International. Mexican food restaurant chain, "El Pollo Loco," with a strong presence in the southwestern United States, has implemented Navori QL digital signage software to drive digital menu board content within 150 locations to date.
With this implementation of Navori Labs' system, the chain can now efficiently update pricing and content at short notice, while delivering a more compelling visual experience as customers place orders.
The chain, which was recognized last year by a CivicScience survey as the nation's No. 1 quick-service Mexican restaurant for customer experience, was looking for a more reliable solution for dynamic content updating and visual visualization after mixed results with a local infrastructure.
"It worked well for initial testing in some locations, but we ran into some hurdles when it came to incorporating dynamic video and content, and the effort of managing a self-built system became more complex with each new location," said Clark Matthews, VP of Information Technology at El Pollo Loco.
He added that "We looked at some open source systems that reproduced visual content well, but had the same problems with dynamic content and software reliability. Then we looked for business solutions, and the end result was that Navori addressed all of these challenges while understanding our business model. They align very well with our brand and the customer experience we aim to deliver."
Navori's QL Content Manager has efficiently centralized content management across all network locations. There was an immediate improvement in translating dynamic price changes directly to the point of sale, as Matthews explains. He quickly set up a JSON interface that allowed QL software to overlay local restaurant price points on digital menu boards.
QL software drives content on three horizontal screens (55, 60 and 65 inches wide) within each restaurant; 100 of these placements have an additional vertical preview board that runs in-store promotions and ads. These boards show a combination of dynamic HTML5 content, static images, and what Matthews explains as partial static images with videos within the content.
Matthews opted for Navori QL StiX media player dongles for content playback. QL StiX players ensure exceptional video quality that aligns with the chain's customer experience standards, but also eliminates the need for local management. It also streamlines technical architecture within stores, eliminating the need for standalone hardware players.
"We simply plug the dongles into the proper screen input and can update the content remotely as needed," Matthews said. "We don't need to replace sticks or manage anything in the store, and if we upgrade our displays to 4K, QL StiX players can adapt to the highest resolution without any changes."
Going forward, Matthews hopes to leverage QL's content scheduling capabilities as they explore more split-of-day opportunities, which he says will simplify how they promote certain dining options and deals at different periods of the workday cycle. He is also optimistic about QL's seamless interoperability with third-party data sources, which opens up endless opportunities to integrate with internal business systems and source digital signage content from external sources.
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