EAT are an innovative brand and were keen to try new digital ideas to improve the food and customer experience. With an average selling time of 18 seconds per customer, the digital menus needed to fit the EAT brand experience and provide a quick, correct and easy-to-understand menu. EAT required comprehensive central control and simple store-level management, able to keep up with the fast pace of multiple daily menu changes.
The Trison manage a range of stores, including two screen and three screen systems. A typical EAT store uses three Philips 47” IPS LED screens which are driven by a custom menu solution, developed by Trison, harnessing the power of the Scala digital signage platform and its API.
The benefits are there and are very clear to see. anyone you talk to in any of our shops and all the way through to director level, would be able to talk to you about how much of a difference this has made to our business.
Sarah Doyle - Brand Director
Menu management
With an average selling time of 18 seconds per customer, the digital menus needed to fit the EAT brand experience and provide a quick, correct and easy-to-understand menu. EAT required comprehensive central control and simple store-level management, able to keep up with the fast pace of multiple daily menu changes.
The custom ‘Menu Manager’ solution is populated centrally by EAT Head Office for all stores. To accommodate the multiple daily changes needed by the 113 stores – such as sold out products – a user-friendly and web-based store-level interface was also created. Each store has their own login and is able to change options for their screens immediately and independently of the rest of the EAT estate. This means that Head Office still retain overall control of the menus and brand, per store, whilst local management have a quick and simple way of changing their products, without affecting store operations at peak periods with lengthy menu updates.
Trison are responsible for a range of creative outputs for EAT, including new promotion animations and concepts, and modifications to menu designs to incorporate new products, seasonal changes and concept trials.
EAT have launched a new store in the brand new Heathrow T2 Terminal, and as part of this digital-centric store, Trison installed a 10-screen panoramic video wall which features custom shot, high definition panoramic video content showing typical English landscapes and scenes, creating a relaxing lounge space in the store.
There were a variety of technical challenges to overcome to achieve the final effect of the ‘Horizon Screen’. From using the three 4K cameras in sync, to the huge files sizes and the requirement to blend all the videos into one seamless window experience. The store also features 46” portrait panels running day-parted promotions, supporting the digital menus.
Since the successful trial at The Strand, the menu solution has been rolled out to 53 stores, with the remaining to be completed by December 2014.
New website
The brand new, Trison designed website for EAT – eat.co.uk – has also recently been launched.
After a comprehensive development process over the summer, the new website replaces the old website which was designed quite a few years back!
The new website reflects the dynamic re-design which the brand has undertaken in the past 12 months, and also incorporates a number of up-to-date aproaches, including a fully responsive design, supporting a range of devices and mediums.
The website also features a Live Menu for each store, which is directly connected to the Digital Menu Management solution which Trison UK is responsible for. Each store can manage stock levels, and mark any products as “Sold Out”. This change is immediately reflected on both the website, and the store’s own digital screens.
