The world is full of digital screens. They are displacing posters, billboards, informational signs, menus, and other items that were traditionally created using print and paper or cards.
This evolution from print mediums to digital started with the advertising industry. In 2014, there were around 330,000 billboards in use around America. Hardly any of them were digital, yet by 2016, 9,600 of them had been replaced by huge digital screens. Since then, the pace at which physical print advertising boards have gone digital has accelerated.
By 2020, American advertisers were spending $3.5 billion on out-of-the-home advertising that was designed to be displayed on a digital screen. It is estimated that by 2027 the digital out-of-home (DOOH) market will be worth a staggering $35.1 billion.
A lot of that growth is likely to come from the deployment of digital advertising on smaller screens. The latest digital signage software makes it possible for every business owner to deploy them in their physical outlets. It means a small fashion shop can create ads and display them as and when they want to.
Many are doing exactly that and seeing substantial increases in sales as a result of tailoring their advertising to fit in better with the tastes and aspirations of the people who shop with them. It is also a subtle way of demonstrating to customers that the retailers they shop with understand them and their needs. Studies show that the more often someone finds something of interest to them in-store the more frequently they are to return and buy more.
Deploying digital signage is also helping retailers and food outlets to reduce waste. Using them to promote discounts on products that would otherwise be binned is a highly effective way of making sure that does not happen. Instead, consumers grab themselves a bargain.
Some are taking things even further. In 2017, the city of Adelaide, Australia deployed digital displays to help them to reduce the amount of food waste produced by residents. They commissioned a short film that, for key food products, explained to consumers how they had been grown, processed, and delivered to the store. Reminding them of the energy and water that goes into getting a loaf of bread or a bottle of milk on the shelf. In addition, if the consumer wanted, they could tap the screen and get access to a list of recipes that featured that product. It was a remarkable success and an interesting example of how digital screens are replacing static posters as a way to educate and motivate consumers to make positive changes.
Restaurants in particular are using digital screens to reduce food waste. They are using them in several ways to achieve this positive change.
The CoVid pandemic made restaurant owners take the plunge and accelerate the rate at which they were adopting new tech. Many switched from using paper or card menus to using digital screens instead. According to Square´s The Future of Restaurants Report: 2021, 88% of restaurants had switched to or were considering switching to digital menus. In their 2022 report, 78% of restaurant owners said that overall, they had benefited from making that change.
Being able to change what they offered and how much they charged at the click of a button enabled them to reduce the cost of dishes that were not selling well. The net result was less food waste.
It also enabled them to help with reducing waste further up the supply chain. Knowing that they could easily add dishes to their menu and price them attractively to sell has given restaurateurs the confidence to buy more ingredients that are near their sell-by date. This has also contributed to reducing waste.
Using digital screens behind the scenes has also helped. Keeping track of what is in the pantry using a tablet display is far more efficient and accurate than doing it with a pen and paper. Digital displays being used to tell the chefs what needs to be cooked is also resulting in less wastage. Because everything is in real time there are fewer mistakes.
Digital menus can also be used to educate diners about what is on offer and to tempt them to revisit to attend a special event. They are a highly flexible tool, which means that they are here to stay. Especially given the fact that they are gradually being deployed in countries where access to power is not guaranteed. In those places, solar-powered sandwich boards are enabling businesses to benefit from the use of digital screens.
