Design and Implementation of Computerized Restaurant Menu System (A Case Study of Aroma Restaurant, Bauchi)
Chapter One
Objective of the Study
The general objective of this study is to design and implement a computerized Restaurant menu and the specific objectives are:
1. To analyze the requirements of the proposed system.
2. To design and develop a computerized restaurant menu system.
3. To test and implement the computerized restaurant menu system.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This chapter documents the conceptualization, review of the literature, the empirical review and the summary of the research gap. Materials such as printed textbooks, journals and past copies of research work were gotten from the library and materials such as: ebooks and journals were gotten online.
Conceptualization
The primary idea behind any restaurant menu, be it a manual or automated one, is to provide the information about the available foods and drinks within a restaurant to customers and convey the choices of the customers to the kitchen. Menu maintains its dominant position in restaurant firms, since it is the core of food and beverage operations. It communicates not only the food and beverage offerings, but also the image of the firm. Furthermore, menu is a base on which the customers make their food choices and a well-designed menu can direct customers’ attention to the items the restaurant wants to sell more.
In the current system, the static menu is utilized to convey the available food and beverage choices to customers. This research work specifies the requirements for a computerized restaurant menu and ordering replacement strategy to alleviate the problems associated with the current method. Two related concepts are encompassed by the general scope of the Restaurant Menu and Ordering System. The first pertains to the replacement of paper menus using an electronic format and the second surrounds the process of transferring said
electronic orders to the kitchen for preparation. It should be noted that while the suggested strategy incorporates the use of various hardware components, the primary focus of this project, relates only to the constituent software elements.
CHAPTER THREE
SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
Introduction
This section documents the analysis and design of the system to be implemented. It provides the general structure of how the researcher goes about to answer the research questions. It also documents the research strategies.
Research Design
In order to investigate the research questions proposed by this study, the qualitative method was undertaken. This method was chosen because it is based on inductive reasoning and it enables the researcher to make use of case study to analyze and understand the requirement of the computerized restaurant menu and what is effect of the information on menu, waiting staff, and innovative technology on customer satisfaction.
Population of the Study
The population of this study, is the entire customer of Aroma restaurant Bauchi and the manager of the restaurant.
CHAPTER FOUR
SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION
Choice Implementation Platform
The computerized restaurant menu system is design combining both the client and server side processing technologies (Hybrid). The client-side processing take care of the menu display for customer, provide information about the food and it also handle the price calculation but rely the connections provided by the server side to convey the customer choice of food to the waiter.
CHAPTER FIVE
RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
Summary
Hospitality industries is a very dynamic competitive environment in which for business organization to compete successfully with its competitors, it need to automate many of its processes. Restaurant being part of this industry, faces a lot of challenges in conveniently communicating with their customer in terms of presenting their food and drinks available to the customer in manner that will influence his/her decision. Automating the menu
system for the restaurant has helped in the reducing or if not completely eradicating the challenge. But despite this great value presented by this computerized menu, most restaurants in Nigeria, Bauchi state to be more specific, still operate base on the paper menu which is very ineffective leading to the underperformances of most of them.
Conclusion
Traditional restaurant printed menu design today is moving to next generation (computerized menu). Increasing numbers of restaurants especially casual dining restaurants are adapting computerized menu system as their next generation’s marketing and communication tool. Comparing to printed menu, computerized menu could be a sufficient way to enhance restaurants’ brand identity and help diners to build positive attitude towards the restaurants, which will increase their brand loyalty for better benefits.
Recommendations
In line with the finding from this research, the researcher has the following recommendations:
(i) For a restaurant to compete favorably, with its competitors, it must embrace technology in most of it operation to be successful.
(ii) Menu being a communication tool between the restaurant and its customers, goes in a very long way in promoting the restaurant corporate image therefore, there is a high need for it automation in a way that is appealing to customer and effective in the order processing.
(iii) To have a full functional computerized menu, there is a need for the restaurant to install local area network for the client system to be able to communicate wirelessly or through LAN cable with the waiter or the kitchen effectively.
(iv) In the absent of LAN network, the waiting staff can come in handy by collecting customer choices through the handheld devices.
(v) The images being display by the menu should be in line with the requirement obtain from the legal feasibility study carried out.
Implications of the Study
After a careful analysis of the results in respect to the research questions of this study, this study will be of great value to academia and the restaurant industry. It has been identified that the use of technology is a rising trend in the restaurant industry.
Academia.
The results of this study have set the foundation for future research on computerized menu.
This is so, as there was no evidence of research with the usability of menus and the ordering experience as the primary focus. From the theoretical framework, future studies could be conducted to examine the perceived control customer gain from utilizing the computerized menu versus the traditional paper based menu. within Bauchi city.
Industry.
Customer are becoming more technology oriented as they are now utilizing technology to conduct business, buy and sell goods, make restaurant reservations and order meal from their remote locations, therefore this study provided confirmation that the restaurant industry can implement computerized menu, has the ability to enhance the experiential qualities of the dining experience for customers.
References
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- Buchanan, N. (2011). An examination of electronic tablet based menus for the restaurant industry. (Master’s thesis), University of Delaware.
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- Dixon, M., Kimes, S.E & Verma, R. (2009). Customer preference for restaurant technology innovations. Cornell Hospitality Report 9(7), p 4- 16
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