What To Know About QR Codes for Restaurants

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, QR codes are a must-have option for restaurants. If you have been to a restaurant lately, you may have had to aim your phone at a black-and-white image, usually made up of dotted squares to get the menu. It’s a QR code or quick response code.

A QR code menu is a barcode that contains information of a restaurant menu. With a click of a camera phone, customers instantly access your digital menu.

QR code was created in 1994 for the Japanese automotive industry, QR codes exist for 26 years but their massive adoption happens recently when the pandemic took off worldwide. They're popular not only for providing a touch-free experience, but also because they're easy to use and open up a new world of benefits.

If paired with JoyUp customers can put in orders and pay from their mobile phones.

COVID-19 changed the game for QR codes

In 2021 State of the Restaurant Industry report, the National Restaurant Association discovered that half the full-service restaurants surveyed had added new QR code menus to their service since March of 2020. This was particularly true of family, casual and fine dining restaurants. The link-management service Bitly noted an impressive 75 percent increase in QR code downloads between March of 2020 and August of 2021.

Percentage of restaurant operators who added a QR code-accessible menu since the beginning of the outbreak in March (Source: National Restaurant Association)

A MobileIron survey of consumers in the U.S. and the U.K. in September of 2020 found that over 80% of respondents reported having scanned QR codes. 36.4% of those respondents had done so in the past week, 26% in the past month, and 10% had scanned a QR code that very day.

The survey found a generally positive attitude toward the use of QR codes. Nearly 67% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “QR codes make life easier in a touchless world,” and over 58% said they’d like to see broader use of QR codes post-pandemic.

Why QR code menus for restaurants?

1. They Are Safer

QR code menus eliminate a common point of contact, which can help operators limit the spread of communicable diseases. If every customer has a copy of the menu on their phone, there's no need to worry about sanitizing physical menus between uses. This equates to a safe dining experience and lowers the risk of COVID transmission.

2. Reduced Costs

All menus are digital, saving restaurants money on printing and design services.

3. Easy to Update and Change Menus

With digital QR-code menus, restaurant managers and owners can test out new menu items, change branding, or make minor changes to a menu without having to print, laminate, pickup, and distribute menus like with traditional menus. Restaurant staff simply go edit their menu online and it is automatically updated across the QR codes. This helps operators craft a seasonable menu, remove inefficient or unpopular items, and feature whatever items are most profitable without investing in new menus.

4. Better Menu Design & Diner Experience

Contactless menus usually are built with a menu builder that has existing menu designs with strong user experience, meaning you can make your most popular items stand out and have more customers finding their order faster.

5. Better Customer Data

Digital menus capture user data on what items are most popular, if menu designs are confusing customers, and more. Digital menus allow restaurant managers to monitor how customers interact with their menu in real-time, providing unmatched data for owners.

6. Integrates with Existing Restaurant Software Systems

Contactless QR-code menu apps integrate with existing restaurant POS systems, online ordering systems, waitlist apps, and more. This means better data and insights for restaurant owners and better user experience for restaurant diners.

7. Environmentally Friendly

Scan codes for menus mean no plastic menu covers that eventually get thrown away, no constantly printing new menus, and no need to waste water sanitizing menus.

How to create QR codes for restaurants?

There are several different online services you can use to create QR codes for your menus.

Creating a QR code is simple, but if you want one with an elegant, brand-specific design, you'll need to look at premium services. Also, if you don't already have a virtual menu, you'll need to create one. It can be as simple as taking a picture of your current menu and linking it to a QR code.

For most establishments, you won't want a service that requires your customer to download an app, as that can be annoying and puts more steps between customer and food. However, the advanced features available in an app can, in certain circumstances, be worth the hassle.

Note: Using free QR Code have their own limit, they create issues while scanning.

How to Use QR code at a restaurant

Today's smartphones have built-in QR Code readers with the camera, so there's no special app to install. This creates very simple steps for customers:

Point a phone camera at a QR code and wait for just a few seconds.
A notification will pop up that, when clicked, will send you to a web page.
These web pages can be anything - online menus, social media, ordering forms, and much more.
Explore the menu on your phone, then enjoy your meal!

How Restaurants Use Menu QR Codes

Decide where you want customers to go online. Typically, to a contactless menu.
Generate a QR code. Often, you can do this right in your design program.
Place the code into a piece to be printed as you would any other graphic.
Repeat for as many different marketing pieces as you please. There is no technical limit.
Even put a code linking to your digital menu inside your printed menu. Or a code that links to a daily specials page.
Post your marketing pieces in your windows, doorways, on tabletops, and curbside. Your customers will take advantage of the codes!
Create a Link Page that can hold multiple links, so your QR Code adds more valu

Best Ways to Display QR Codes

Once you upload your menu and create a QR code, you'll need to post it around your restaurant.

Here are some great ways to put your QR code where your customers can easily see and scan it:

Menus

Give your customers the option to scroll through a digital version of your menu on a phone.

Table Tents

Place the QR code right in front of your customers in a modest manner with free-standing table tents.

Tabletop Inserts

Just slide the insert into the holder and start scanning.

Posters

A cheap and effective means to post your QR code all over your windows and walls.

Flyers

Spread your menu all over town with flyers featuring your QR code.

Sandwich Boards

Let passerby scan your QR code with free-standing sidewalk signage.

Stickers and Labels

Turn every surface into an opportunity to display your QR Code.

Rack Cards

Make your promos pop with QR codes on rack cards.

Business Cards

Stand out when you network with business cards that make it easy for customers to look you up.

What Next?

Finding ways to make guests feel safe is now a top priority for restaurant operators. With QR codes, you'll experience a reduction in wait times for your customers and an increase in satisfaction and efficiency. This not only benefits the morale of your diners and their probability to return or recommend, but creates a more awesome experience at work for your employees as well.

Restaurant operators will need to look forward and adapt to shifting customer concerns by using smart, safe strategies to serve guests.

At JoyUp, we offer an efficient QR Code solution for generating, monitoring, and customizing QR codes. Additional QR Codes can also be added to our platform upon request, providing an effortless, fully integrated user experience.

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