From Static to Personalized: The ROI of Digital Menu Boards for QSRs

The Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) industry thrives on speed, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. For years, static menu boards were a staple—printed posters, updated seasonally, and shipped across locations. While this worked in a less dynamic world, the modern QSR landscape demands flexibility, precision, and personalization. Enter digital menu boards: dynamic, visually engaging displays that not only improve customer experience but deliver significant ROI.

Here’s why switching from static to dynamic menu boards is no longer an option—it’s a competitive necessity.

Significant Operational Savings

Let’s talk numbers. Traditional static boards come with tangible, recurring costs—printing, shipping, labor for installation, and wasted materials when promotions expire. For a large QSR chain, this can add up to millions annually.

With digital menu boards, those costs vanish. Updates can be made instantly across thousands of locations with the click of a button. Promotions, price changes, and inventory adjustments happen in real-time, eliminating the delays and waste associated with manual updates.

For example, Stratfield partnered with an international QSR to roll out digital menu boards across the country. The result? Millions of dollars in annual savings on printing and labor alone. These savings don’t just boost profitability—they free up budget for innovation and growth.

Boosting Sales with Dynamic Content

Here’s where digital menu boards shine: they sell more food. The power of visual storytelling—bright imagery, moving content, and dynamic offers—captures attention like static boards never could. QSRs can use this to:

• Highlight High-Margin Items: Promote combo meals, add-ons (fries, drinks), or seasonal specialties. Customers make faster, more profitable decisions when visual cues are clear.

  
  

• Leverage Dayparting: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus automatically rotate. Instead of confusing customers with irrelevant options, digital boards ensure the right items appear at the right time.

  
  

• Push Real-Time Promotions: Limited-time offers, loyalty perks, or location-specific deals can drive urgency and increase average ticket sizes.

In our experience, clients can expect that implementing digital menu boards will result in a 3% increase in same-store sales, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars annually for a major QSR chain.

Flexibility to Adapt—At Scale

The restaurant industry moves fast. Pricing fluctuations, supply chain changes, and evolving customer preferences require QSRs to be agile. Static menu boards lack the flexibility to keep up—but digital boards thrive under this pressure.

• Inventory-Based Updates: Running low on an item? Update the menu to highlight alternatives.

  
  

• Market Testing: Quickly test new products, messaging, or pricing strategies regionally before scaling nationwide.

  
  

• Consistency Across Locations: Whether you have 10 or 10,000 stores, digital boards ensure brand consistency with centralized control and local customization.

This level of adaptability enhances customer satisfaction while ensuring operations remain efficient and aligned.

Why Now? The Future is Digital

The ROI of digital menu boards is clear: cost savings, revenue growth, and unmatched flexibility. But it’s not just about the numbers—it’s about meeting customer expectations. Today’s diners expect speed, clarity, and modern experiences. Digital menu boards deliver on all three, setting QSRs apart from competitors still clinging to outdated, static systems.