January 4, 2009
Newsblaze.com: Scientist David Pensak and students at the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia are testing touchscreen kiosks that allow customers to reserve tables, pre-order and pre-pay for meals at a Cheesecake Factory in a nearby mall. According to Pensak's research, a typical restaurant can serve three times as many customers when customers are not taking up table space waiting for menus, deciding what to order, waiting for the food to be prepared and waiting for waiters and waitresses to bring their bills. When the touchscreen reservation system becomes operational, Pensak and his students plan to charge 25 cents for each reservation.