Digital menu boards dominate QSR signage

Digital menu boards are the most widely adopted digital signage application in the quick-service restaurant industry, appearing on 82% of quick-service screens, according to Kitcast's State of Digital Signage 2026 report.

Gas stations ranked second at 72%, followed by restaurants at 62%, while adoption dropped to 34% in car dealerships and 32% in retail environments.

Despite menus accounting for just 7% of total digital signage screen time across industries, they remain a central application in foodservice, where operators regularly update prices, menu items and daypart offerings. The report highlights digital menu boards as a practical fit for the technology, allowing restaurants to change content to reflect breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, promotions and pricing.

The research also examined operating costs, finding that 56% of 515 surveyed digital signage operators spend $11 to $20 per screen per month on signage software, excluding hardware. However, measuring effectiveness remains a challenge: 76.5% of digital signage operators surveyed do not track return on investment, highlighting an opportunity for restaurant operators to better evaluate how digital displays contribute to business performance.

The findings are based on Kitcast's first-party telemetry covering more than 10,000 screens across 21 industries, alongside a survey of 515 operators.