroLED, CrystalLED, 4K, HDR, HFR, Cloud, Software integration, API’s and Modularity. All these for facilitating that incremental sales at the end of the day. A few more companies along with the existing ones such as Samsung and LG will be motivated into manufacturing and marketing menu boards and screens, with the ever-enhanced resolutions most appreciated by the human eye. These upgraded screens will be available in the market and will meet the end-users’ needs given their budget and capability requirements.

In another development,computerized design imprints and textures will steadily give way to digital signage taking these illustrations to greater levels. The signage will create more light ,shading and movement on the screen to make it more vibrant.

Interactive Kiosks And Video Screens

Today customers demand technology,personalization, empowerment and freedom.

Interactivity on digital screens has become a mandatory part of advertisement campaigns today, particularly in retail stores. And this will grow further. Touchscreens play a pivotal part in engaging the customer and elicits his product/ brand preferences and his purchasing trends.

The healthcare industry has in recent times received a boost due to adoption of videos in various disciplins to enable specialized and reliable patient care. From invasive surgical procedures in endoscopy and laproscopy to surgeries and personnel training, live video steam from network cameras have immensely assisted the medical fraternity. Today, even remote assistance from experts during surgeries are possible. No need to invoke the support of God, one may assume on a lighter note !

Interactive kiosks are already in vogue and prevalent in many retail stores and restaurants. These essentially play a part in the purchase/ ordering process. At retail stores video screens run advertisements for brands expecting to catch the customer’s eye and engage him further and leading him to purchase . Now digital screens will go a step further by profiling the potential customer based on demographics and run advertisements suitable for him. This way unplanned purchase or impulse purchases will take place and enhance the sales of the business.

Digital signage menu board for wine or bar

DSMenu Contributions With Your Digital Menu Board for Your Wine Shop

Posted on September 11, 2019 | by admin | 1 Comment

Indeed. The wine drinker has always been discerning, besides being savvy with the bevy of wine brand names cherished across several countries,mostly European. Very often though, an occasional wine drinker , your customer, is completely at sea when presented with a wine menu. This is where your sommelier comes in. A restaurant’s sommelier is usually in charge of assembling the wine list, educating the staff about wine, and assisting customers with their wine selections.First , let’s define wine and it’s cardinal differences with hard liquor. Wine is an alcoholic beverage that is made from fermented grape juice. And liquor is an alcoholic beverage made from distillation after the process of fermentation. Wine has an alcohol content of less than 15%, where as liquor has alcohol content of above 35%. Types of hard liquor are whiskey, scotch, brandy, vodka, gin, and rum. Types of wine are Bordeaux, Chianti, Merlot, Point Noir and Rioja. They can be further classified into red wines, white whites, rose and sparkling wines, dry wines etc.

We, at DS Menu have designed innumerable wine menu boards given the needs of different categories of restaurants. For, as we observe, the wine menu is not confined to the wine bars alone. While the wine bars do have a novelty in being exclusive, and cater to a wine-savvy elite clientele, fine dining restaurants too stock a sizable variety of wines for their customers. These servings and offers stem from the traditional European etiquette whereby a bottle of wine is still a preferred accompaniment with a sumptuous meal.

The Wine Cocktail deserves a brief mention since an important segment of customers prefer a mix of wine and a lighter version of alcohol. A wine cocktail is a mixed drink, similar to a true cocktail. It is made predominantly with wine (including Champagne and Prosecco), into which distilled alcohol or other drink mixer is combined.

Industry Trends Globally And In The US

Total Revenue in 2018 : $ 70.5 bn, a growing trend.
Number of Businesses : 1,874 and counting…
Average Annual Growth – 2014 – 2019 : 3.8 %
Industry Employment – 11,585, a growing trend.
Over the five years to 2019, the industry has experienced stable growth, taking advantage of an evolving hospitality landscape, and expected to grow further.
The global wine market is expected to reach USD 450.59 billion by 2024, registering a CAGR of 5.8%, during the forecast period (2019 – 2024).
26% of the wine volume sold in the US last year was imported, with Italy in the lead for overall sales, followed by Australia, New Zealand, France, and Argentina (Swindell, 2019).
The wine market is driven by increasing demand for wine, due to its health benefits and premiumization of wine products, coupled with innovation in flavor and more advanced distribution networks, globally.
Changing taste and new preferences among consumers, along with increasing demand for new and exotic flavors, such as Riesling wine and other tropical fruit wine are expected to fuel the growth of the wine market.
Asia-Pacific is expected to witness rapid growth, during the forecast years. This is due to an increase in the number of companies that produce wine in China, India, and Japan. An increase in demand for premium wines and growing westernization also act as factors that drive the growth of the wine market in this region.
The industry has generally outperformed the Bars and Nightclubs industry in the US (IBISWorld report ) as a whole, as per capita wine consumption and has trended upward at a strong pace.
Moreover, the industry has achieved significant popularity with both the industry’s youngest and oldest consumers (age group 18-35 and 65+).

( Sources : mordor intelligence.com, IBIS World Report, lizthachmw.com )

DS Menu Contributions With Your Digital Wine Menu Board

Increases your sales,for sure ! DS Menu designs your menu board in a way that entices potential as well as existing customers to your restaurant. We make your menu board speak much more than words. We do our basics well by getting your customer inside your premises. Once they come in, make it count !
Hosts An Alluring Ambiance : If you are a fine dining restaurant or an exclusive wine bar your customers will most probably be the connoisseurs and the elite. Hence, your digital menu board needs to be classy and sophisticated. And in order to create this effect we have on offer a slew of background colors to make a vintage or a vibrant menu board as you require.
Highlights Wine Offers And Discounts : We are perceptive as well as sensitive to your sales strategies. We know how to make your menu focus on the up-sells and can devise promotional captions to hard-sell certain wines with ‘try 6 glasses for $30’ or even sell a glass of wine at the cost of a bottle !
We Devise Unique Designs And Formats : Given the length and breadth of your menu items we can create different permutation and combination of formats with color synchronizations. For instance, if you have more than 20 items , the board can be vertically divided into four equal parts with multi-colors adorning the menu. Then again, if your menu consists of only 10 items, a white background color with bright red headers and black typeface will make the board chic and trendy.
We Innovate On Graphics And Images : A wine menu does usually require a few images of glasses or bottles to be showcased. Graphics of unique and vintage wine glasses does add to the classy effect of the menu and needs be depicted enticingly, yet judiciously. We do keep in mind that your customers drink wine for taste and enjoy the ambiance.
We Advocate On Your Stocking Low Cost Wines As well : Many of your customers with economy budgets will seek low-cost yet, good quality wines. Hence, it is prudent to have a handy stock of them, along with the premium ones. You may market the low cost wines as a combo item with the food menu. Or offer it gratis to new customers, or at special occasions like the New Year’s, the Halloween’s, St Patrick’s Day, Father’s Day etc.

For more, please visit our ‘Gallery’ for Wine menu boards and templates.

Medicinal Marijuana – A Fresh Elixir

Posted on August 16, 2019 | by admin | 1 Comment

We, at DSMenu have always prided on the fact that we have consistently delivered the best of creative menu board templates to the restaurant fraternity. Among our impressive repertoire of work are the Medicinal Marijuana menu boards which have facilitated sales of this therapeutic drug (derived from the Cannabis plant) to thousands of patients worldwide.

Best Medicinal Marijuana menu design app for your business grow

Trends And Statistics

Legal cannabis clocked sales of $10 billion worldwide in 2018 alone.
33 states in the US use medicinal marijuana for various types of ailments.
Approx 9400 active licenses for the marijuana business have been issued so far.
In 2017, the cannabis market went up by 37% worldwide. Indicates its effectiveness.
US accounts for 90% of the marijuana market worldwide. Legalisation has its merits.
55 million Americans are medicinal marijuana users, out of which 60% are men.
Among all users in US, 18% comprise of cannabis smokers aged between 18-29.
Average price of an ounce of marijuana is $320 of good quality. $25 for 1/8th quantity.
Average start-up cost of a marijuana dispensary is $7,75,000. Very high indeed !
Average start-up cost for unregulated small sized dispensar is $1,00,000.
The average customer spends between $25-$50 per trip to a marijuana dispensary.
Small and medium retailers doing well in California, Washington, Nevada and Colorado.

Source : fitsmallbusiness.com

Yes ! Be a winner ! A successful medicinal marijuana business requires good business acumen in the domains of investment, procurement, presentation and delivery. DS Menu, with it’s fabulous menu creations, facilitates your business objectives effectively.

Marijuana Menu Boards Vs Other Menu Boards

First and foremost, we need to know that medicinal marijuana is not a cuisine. It’s menu board is a presentation of one or multiple varieties of the marijuana extract which can be consumed/ingested in several ways including that of eating (edibles).
Medicinal marijuana are sold from a dispensary or a pharmacist’s shop (retailer) and not a restaurant. It is essentially take-away. All other food cusines are available in a restaurant where there are sit-in facilities for customers as well as take-away options.
Medicinal Marijuana products are exclusively meant for medicinal purposes , where as other menus such as those of Burgers, Pizzas, Sandwiches, Chinese, Mexican , Italian, Bakery, Wines, Brunch, Juice bars and all others are primarily for satiating hunger, taste or pleasure. Hence, the marketing content of QSR menu boards will be different.
Follows from above, the target audience or the potential customers for the marijuana menu board are essentially patients coping with a major ailment, whereas the target customer for any other cuisine can be anybody with the capability to purchase.
QSR menus such as that of a burger, pizza, or a tacos can have add-ons and sides like french fries, veggies or a beverage. Discounts, freebies and food offers are aplenty. But the marijuana menu is strictly medicine, with different methods of usage and dosage features. Some discounts are offered occasionally. Generally the menu seems dull and mundane, but they save lives nonetheless !
Medicinal marijuana, in all forms, is far more expensive than all other food items which we call cuisine. But they are definitely more durable. For instance, the average price of good quality marijuana will cost $320,( even a 1/8th dosage of it costs $40 ), and will have a dosage stretching several weeks, whereas, most other cuisine ie burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, steaks, brunch items, and ethnic cuisines cost far less but are consumed immediately.
The Marijuana business is essentially a sellers market and the restaurant business is basically a buyer’s market. These equations are bourne out of the demand-supply function. Procurement of good quality cannabis is vital. Hence, prices are higher which makes the profitabilty of a marijuana dispensary far greater than most QSR’s on the average.

DS Menu’s Medicinal Marijuana Menu Boards

Some Distinctive Attributes For Digital Menu Boards

Basic Objective : DS Menu endeavors to entice customers rather than hard-sell, since the customer is a medical patient. Further, a customer seeking a particular variant of the drug, or it’s method of usage, is most often specified (and prescribed) by a medical practitioner. A dispensary or a retailer can at best enumerate the benefits of the drug.
Projects Reliability and Trust : This is imperative. Since the menu items are meant for therapeutic purpose, each item is procured by the retailer with the utmost care and hence needs to be projected as reliable and of certified quality. And DS Menu ensures this projection with its creativity. Customers who have benefitted from these drugs come back to the retailer and become it’s loyal customers. Satisfied customers recommend the dispensary or the retailer to others too.
Delineats the Methods of Consumption : DS Menu designs take special care of the headers. Whether it is the Edibles ( based on which we identify a menu board) or the several other ways in which medicinal marijuana can be consumed / ingested ie, Smoking,Vaporizing, Beverages, Trans dermal Patches, Sprays, Topical and Raw fresh marijuana, DS Menu has showcased all of these with exquisite clarity supprted by graphics and images on the digital menu boards, as also with quantity and price specifications.
Visual appeal ; The target customer for marijuana products can be from all walks of life. Keeping this in mind DS Menu’s creativity is designed to have maximum impact on the target audience . It is intended to entice a potential customer or endorse loyalty from a regular customer. After all, a visually appealing menu board does have its advantages.
Marketing Content : DS menu keeps the marketing message simple. The marketing message, if any, is primarily centred around a health benefit, which has been tried and tested. The retailer is all too aware of the importance of his products and hence the quality of the products and his vendors are beyond scrutiny. This is quite in contrast with a burger menu where health benefits are virtually nil and yet the playlists are so appetizing !
Creative Strategy for competition: DS Menu’s menu board designs are for all categories of dispensaries,small, medim and large. Hence, there are variations and contrasts. While there may be many dispensaries and retailers in a city competition may exist but not in the same intensity as a quick service Pizza or a Burger restaurant. In most cases, a patient seeking a marijuana product will probably know the availability trends, the quality and prices of several shops in his city/town.
Design and Creativity : Truly unique. Given digital signage technology, the digital menu boards have the desired impact for Marijuana menus as well. The bright and bold glittering content does evoke a sense of well being and positivity.

The special attributes with DS Menu’s templates include colors, typefaces, icons, graphics, images and content which are designed with much thought and precision, given the number of headers in a menu . Light colors with bright tyoefaces are as chic and elegant as bright background colors complimented by other multicolors. Likewise, different colors of typefaces, fonts, icons add to the creativity and design. Graphics and images lend sophistication and vibrancy to the ambiance. Please see the Gallery for details.

Digital Signage Installation

Posted on August 7, 2019 | by admin | 1 Comment

Increase your customer base by 40% and your profitability by 60% in just four months with DS Menu’s guide on digital menu board installation.

As the impassioned adoption of digital menu boards by the restaurant fraternity worldwide has gained momentum, the nitty-grittys on it’s installation at Point-of-sale locations deserves a detail mention. Further, technology today has unleashed sophisticated digital/LED screens and menu boards in the market for best audio-visual viewing pleasure. And that too at economical prices which medium and even smaller restaurant businesses can afford.

The Digital Menu Board – Hardware Options

The following are the easy hardware options :-

A Tv or a signage screen connected to an internet connection.
A Tv or a signage screen with a memory stick or pen drive.
A Tv or a signage screen connected with a media Player.

In recent years the use of the media Player has gained popularity among the restaurant fraternity. The digital signage player, also known as a media player, is a computer device that renders content to a TV, monitor, or other digital display. Any Tv that we see in the public space is usually powered by a media Player such as airport terminals, railway platforms, hotel lobbies, sport stadiums, and digital menus. It is available in the market for as low as $30 and as high as $1000. Among the leading manufactures are Screen Cloud and Enplug.

Digital Display Content

We all know content is king. And today, digital signage technology has brought about manufacture of sophisticated digital screens in the form of LED technology which facilitates the best presentation of menu boards with optimum viewing pleasure. It all boils down to enticing customers in the quickest possible time by showcasing a brilliantly devised menu board. The more the customers, more the sales and profitability. In this context, advent of internet and online services have opened up the landscape of digital menu boards. Hitherto, restaurateurs had to take recourse to offline services relating to menu board content, which was in most cases time consuming and expensive. Today, online companies specializing in designing and creativity of menu boards rule the roost thereby saving time and costs for the restaurateur. The benefits of online menu board design are the following :

Menu board design and creation online can be done in the matter of minutes.
Huge flexibility in design options as menu board inputs can be stored in a computer.
A gallery of menu board templates can be showcased for your choice and download.
The creative inputs namely the fonts, colors, icons, graphics, images and content can be demonstrated immediately.
Online menu creation can be integrated easily with sophisticated screens and media Players.
Cloud-based facilities in digital signage can be easily operated online by restaurateurs.
Videos, Playlists and animations can be devised to make the menu board effectively engaging for the target audience.

It is here that DS Menu deserves mention. A pioneer in online menu board creativity (since 2012), it rides on an impressive reputation for delivering the best menu designs for restaurants worldwide.

DS Menu EnhancesYour Digital Menu Board Systems

Digital signage technology has enabled the restaurant fraternity to adopt sophisticated screens and devices for a host of benefits. And we at DS Menu will take your menu board to the next level of display wherein you save costs as well as offer the best viewing experience for your customers.

We enable easy and simple integration with the signage systems.

You can create your menu board online on DS Menu website + connect it to a Tv/screen with a memory stick or pen drive. The content displayed on the screen will have the best viewing pleasure and impa

Create your menu board design from DS Menu
DS menu will create/design a menu board for you
Copy the menu board to a memory stick
Place the memory stick onto screen/TV
Display the content

Benefits:

Cost effective: Only screen and a memory stick needed.
Low maintenance: Any non technical person can design and handle this application without any hassle.
A vast Template Gallery and designer support provided by DS Menu.

We open your signage horizons to Cloud-based solutions

Menu Board creation with DS Menu + Smart TV with browser + Internetconnection.

Create your menu board design from DS Menu
Copy the URL and paste the URL to the browser
Display the content on the Tv screen

Benefits:

Instant menu content update at real times, a must-benefit for up-sells.
No need to download and upload the menu board after updates/ edits.
Physical presence on business site not mandatory. Can be operated from anywhere.

“While my QSR is in Melboune I have to travel a lot. Had been seeking ways to modernize the business with digital menu boards. Thanks to DS Menu’s cloud-based programs, am now able to keep in touch with my business with menu and content updates even when I am more than thousand miles away. Has enhanced sales by at least 25% in the last one year.”
John Donovan

Canberra
Australia

“My restaurant has a large menu. Posting the content and creating the design on a digital menu board was a challenge. Customers were getting confused. Many thanks to DS Menu for devising a structured menu with brilliant graphics. The results were there for all to see. Sales have zoomed 40%, and customer base by 65% in the last six months.”
Alistair Mc Creedy

Montreal
Canada

“My Pizza restaurant has a digital menu board and the business achieves a large weekly turnover. Sales are good. However, am unable to keep updated on stocks & raw material, particularly on the up-sells on a daily basis. Thanks to DS Menu’s unique design and graphics, real-time updating can now be done easily, and I can coordinate with my vendors accordingly.”
Alfredo Francesca

Milan
Italy

DS Menu : Your Best Cost-Saver

Simpler Signage Options:

For those of you restaurateurs who are operating on a shoe-string budget, or those who wish to save costs on hardware, we at DS Menu can help make things easier.

You can get your menu board connected to a Tv or a signage screen by doing away with a purchase of a media Player. This connect can be done with a memory stick, such as a Pendrive, and will still ensure optimum viewing pleasure for your customers.
For businesses who wish to avail of cloud-based solutions, your online menu board created with DS Menu can be connected to a smart Tv screen with browser and internet connection. Here too, you may do away with a media Player if you find it adds to your costs significantly.

Makes Redundant Advertising Costs:-

We devise exquisite graphics and content for your menu board for your Point-of -sale locations.You don’t need to spend on Tv or print or in any other medium. Your menu board content will suffice in enticing potential customers.
Once you are with us, you don’t need to seek menu board services offline. We offer you a vast gallery of templates at a nominal cost, in addition to all the neccessary tools that go into making an exquisite menu board.

Enhanced efficiency in the ordering process :-

Money saved is money earned. And we at DS Menu will facilitate cost-saving by designing your menu in a manner that will reduce the perceived waiting time for customers, will foster quicker ordering process, and improve the staff-kitchen coordination.
Your digital menu board, created by us, will enable you to promote your up-sells. It will also intimate the position of your inventory and stocks at real times such that you can be in touch with your vendors and coordinate your payment schedules accordingly. The benefit of real-time dynamics provides you an opportunity to assess your business at any point, accurately.

Restaurant Menu Design

Posted on August 1, 2019 | by admin | 1 Comment

For a restaurant to survive and thrive, a great menu design from the customer’s perspective is imperative. And as many of you QSR’s are burning the midnight oil on how to woo more customers, we at DSMenu can contribute significantly since we can assist you in creating an exquisite menu board online that will integrate perfectly with digital signage technology. In other words, when you display your menu board on a digital screen you will fetch more customers, more sales and more profits for your business.

In this persuit for perfection, great menu board designs also do the following:

They decrease perceived waiting time of customers by at least 25%.
They make the ordering process more efficient by 20 mins to an hour: from tables to the kitchen.
20% potential customers indulge in impulse purchases which enhances business by at least 25%.

Online menu board creation with DSMenu is most cost-effective

If you are currently using offline services for menu board creation, we offer you a much economical and aesthetically far superior tools for the job. We empower you to create your own menu board on our website. Or alternatively, we offer to create and design a menu board for you.

As a restaurateur, you would know that the quality of the food you serve is of prime essence, and a lot of thought and time must have gone into this. Hence, the menu display on a digital screen should reflect this level of detail,as well as be a visual representation of your theme, tone, and values as a restaurant.

Your menu board speaks for you. Would you want it slick and elegant ? Chic and sophisticated ? Or would you rather have it trendy and flamboyant with some finesse.

Facets And Dimensions For Digital Menu Board Design

This is with particular focus on your digital display of your menu board at Point-of-sale locations. As your business is dynamic, it is essential for you to discern the cardinal aspects of your menu board for maximum impact. After all, end of the day it is your sales that count. In this context we request you to focus on the following dimensions:

Know your customer

Your digital menu board, along with it’s marketing message must have a target audience which you can categorize in terms of age and income groups, demographics,social profile and psychographics. You may keep a questionnaire handy, as a feedback document, after they are done with their meals. The questionnaire could contain relevant information on their tastes and preferences, along with their contact numbers, email address and social media linkages. All these will assist you in profiling your customers.

Menu Layout

A very critical aspect, particularly when the display is on digital screen/menu board. It is estimated that 60% of your work in enticing the customer is done if your menu layout has adequate impact. You have to be sure how many precise items will be on the menu : how to layout the menu in a visually appealing way: which items to list first: the optimal ratio of food to drink items: why longer menu item descriptions sell more. We at DSMenu will provide you a vast array of template designs from where you can choose the most suitable layout for your digital menu board / screen, including the content.

Psychological Aspect of Menu listing

This is interesting. Your menu is like a resume. Particularly when illuminated on a digital screen indoors or at the entrance. So, first impressions count. Experts have revealed that almost 75% customers see from the middle of the menu and then travel to the top right, and then their gaze travels top left. For each menu heads they see the first and last entries. Of course,if a particular menu item is highlighted in a box or in a picture frame, this obviously stands out. Here then, typefaces and font sizes are relevant. We at DSMenu can advise you the appropriate menu listing design based on your menu items.

Colors for influencing customer mood and choices

Colors evoke moods and emotions. This is undisputed. Studies have revealed that almost 90% of potential customers are influenced by colors. Orange is perceived to increase hunger while yellow and red are dynamic colors which many burgers, pizza and Mexican cuisines adopt. Delicious seafood items can be adorned in blue denoting the sea. Certain shades of blue also represents calm, poise and tranquility. Likewise, salads presented in green makes it look fresh. While creating/designing your menu board we at DSMenu can offer you a spectrum of mix and match of colors/styles to choose from.

Chalk menu or Blackboard menu for digital signage

Graphics and pictures

An appetizing visual in a menu adds to the creativity. That said, it is also true that too many graphics may spoil a menu board, make it seem like over-selling. For QSR’s, graphics most effective since just one large picture of a juicy burger can entice the entire town. On the other hand, graphics for fine dining or full-service restaurants can be made more creative with appropriate sizes and colors. We at DS menu can help you create your own graphics and playlists from our vast gallery of templates, or else, our expert graphic designers can do the needful for you.

Menu Engineering (relating to prices)

This too is important and forms a part of menu design creativity. Prices of ‘decoy’ items ( items highly priced in order to entice customers on lesser price items) can be placed in a particular part of the board. Then also, discounts, up-sells, combos and other privileges can be presented accordingly. This is a part of menu listing and we can interface online and guide you on this, if need be. In a nutshell, we at DSMenu assist your restaurant business in creating/designing the most important aspect of your business- the menu board- which you can ideally display offline on a digital menu board/screen. We contribute value and aesthetics to your menu board which in-turn brings in more customers, more sales, and more profits to your business.

Easy Online QSR Menu Design App for Free

Posted on July 18, 2019 | by admin | 2 Comments

Digital Menu Boards Software

Now that we are all overwhelmed by this digital age, can menu board apps be far behind ? Recent studies have revealed the following :-

A good 30% sales have increased in QSR’s and take-aways as online ordering gains momentum.
In-store perceived waiting time for customers have come down by 25%.
Advertising costs have come down by a whopping 70% as apps are integrated effectively with mobile phones and social media sites.

Benefits Of The DS Menu App

Offers you unlimited choice of fonts, colors,icons, graphics and content.
Offers you access to a wide spectrum of menu board templates from the gallery.
The User Guide demonstrates how to insert menu items from the template to your menu board.
Enables you to create playlists and videos on your menu items.
We offer a free customized menu board with unlimited updates for you.
We provide 24×7 assistance by way of online chats.

Cafe or coffee shop menu for digital signage

Restaurant menu example for digital signage

Easy Online QSR Menu Design App for Free. No more software download or desktop instillation. Design a menu at home with NO technical knowledge with a secure cloud based design tool.

Now that we are all immersed in the digital age, can menu board apps be far behind?

Find out how easy to design a menu

Other Effective And Impactful Uses Of DS Menu App

First though,let’s define Apps. Technically, apps are essentially applications for browsing on the Smart phone. Thus, apps are a platform which facilitates communications : could be between a buyer and a seller (commercial), or can even be non-commercial . An App is a software which enables integration with smart phones with any business entity. In a word DSMenu offers you a platform to create digital display boards in only 5 minutes with no technical knowledge for your business using cloud-based custom templates and playlists feature.

Some important uses of the DS Menu apps :-

It is today the most effective and personalized way of reaching and engaging customers since more and more people are using the smart phone today.
It is the best way to advertise a fresh menu or food incentives, discounts and privileges for the restaurant. And keep the customer updated on all it’s promotional activities.
The menu board created by you on DS Menu website will facilitate the best and cost-effective advertising of your menu.
At Point-of-sale locations the glittering digital menu boards convey the menu and marketing message the best.
Enhances the brand image of the restaurant and hence it’s popularity. You get more loyal customers.
A chic and trendy visually appealing menu board is liked by all. Add to it elegance and sophistication and you can get new customers quickly.
Enables potential customers, who wish to visit your restaurant, plan in advance and co-ordinate : budgets, family, friends, transport.
Customer engagement through the menu board will enable you learn about your customers better: their feedback, tastes and preferences which can help you innovate on your menu for more profitability.

The Essential Pointers That a Restaurant App Must Contain

Working hours: Weekdays and weekends, Happy hours for drinks, if any. Last order timings.
Location and exact address of the restaurant with a landmark. Showing it on a map.
Both, for sit-in offers as well as take- aways. Latest menu for the day. For best menu board designs log on to www.dsmenu.com
Possibility of booking: Number of persons, arrival timings, table setting & placement.
Mobile Online ordering: Menu offers for the day, time needed for delivery, payment systems.
Connections with social networks ( Facebook, Twitter, Google +…)
Photo or video gallery: on their speciality menus, testimonials, cooking demos.For best designed menu board templates with Playlists log on to www.dsmenu.com
Options for voting for an innovative item, meal, drink. Feedback.
Connections with POS system, with digital menu boards, realtime menu & up-sells.
Online payment modalities and systems. Incentives for higher purchase.

Push for providing notifications to customers and request for subscribing to the app.

Digital menu boards

Posted on July 6, 2019 | by admin | 6 Comments

DSMenu offers you a platform to create digital display boards for your business using cloud-based custom templates and playlists feature.

Lowest price
always
With/No
hardware
Easy
to use
Massive
resources
Instant
Update

THE DIGITAL PLATFORM

With options of visual and audio-visual presentations, you can present your restaurant’s logo, brand name & offerings on the digital screen effectively.

A digital signage is visually compelling : it engages, entertains and informs
Enables Multi-location management by a single admin
The most cost – effective media platform for the salon business
Easy installation & operations

Thousand’s of menu board template

Excellent creatives Conceived by professional designers

If you log on to DSMenu marketplace, you will see a wide spectrum of templates from the Gallery offered – all free of cost ! You may choose a template that best fits your marketing message . DSMenu also offers the facility of modifying, editing or altering the templates as per your requirement, and assist you online in publishing the content onto your digital screen. A little knowlege in HTML on your part ( or someone who does) would help upload the final design onto your digital screen.

View Full Gallery

PLAYLIST

A playlist of your Berger shop enables a schedule ( or prioritisation) of the different types of Bergers which the digital screen will play one by one for your customers. Hence, you may highlight a special item on offer repeatedly or at select intervals, and the digital screen will showcase the same to your customers.

1
Choose board from gallery

2
Add/Rearrange frames easily

3
Set individual frame time

4
Set transition effect & time

View Playlist Gallery

Special Features

Update menu board anytime and remotely

Menu boards generally project a dynamic business. Items, services and graphics may need to be added or edited on a daily basis. Digital signage software helps you to do the needful. If , for example, you are away for a holiday with your family in the Bahamas and your restaurant menu board in New York needs to be updated – this can easily be done through your computer .

Manage multiple menu board at different location

Manage multiple location

Another marvel of digital signage software. Multi-location menu boards of shops/stores/restaurants can be monitored by a single admin system. Assuming that you have done the modifications on the template saved in your computer, the single admin system updates the incremental change and uploads the same onto the display screen. Infact, Sign Menu’s “cloud based programme’ enables you to monitor & manage your multi-location digital screens without you even being physically present at the business sites.

No Hardware, No startup cost!

The best part of ditital signage technology is that it obviates the need for hardware. Or rather, it entails the use of minimum hardware – only by way a Digital signage screen or a Smart Tv. Therefore, you do not need to invest in a media player.

Run without internet access

Digittal signage technology entails essentially a computer and a digital screen. If for any reason the internet service blanks out temporarily, the digital screen will keep running and can be monitored by the computer. Alternatively, a pen drive or a memory stick can also light up the digital screen with as much glittering effect.

How to use

Through A memory stick

Full responsive HTML5 URL

Use responsive HTML5 url for your menu board

With any Signage player

Use your menu board through signage player

Into Social media

How To Integrate

Starting a new Digital Signage board? We’ll help you figure out your digital signage needs & budget

THE FOLLOWING BUSINESSES ARE RECOMMENDED FOR DIGITAL MENU BOARD USAGE

Digital menu boards for restaurants — Restaurants

Digital menu boards for coffee shops — Coffee shops

Digital menu boards for QSR — Quick service restaurants (QSR)

Digital menu boards for Cafetoria — Cafetoria

Digital menu boards for medical marijuana clinics — Medical marijuana clinics

Digital menu boards for hospitality service — Hospitality service

Digital menu boards for garage or car service — Garage

Digital menu boards for retail stores — Retail stores

Digital menu boards for real estate — Real estate

Digital menu boards for schools — Schools

Digital menu boards for theaters — Theaters

Digital menu boards for outdoor — Outdoor

Digital menu boards for Corporate Office — Corporate Office

Digital menu boards for shopping mall — Shopping mall

Digital menu boards for Gas station — Gas station

Start Your Design

Online Restaurant Menu Design

Posted on July 5, 2019 | by admin | 1 Comment

Set Up a Restaurant Menu Board Online That Matches Your Requirement In Just 5 minutes With NO Technical Knowlwdge!

Access to a wide spectrum of templates, free registration, free downloads,and easy tools add to the finesse in creating menu boards.

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Online Menu Design App which is made for QSR

You may avail of our User’s Guide to assist you in designing your menu board online.The User’s guide provides an effective roadmap of your menuboard design starting from the background color panels to creating your own playlists and displaying them offline. Our website is best for QSR’s as they are best synced with digital signage screens/ menu boards. On creating your own design you can display them online, as well as offline through a media player. If you display offline, we suggest your menu board be strategically placed at the entrance or inside the restaurant.

Design your own signage menu at home with no technical knowledge.

Customize your menu in just a few clicks

Browse templates from the gallery
Customize with text, photos or fonts.
Choose a background from our library or use your own image.
Upload your own images or choose from our stock library of over 1 million photographs, graphics and illustrations.
Save and download your design or use the menu URL
Share it on social media

View Full Gallery

“My Quick Service Restaurant is in LA, but I have to travel at least 8-10 days a month on allied business . Thanks to DS Menu’s Cloud- based facility I can monitor and update my menu online on my Laptop without being present in LA. Now I can interface with my customers online too !”
Samuel Robbins

Venice Beach

Los Angeles

“I have a chain of restaurants spread across the cities of ‘Frisco, Dallas and New York. Updating the menus concurrently within the order process was an issue. Till DS Menu resolved my problem, by advising me on the cloud-based facility whereby I can coordinate all my three menus with a single admin online on my Laptop. Today my order process is smooth & sales have grown 30% since.”
Dennis Mc Creedy

Broadway

New York

Online Menu Design

Provides plenty of flexibility. Quite obviously, a computer can offer easy usage of a range of facilities in graphics and design that offline service cannot. We offer wide options in size, font, color, item creations, design & content, such that on display your menu board can create the desired impact among your potential customers. No matter what the size of your restaurant is, you can always design your menu board with us. We will assist you in discerning your design, colors, content, playlists etc for your menu board so that you can display the best menu board for enticing your target customers quickly . We have an extensive gallery of templates for you to choose. From breakfast and brunch menus and with burgers and pizzas to all types of ethnic cuisine, wines and bakeries – we have them readymade for you. All you need to edit are the price points and special discount offers, if any. Finally, you need to display the menu board at a strategic place at or inside the restaurant.

Online Menu Board Integration

The cloud-based program in digital signage have enables you to update your menu at real times, within seconds, should you choose to change your menu for up-sells or fresh adverts. Further, you can monitor and update your menu online even if you are in Australia on vacation and your restaurant is in Los Angeles. Digital signage technology has enabled easy integration of your menu board, which you have created online with us, with several other digital platforms such as the mobile phone and social networking websites. It’s all about reaching your target audiences and updating them on your menu, special offers, brunches etc

Read Full Turorials

Benefits Of Creating Menu Board Online

Design, creativity and content are in your hands. And our website provides all the tools you need to conceive of a fresh menu board.
Our menu board design tools are ideally meant for digital signage menu boards, which are best for all QSR’s at Point-of-sale locations.
Regardless of the size of your restaurant, you can create your own menu board with minimum cost .
Since a menu board can also double-up as an advertisement screen, you have complete liberty in creating your marketing message,or a caption, which can be integrated with the menu items.
You can create multiple menu boards for multiple screens. You may also download multiple templates that are on offer.
A wide spectrum of menu categories are on offer in our template gallery. From Burgers and Pizzas and Steaks to all types of ethnic cuisines and wines and bakeries are there readymade for you.
You can create playlists and videos suitable to your menu for entertainment and display.
After you have created your menu board online with us you have several options for display, online as well as offline. Online, a pen drive or a memory stick will display the menu on screen. Or even only the computer URL’s will suffice in displaying the menu on screen. Offline, you may avail of the media Player, which has all the relevant features for assisting display of menu board on a digital screen/menu board.
Flexibility in operations : You can update your menu anytime, within a few seconds. Best when you need to market your up-sells, or introduce a new item.
A single admin (computer remote operation) can facilitate menu update of all your multi-location menu boards/screens simultaneously.
Flexibility in functions : You can monitor your menu even if you are physically far away from your restaurant.
Enables easy integration with other digital platforms, the mobile phone and social networking sites.