The use of QR codes in restaurants is undoubtedly a game changer. In fact, a 2022 Deloitte study found that consumers spend 20% more using tableside ordering, online menus, and handheld POS system.
A QR menu, in essence, is a digital alternative to the printed paper menus or chalkboards traditionally used in restaurants. If you’re finding it a headache to print your menus, then this could be the solution you’ve been dreaming of.
What exactly are QR codes, and how do they work? This article explores that and much more. By the time we’re through, you’ll have all the knowledge you need to implement a QR code ordering system in your restaurant.
What is a QR Code Menu & How Does It Work?
As its name suggests, a QR code menu is simply a digital restaurant menu that, instead of being printed, is accessed via a QR (Quick Response) code — the black-and-white checked squares you may have seen in other restaurants and cafes.
To view a digital menu, customers need to open the camera app on their smartphone and scan a code. This code takes them to the restaurant or cafe's digital phone menu on their mobile device.
So, instead of a traditional, printed menu, which can be costly to keep updated, a QR menu offers a simple, contactless way for customers to view your food. The process goes something like this:
- You create a digital version of your menu (a one-page website or a landing page), which includes all of the different sections of the paper version—food and drink categories, items you serve, prices, descriptions, and selection buttons.
- You can then input the URL to your page into a QR code generator, which will create a QR code menu.
- You can print out the QR code and paste it on tables, entryways, or other easy-to-see places in your dining space.
- Customers open the camera on their mobile device, scan the QR code, and are directed to your digital menu, which they can read right there on their phone.
- You can easily update the menu digitally as you go and customers are able to order and pay straight through their mobile devices.
How To Implement QR Ordering System in a Restaurant?
Bringing a scan to order system into your restaurant delivers a dining experience that’s both modern and maximally convenient for your customers. Let’s have a look at how you can implement your own QR menu.
Step 1 - Choose a QR Ordering System
Research and select a pre-built QR menu system that meets your restaurant's specific requirements. Look into different providers and compare features, pricing plans, and opinions from other users.
Go with a dynamic solution such as the 3S POS QR Code Ordering system to get all the required features, such as menu customisation options, compatibility with your POS system, sales analytics, easy implication, and a user-friendly interface for staff and customers.
Step 2 - Understand the Features
Once you have chosen your system, take the time to understand all of its features and functionalities. This will include areas on how to customise your menu layout, how to upload menu items with descriptions and prices, how to add high-quality images, how to organise menu sections, but also how to add allergy information, multiple languages, and special promotions you may be running.
Step 3 - Upload Your Menu
Enter all your restaurant’s menu details into your new system. Start with the names of the dishes; make sure that the descriptions you use highlight what the item is and go into more detail about the ingredients.
Make sure that the prices you enter are accurate, and, of course, make sure that you have an appealing image for each restaurant menu item. Ensure that the menu is well-organised and easy to navigate.
Step 4 - Generate QR Codes
Generate one or multiple QR codes for your system that you’re going to place on your tables. Each QR code should have a unique URL that links to the digital menu, so for example, for table 5, you can create a URL saying Order-Coming-From-Table-5. This is to make sure that you have a way to tell which code is associated with which table.
The way you can create restaurant QR codes can vary depending on the system you select. Some systems may offer free QR code creation as part of the package, while for other systems, you might have to use a 3rd-party QR code generator such as QRCode Monkey or Canva Code Generator. To find out whether or not this is the case, you should contact the company who’s POS system you use.
Step 6 - Print QR Codes
Print the QR codes on a table tent, a sticker, or a laminated card. This helps prevent them from getting damaged and not working over time. Once you’ve done this, place them in a visible area on each of your tables so that customers can use the system without difficulty.
Step 7 - Train Your Staff
Train your staff on how they can introduce digital menus to customers without being overwhelming. During these training sessions, it is also smart to show them how to troubleshoot some of the most basic issues and to let them play around with the online menu so that they know how to navigate around it.
Step 9 - Test & Adjust
Before you launch your QR menu to your diners, it’s important that you do thorough testing on the system to ensure that everything is functioning. Scan each of your table’s QR codes to ensure they go to the correct link and that each item displays correctly. Try placing an order by making different selections to ensure that every button functions.
Step 10 - Launch
Now, you’re ready to launch. Tell your staff to recommend using the system as often as they can when people come to eat at your restaurant. Make sure to always keep a couple of spare printed menus to hand for people who don’t have access to a mobile device.
Benefits of the QR Ordering System
Here’s why you should implement a QR ordering system. There are actually lots of great benefits you can gain from these systems, from saving money to increasing sales throughput.
Contactless Ordering
With QR codes for restaurants, customers can easily access your menu and place an order directly from their own smartphones. This allows for contactless ordering where your staff members don’t need to spend as much time with individual diners. Diners can take order whenever they like, so they don’t feel rushed or are waiting around for a waiter to attend to them.
Efficiency & Convenience
QR code menus enable customers to place their order at their own pace, so it’s easier for them to browse the entire menu, move between categories, see images and detailed descriptions of each dish. In addition, orders are more accurate when placed by guests as opposed to being taken by busy servers, which leads to far fewer mistakes and increased overall satisfaction with the dining experience.
Cost Savings
With a physical menus, the cost of updating and reprinting menus can add up. With QR menus, the menu can easily be changed and updated at any time for no additional cost. This makes it far easier for you to update your menu with daily or seasonal specials, or simply give a tired and stale menu a new look. Another great benefit is that your staff can spend time on other tasks rather than taking people's orders so it saves you money as it increases productivity.
Increased Sales
You can programme QR menus with features that highlight popular items or suggest selling based on various factors. These features can include discount offers, seasonal specials, add-ons, or similar prompts to upsell and cross-sell. Overall, this increases customers' average order value.
Analytics
The QR menu system typically comes equipped with a multitude of analytics tools that can give you a great deal of insight into your customers — what they are ordering, when they are ordering, what times are the busiest, etc. You can use this data to help understand what types of items need to be on your menu, what price points are popular, and to generate marketing strategies based on facts, not speculation.
Environmentally Friendly
In addition to helping people maintain cleaner and healthier restaurants, switching to QR menus can also help brand your eco-friendly practices to an audience that is increasingly receptive to restaurants that do just that. They save on paper so less trees are cut down. It’s a win win.
Improved Customer Experience
By making it easier for people to read your menu, customise their order, and then submit it, you can make it easier for them to order and pay. Happy customers tend to spend more money and tell their friends how great your restaurant is.
Conclusion
In summary, a QR ordering system in your restaurant offers a range of benefits, from enhanced convenience for customers to cost savings. Beyond modernising your restaurant, the technology supports a smoother ordering process and dining experience that reflects the industry's newest norms. Ultimately integrating QR menus is a strategic decision that allows you to improve customer experience and boost your profits.
For almost 20 years, 3S POS has offered one of the most flexible EPOS systems to international brands such as Caffe Concerto, Maroush, Comptoir Libanais, Pepe’s Piri Piri, GDK and thousands more delighted customers.
If you are looking for a QR Code Ordering System with payment options, speak to our sales for a free demo.