As a restaurateur you’ve probably thought about how to make your restaurant more profitable too many times to count.  So, what if we told you there is an easy way to increase profits while improving your guests’ experience? With the cost of digital platforms dropping dramatically, integrating them into your business is no longer out of the question. Here’s how you can integrate technology into your restaurant to help increase profits and productivity.

Digital Menu Boards

This is a great addition for a counter service type restaurant or anywhere that customers will be standing in line for a while looking at the menu. More and more counter service establishments are making the switch to digitize their menus. We’ve all seen menus smattered in white tape because the restaurant no longer makes that item or is temporarily out of stock. By digitizing you can clean up your boards and make it easier and more esthetically pleasing for guests. Unfortunately, these options tend to be thousands of dollars, however having the option of adding pictures and emphasizing high profit margin items and showing the “cravability” of them gives you a major opportunity to up-sell and in turn make you more money. So, are they worth it? That’s for you to decide.

Televisions

Say you are a sports bar or casual dining place with televisions that your clientele frequently watches. When the big football or basketball game or whatever it is that brings people in cuts to commercial break, cut the feed and spend the next few minutes playing your own marketing material. This is your time to advertise drink specials, appetizer specials, show visuals of your products and again show the “craveability” of what you’re selling. For an added touch, customize specials based on weather, time of day, time of year, etc.

Ad Sales

With technology quickly infiltrating the restaurant industry, it is becoming increasingly easier to make a solid profit off selling ad space to big companies to advertise on whatever digital medium you employ. If you use tablets, kiosks for customers to order on, or even decide to stream your own ads on televisions, you can sell ad space to different sponsors like Budweiser, Hersey’s, Pepsi etc. Ad space is typically sold in six-month slots so that is six months of stable revenue.

Integrating technology into your restaurant is a personal decision. It has the capability to increase sales and in turn increase profits to your establishment. Be creative, technology is all around you and in everything there is an opportunity to increase your revenue. Give it a try and see what fits into your brand and your business.

To listen to this podcast click here.