You love your iPad. Heck, I love mine. And I’ve heard of restaurants using them as menus, but I’ve never actually seen this use in the wild. I was chatting with some friends about this…I seriously expected them to be used much more in restaurants. But during our conversation, we came up with many reasons why/why not to use them as restaurant menus. Here’s our list…if you work in a restaurant, I’d love to hear your opinion:
The Bad:
Table Turn: If you give each table an iPad as a menu, this could significantly increase turn time. Your customers will pass the iPad around, play with it and see what else can be done with it, directly affecting your profits.
Loss Prevention: A regular iPad cost $500+ and an iPad Mini costs $350+. They could easily be stolen or broken. This is a huge risk for an industry that already works on small margins.
The Good:
Accuracy: If you use an app where people can order directly via the iPad, you’ve just made service faster & cut back on server mistakes.
Pictures: It may be easier for people to make up their mind if they can see pictures of the food they are about to order.
POS System: I have seen some restaurants using their iPads as POS systems, so no need to purchase an expensive register and other software.
Cut Back on Costs: No further need to print out new menus every time there is an item change. Just update it.
Newsletter Signup: Capture your client’s email address so you can market to them later.
Upsells: You could easily install a “virtual sommelier” or partner up with a spirits distributor to drive alcohol sales and make a nice profit.
Social Media: You could encourage patrons to take pictures to post to your Instagram account of your meals…sure, this could backfire…but done right, it could result in tons of free publicity.