Whether you’re a national brand or a boutique store, your bakery signage is likely having more of an impact than you think. While customers are coming into your baker’s for bread and pastries, everything they see creates impressions. And those impressions inevitably affect your sales.
So, what can you do to improve your bakery signage and boost your sales? Well, one of the most effective things you can do is to make it digital.
Digital signage refers to a type of sign that’s driven by technology. Unlike conventional inert displays, digital screens can host engaging branded visuals that can make your products irresistible. What’s more, they let you show your customers a bit more about who you are.
In this guide to bakery signage, you’ll learn how you can put digital signs to use. While you’re here, discover how we make it easy at Yodeck.
What is your bakery signage doing for you?
You no doubt already have some form of signage in your bakery. And while you might take it for granted, it’s doing a really important job.
- It displays your products and entices your customers. The most obvious task that bakery signage performs is to show your products. Whether they’re displayed on individual digital menu boards or wall screens behind your bread counter, your products are what customers are coming for. Even if your cakes, pastries, and loaves are there to be seen (and smelled), your signage shows your customers exactly what they can expect and clarifies any uncertainties about prices or ingredients
- It communicates your business identity and showcases your brand. Before customers see your baked goods, it’s likely that they’ve already been busy making up their minds about your store. The impression they form is largely down to your signage. Your outdoor signs, your branded visuals, and your menus are all communicating crucial messages about your brand—including your values, your identity, and what sort of place you are.
- It shares other key information. If your bakes contain common allergens, if everything’s vegan, or if you’ve baked something special just for the day, you’ll want customers to know (and you might well be obliged to). And unless you’re going to tell each customer individually, you’ll rely on your sales signage to do that job. Whether you’re aware of it or not, your signage is doing all of these things already. But what if you could do it better? Digital signage can make a better first impression and make it easier for customers to find the information they need.
The way to do that is with digital signage.
How you can do more with digital bakery signs
Yodeck’s digital signage lets you get more out of your bakery signs. Here are some of the benefits you can expect.
- Drive sales. At Yodeck, we know the impact that our digital signage can have. Our research in the hospitality industry recently found that 86% of restaurant owners saw their sales increase after they started using digital signage. A similar number said that including key product information on digital signage has improved customer satisfaction. Simply, if you’re still not using digital signage in your bakery, you’re missing out on business.
- Entertain and inform guests while they wait for their order. Customers are usually happy to wait for their order to be ready. However, this can be a valuable time to show them more about your business. Whether that’s behind-the-scenes insights into how your bread is made, engaging stories about your brand, or simply the local news, it can add an extra dimension to your customers’ experience. What’s more, it’ll reduce perceived wait times.
- Host third-party ads. Support other businesses in your local area by showing your customers their ads through a digital signage advertising network. This is a good idea for your community, and it can deliver a bonus to your bottom line too.
- Encourage customer advocacy. Want your customers to spread the word about your business? Encourage them to share their experiences on your social media. Your digital signage can direct them to your business page or even show what your customers are saying about you online.
Case Study: How Domino’s Pizza Improved Sales with Yodeck
Domino’s is one of the best-known food delivery brands in the world. In Greece, the Domino’s team came to Yodeck to upgrade their outdated signage solution in their 34 outlets across the country.
Previously, their flash player system was riddled with problems. For example, they couldn’t control whether the right content was being shown on the right screens (or if any content was being shown at all). If they wanted to update their signage, they had to do it manually—on every single screen across the country.
At Yodeck, we offered a better solution:
- Robust, plug-and-play media player. The Raspberry Pi media player is robust enough to withstand the heat, humidity, and clouds of flour you often find in bakeries and pizzerias. And it works straight out of the box.
- Instantly customisable media. Domino’s can now update screens across the country from their central office. That means they can be sure that all the displays are showing what they should be—and it cuts the hassle of manual updates.
- The right content at the right time in the right place. Customers typically spend just a few minutes at Domino’s when they come to pick up their order. Now, that short time can be used to show them special deals and tempting products, boosting the chance of increased sales.
“The important thing for us was that we needed an easy-to-use, robust digital signage solution that we could comfortably manage from our central offices, and of course, one which could fit our low advertising budget. In Yodeck that is exactly what we found.”
(CHRISTOS ATHANASOULIS Digital Marketing Consultant)
5 signage tips and best practices to improve your bakery sales
So, how can you make the most of your digital bakery signs? Here are five ideas to get you started.
1. Use high-quality visuals across all your screens
Customers are quick to form an impression of your business. That means you have to ensure that all of your visuals are of the highest quality.
How can you do that? At Yodeck, our library of templates is a good place to start. Here, you can find a collection of high-quality, customizable visuals to inspire you.
That said, if you’re building your own visuals from scratch, follow some basic design tips to make sure they look professional and convincing.
2. Highlight your best offers
Digital signs are a really powerful tool to inspire your customers. As a result, you should be using them to showcase your very best products.
This could be a special deal, a profitable product, or—as Domino’s knew—an offering that’s likely to inspire impulse buys.
3. Lead customers to your other outlets
If your bakery is one in a family of businesses, help your customers find the others too. You can use a QR code menu that connects to your website to display their addresses or an interactive map with all your locations.
4. Keep your signs up to date throughout the day
Whether you have a specific breakfast deal or you offer an aperitivo later in the day, make sure that your signs are relevant to what your customers are coming in for.
At Yodeck, we make it easy for you to keep all your screens up to date. With our central content management system (CMS), all you have to do is set up a playlist and it’ll play across the screens you choose.
5. Get creative with your bakery signs
The thing about digital signage is that you can use it to show literally whatever you want.
Want to show recipe videos? You can easily stream them directly from your website or through a social media wall. Want a slideshow of delicious baked goods? Add them through our CMS. Like to show customers the news or even the weather? Choose an app and get started.
The more creative you can get, the better.
How Yodeck makes digital bakery signage easy
At Yodeck, we’re committed to making digital signage as accessible as possible. With affordable (and even free) options, and unbeatably easy setup and content management, we’re breaking down obstacles from the smallest to the very largest bakeries.
- Plug and play system. Sign up to Yodeck to explore everything our CMS offers. Then, when you’re ready, our digital signage media player is ready to go straight out of the box.
- Centrally updated content, no matter how many screens you have. Whether you have one screen or a thousand, you can manage them all centrally. Select from our templates and apps or build your visuals from scratch.
- Get started for free. We’ll never charge you anything for your first screen. When you’re ready, scale up to as many screens as you want.
Book a demo to find out how it works for yourself.