If you own a restaurant, it is very likely that you are implementing measures to stay up to date with new regulations and doing your best to eliminate the risk of COVID-19 infections while customers are enjoying a great meal in your facilities.

As a bar, restaurant, pub, or hotel owner you may now be concerned about using shared paper documents like menus, wine lists, offers, or other items such as salt, pepper, or even a ketchup bottle.

When it comes to save paper and reduce contact with physical items QR Codes are the perfect ally to bring digitalized content to your customers.

This post will show you how your business will benefit from using QR Codes not only to make your guests feel safer in covid times but also to bring in new customers.

Create a PDF QR Code for your menu

If you want an alternative to your paper menu, you can create a QR Code linking to your menu as a PDF file or an image. Probably the agency that created your menu or the print shop that is printing your promotional materials can provide you with the menu in PDF format. They can also help you with printing your QR Codes.

Place your QR Code on Table Stands, Posters or Roll-ups

Once you have created and printed a QR Code you can place your digital menu on different places. Your guests can scan the QR Codes in the restaurant on their table or even from outside when you are closed. Just put a QR Code in your window or at the entrance. Here are some ideas where you can put the QR Codes:

Use dynamic QR Codes to change your menu on the fly

By using dynamic QR Codes, you can update your menu anytime without having to print again your QR Codes. Change your menu seasonally, every week or even each day. All you need to do is replacing the PDF file in your dynamic QR Code. The QR Code stays the same and the content is updated effortlessly.

Get followers on social networks

If you have a Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram profile, you can use Social QR Codes to promote them and get new followers on your social networks. It is a smart way to keep in touch with your customers without depending too much on food delivery services.

Contact tracing forms

Many business around the world, specially restaurants, hotels and hospitality services, are being prompted by their governments to collect personal details and contact information of all their customers. The purpose of the collection is to assist with COVID-19 contact tracing tasks.

Regulations vary from country to country but they all share the same spirit, main traits and concerns for personal data privacy. For example, the Australian Governent published this Guidance for business that are obliged to keep track of their customer:

• You should only collect the personal information required under the Direction or Order.
• You should notify individuals before you collect the personal information.
• You should securely store this information once you have collected it.
• You should only provide this information to relevant health authorities who undertake contact tracing activities, when requested to do so.
• You should destroy this information once it is no longer reasonably necessary for the purpose of contact tracing.

You can create your own contact tracing form and connect it to a QR Code using a QRD subscription.

When your customers scan the QR Code they will be redirected to a form to collect: name, last name, phone, email, table number, date and time. Your data will be stored and ready to download on a CSV file in case it becomes necessary and it will be automatically deleted after a given period of time.

Get your customer’s email and give away 1-time redeemable vouchers

Get to know your customers better and organize promotions or contests for them to bring them in your restaurant. Using Lead QR Codes help you to collect personal information like name, email or phone numbers easily. In return you can offer your customers a special offer or a free drink.

You can do this by distributing 1-time redeemable vouchers with QR Code Coupons. When customers come to your place, they just need to show the QR Code and you can redeem the code by a simple scan and give away a free coffee or 10% off the bill.

The following example shows a QR Code that when scanned redirects you to a form. When you enter your name and email you will receive a one-time redeemable voucher to get a free burger.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner? Change your menu automatically

You can define a time schedule to display each of your menus.

Let’s say you serve breakfast from 7:00 to 9:00 am. You can have your breakfast menu displayed when your QR Code is scanned between those hours. The same will happen with your other meals during a given time range.

Since you will only need 1 QR Code to provide your menu info, you can get creative and even paint a large QR Code on your wall to be scanned by your guests. Change your menu seasonally, every week or even every day. All you have to do is replace the PDF file in your dynamic QR code. The QR code stays the same and the content is updated effortlessly.

You can even set up recurring redirects if you want to present special menus for your guests on certain days. In the following tutorial you will learn how you can create a smart menu with recurring menus for specific days and times.

Serve your menu in different languages

If you run a pub that is mainly visited by tourists, they will keep asking for your menu in their language. With a multilingual QR Code, your customers will be redirected to a menu in their language just by scanning a single code.

Ask for online reviews

QR codes can simplify the process of writing a review or rate your business. With just one scan, you can redirect your customers to a Google Review Page to provide feedback.

Communicate with your customers through direct messaging

If you use WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger to get orders from your customers you can also create a WhatsApp QR Code for your guests to connect more easily.

Delivery Services

If you are offering delivery services through companies like Just Eat, Delivery Hero, Mjam, etc. you can create QR Codes redirecting to your page in their directory. Your customers can now order online just by scanning a QR Code. For example, Papillon Pizza is delivering Italian food in London through the service Just Eat. By scanning the QR Code below you will be redirected directly to their online menu.

If you generate a QR Code redirecting to your own page, you can create stickers, refrigerator-magnets, or fliers so users only need to scan the QR Code and place the order :)

Your business is always open for guests

Even if your restaurant or bar is closed, you can still provide valuable information to potential customers passing by, such as opening hours, social media links, offer the possibility to make a reservation or even order something to eat online.

Hotels welcome QR Codes

Your future guests and the new situation (post-COVID19) will require comprehensive information about your company’s services using safe, paperless and contactless solutions.

From breakfast times and restaurant offers, to information about technical facilities or information about points of interest or offices, should be available from your room.

In order to replace the flyer, the information folder or the leaflet, a corresponding QR code is available, which leads to a landing page or content files containing the corresponding information.

The paperless experience will provide your customer a new range of services, with the highest level of availability and efficiency since al the info will be available 24×7 and updated real-time.

Link to lifestyle content

Use QR Codes to share contents that your customers can enjoy – for example a video of your chef cooking and presenting your best-seller dish or show where your wine is made and that you support local businesses.

Responsive Landing Page

The optimal way to display the menu of your restaurant or any document in a smartphone is through a responsive website. It is easy to browse and allows you to create and update contents and images very easily, however, you may need some HTML knowledge.

If you already have a website with the menu on it, it will be as easy as creating a dynamic QR Code linking to that specific URL and you are good to go.

You can also use our custom landing page solution to create or upload an HTML page with CSS and JavaScript. You can even host your images with us.

Shouldn’t I just use a PDF?

Many restaurant owners are using this solution. However, keep in mind that depending on the phone settings some users need to download the PDF first and the process may not be as smooth and fast as displaying a responsive landing page.

That said, creating a PDF QR Code is by far the quickest solution if you do not have a website. If you create one or a custom landing page in the future, you can always redirect your existing dynamic QR Codes to the new content.

For Agencies and Print Shops

You as an agency or print shop might have many hotels and restaurants as a customer. If you are interested in a multi-user solution to manage different restaurants you can try our White Label QR Code Manager. You can create dynamic QR Codes for each of your clients containing their domain and corporate design.