“電子菜單”進餐館 節約成本刺激消費

Restaurants in Europe, the United States and Japan are testing technology to let diners order their food direct from a screen at their table instead of depending on a fellow human being to note their choice -- sometimes grumpily or erroneously.

Besides cutting costs, companies that sell the "e-menu" argue the bytes-for-bites approach has a novelty value that can lure younger customers, and boost revenues as tantalizing photographs of succulent steaks and gooey desserts tempt diners to order more.

In Israel, privately owned start-up Conceptic has already installed e-Menu technology in sushi bars, pubs and family restaurants. The system is based on touch-screens already used in self-service canteens or for ticketing in airports and cinemas.

"It's about impulse-buying," said Adi Chitayat, Conceptic's chief executive. "If a person starts looking at pictures of chocolate cake, the chances are he'll order it."

The firm has also supplied its systems to restaurants in France, South Africa and Belgium.

Frame, a trendy sushi restaurant in Tel Aviv which has installed the system, said sales on tables with the e-Menu have increased by about 11 percent. Customers often call ahead to reserve spots equipped with the screens, manager Natalie Edry told reporters.

At one of the e-Menu tables, information technology worker Gil Uriel and his young family were enthusiastic as they checked out pictures of the dishes on offer and squabbled over desserts.

"It's more visual," said Uriel. "We can still choose, we can still argue -- but it's much easier when you can all see it."

歐洲、美國和日本的一些餐館目前正在試用一種可讓顧客直接通過餐桌上的屏幕點餐的技術，這項新技術取代了服務員點餐——服務態度不好或忙中出錯的情況也可以避免了。

推廣這項“電子菜單”技術的公司稱，這種新潮的電子點餐法除了可以節約成本外，還能吸引年輕顧客，而且牛排和甜點等各種美味佳肴的圖片能“引誘”顧客消費，從而增加餐館的收益。

新成立的以色列“新概念”私人公司推出的這套“電子菜單”系統目前已在壽司店、酒吧和家庭餐館中使用。該系統使用的是觸摸屏，這種屏幕在自助餐廳和機場、影院的自動售票機上可以見到。

新概念公司的執行總裁阿迪•齊塔亞特說：“這會引起顧客‘沖動消費’。如果顧客看到了巧克力蛋糕的圖片，很有可能會點它。”

目前，該公司已將這一系統推廣到了法國、南美和比利時的餐館。

以色列特拉維夫的一家名叫Frame的流行壽司店安裝了這一系統。據其介紹，安裝了電子菜單的餐桌收益增長了約11%。餐廳老板娜塔莉•艾德里在接受記者采訪時說，顧客們常打電話提前預定安裝有電子點餐屏的桌子。

在其中一張電子點餐桌上，年輕的IT工程師吉爾•烏力爾正與家人一起興致勃勃地瀏覽菜肴的圖片、討論點哪些甜品。

烏力爾說：“這種點餐方式更加直觀。我們仍然可以挑選、討論——但同時可以看見所有菜肴的圖片，這就好辦多了。”