QL powers El Pollo Loco’s Restaurant Signage
Digital signage software pioneer Navori Labs has flexed its muscle in the QSR and fast casual community with a new enterprise-level deployment for El Pollo Loco, the nation’s leading fire-grilled chicken restaurant chain. El Pollo Loco has successfully deployed Navori QL digital signage software to power digital menu board content inside 150 locations to date. The company can now efficiently update pricing and content on short notice while offering a more compelling visual experience as customers place orders.
The primarily southwestern US chain, which was last year recognized by a Civic Science survey as the nation’s #1 quick-service Mexican restaurant for customer experience, was seeking a more reliable solution for dynamic content updating and visual display after mixed results with a homegrown infrastructure.
Moving forward, EPL expects to leverage QL’s content scheduling capabilities as they explore more dayparting opportunities, which will simplify how they promote certain meal options deals at different periods of the business-day cycle. EPL is also bullish on QL’s seamless interoperability with third-party data sources, which opens endless opportunities to integrate with other internal business systems and pull in digital signage content from external sources.
EPL selects the Navori STiX Media Player
El Pollo Loco went with Navori QL StiX media player dongles for content playout. QL StiX players ensure exceptional video quality that aligns with the chain’s customer experience standards, but also removes any need for local management. It also streamlines the technical architecture inside stores, removing the need for standalone hardware players.
“We simply attach the dongles to the appropriate display input, and can remotely update content as needed,” said Matthews. “We don’t need to replace sticks or manage anything at the store, and should we upgrade our displays to 4K the QL StiX players can accommodate the higher resolution without any changes.”
Easy integration with Symphony POS
Navori’s QL Content Manager has efficiently centralized content management across all locations on the network. There was an immediate improvement in translating dynamic price changes straight out of the point of sale system, as Matthews explains. He quickly configured a JSON interface that enabled the QL software to overlay local restaurant price points on digital menu boards. Thanks to Navori QL’s built in Data Feed Manager, there was no need for any complex integrations.
Future plans
EPL sees QL’s automation and content triggering applications as particularly compelling. “Navori makes it possible to add digital triggers at entryways that will serve different content upon a customer’s entry into the restaurant, based on that customer’s characteristics,” said Matthews. “That adds a level of intelligence that, along with audience analytics, will be appealing to our marketing department. For example, the preview board could focus on the primary message we want every customer to see, with QL then triggering content more specific to each customer.”
About El Pollo Loco
El Pollo Loco (Nasdaq: LOCO) is the nation’s leading fire-grilled chicken restaurant chain renowned for its masterfully citrus-marinated, fire grilled chicken and handcrafted entrees using fresh ingredients inspired by Mexican recipes. With over 480 company-owned and franchised restaurants in Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Louisiana, El Pollo Loco is expanding its presence in key markets through a combination of company and existing and new franchisee development.
