The pandemic has made it necessary for restaurants to limit face-to-face interactions as much as possible. In that effort, restaurants and pubs have set up QR codes for taking orders and digital payment.
We don’t think this change is going to go away as both customers and restaurants are benefiting from the use of QR codes. According to a survey, about eighty percent of pub-goers who have used digital methods to order online want to keep doing it in the future.
If you are wondering how your businesses can reap benefits from using QR codes, we’re here to give you a breakdown of them. We’ll also discuss the process of introducing QR codes to your restaurant.
Benefits of Using QR Code Menus And Payment Portals
There is no shortage of benefits to restaurants when it comes to using QR codes. Here’s a list of them.
- Reduce Expense by Eliminating Printing Cost
Printing Physical menus can increase your restaurant’s expense a lot if you frequently need to change it. The upside of having a digital menu is that you’ll save up on the expense of printing physical menus. The only expense will be the graphic designer you hire for this job.
- Reduced Staffing Cost
When a customer scans the QR code provided on their table, it redirects them to your restaurant’s website or app where they can have a look at your menu. After that, they can choose the items they want and order directly. Since you won’t need people to take orders, you can reduce the number of your waiting staff and save up.
Your staff can also focus more on the needs of the customer and provide a better service when they don’t have to run back to the kitchen.
- Getting Bigger Orders
Customers are likely to place a 30% bigger order when ordering digitally. This is because they don’t feel hassled to make a quick decision. They can take their time to order everything that they want.
Sometimes customers also find it awkward to order too many items at once, thinking they will be judged. Not having to tell another person that they want a second helping of fries, is just what can make the customers order that second helping.
- Better Dining Experience
There is nothing that can ruin a customer’s dining experience as much as having to wait for someone to take their order for too long can. As they say, first impressions stick to the mind and if your customer has had such an experience with your restaurant, they are unlikely to return.
QR codes reduce this waiting time as customers themselves are in charge of placing orders. Since the order is sent to the kitchen directly, the food can be prepared faster as well, reducing the time that your customers spend waiting even further.
- Reduced Expense on Updates to The Menu
You can update your menu frequently if you are using a digital menu. The process is also less time-consuming as there is only one thing you need to get done, which is updating the design of the menu.
If you just want to change only the prices or lists of items, then you can do that in a matter of minutes. You’ll just need minimal editing and integrating the updated menu into your system.
A digital menu is much less of a hassle.
- More Menu Design Options
With a printed menu, you have to worry about fitting things in a limited space. But with a digital menu, you can add as many enticing images as you want as there are no space limitations. Images can be far more lucrative when it comes to food, tempting your customers to try out more dishes. You can also add short videos to make certain items on your menu even more appealing.
- Customer Data
Customers have to input their email address and number to place their order. This lets the restaurant enter them into their mailing list or text marketing campaign. These channels of promoting restaurants have proven to be effective when done right.
Restaurants can get more customers to come back by sharing value-adding promotional content with their customers.
How Restaurants Can Use QR Codes?
To set up a QR code payment and ordering system at your restaurant, you have to take care of these steps.
- Create QR Codes for Ordering And Payment
You can do this with the help of numerous companies that offer their services to help your business set up QR Code payment and ordering systems. You can set up self-serve ordering with square online, Clover, or any other such company in the market.
- Setting Up Your Restaurant With Required Tools
You’ll have to ensure that your waitstaff has access to tablets or smartphones. You’ll need to configure some back-end software to integrate QR code ordering and payment with POS payment solutions.
- Place QR Codes in Appropriate Places
Place the created QR codes throughout your restaurant. The entrance, individual tables, near the cashier are places that are more visible to the customers. QR codes to place orders should be placed on individual tables so customers can scan them to order.
When the customers are done eating, your staff can bring them a printed-out QR code that they can scan to pay. Customers will either pay with a mobile wallet or they can manually input their payment information in a form that will load when the QR code is scanned.
Conclusion
Setting up QR code payment and ordering systems is easy and cost-efficient. You don’t have to spend a lot on hardware as your waiting staff most probably have access to smartphones. There are also loads of benefits for you in making this conversion.
People are moving towards mobile ordering and payment. This is becoming the preferred way of doing things. Customers these days expect to be able to pay with a quick scan and order without much face-to-face interaction. Setting up QR codes is a step in the right direction for any restaurant business.
