Reach out and touch the menu

We are constantly throwing new ideas around in the simpleERB test lab. Some, we think are great, others, less so. The good ones usually become part of simpleERB. We also have ideas scribbled on bits of paper that have been there so long, the ink has begun to fade. Every now and again, something will come along which validates something that we had already thought about.
So, we were interested to read a study recently carried out by the University of Michigan about ordering food via a touchscreen. The study shows that as a diner, you are more likely to interact and feel stimulated about certain menu items if there is a visual or physical (touching a screen) element to the process of ordering a meal.
Aside from the increased appeal of certain menu items, ordering via a tablet or electronic device allows you to update your menu without re-printing tens (or hundreds) of new menus and opens up the possibilities of linking to your POS or ERB! The orders could also go directly to your kitchen brigade creating a more seamless and efficient restaurant operation whilst avoiding those occasions where your waitstaff get waylaid on their way to the POS to enter the extra drinks or food that the customer just ordered.
We’re hardly traditionalists here at simpleERB but we still appreciate that asking your customers to order via a tablet rather than a good old paper menu may seem more favourable to restaurateurs but technology is changing the way we work all the time. It might not be too long before the days or a dog-eared menu go out with the trash.