To say the COVID-19 pandemic required significant operational changes is an understatement, but the restaurant industry is nothing if not resilient. Indoor dining spaces, bars, and restaurants are yet again adapting their service to meet the evolving needs of their customers, especially when it comes to health and safety measures. 

Some restaurant owners are struggling to hire enough staff to meet the demands of reopening indoor dining. 

“The QR code menu and dine-in ordering have become popular among restaurants and bars looking to ease the strain of staffing shortages,” explained Menufy sales manager Ashley Day. Establishments are concerned with ensuring a safe reopening and have decided to transition to a paperless, QR code menu experience. 

But what are QR menu codes, and how do they help restaurants?

Meet the QR Code Menu

According to Business Insider, Quick Response (QR) codes are a type of barcode easily readable with digital devices. Diners can use their smartphone camera to scan a QR code that will automatically direct them to your online menu. These custom codes allow restaurants to provide access to menus and ordering without the risk of potential cross-contamination.

Access Your Code

All Menufy restaurant partners have access to a free, unique QR code in their Menufy Manager account. Once logged into your Menufy Manager account, locate the Dashboard tab.

Once you have saved your custom code, it can be printed and used as table toppers or posters. Need help printing your code? Menufy offers premium printing services designed around your restaurant's branding.

Benefits of Paperless Menus

1. Health & Safety

Traditional printed menus are considered high-touch items. They are often passed among diners and handled by multiple front-of-house staff and therefore require regular disinfection or replacement. Restaurants that provide a paperless menu option reduce the risk of transmitting potentially harmful viruses. 

Consider creating QR code stickers that can be secured to tables, bar tops, or your to-go counter for easy customer access. 

2. Easy-to-Update Menus

Changes to printed menus are costly and oftentimes cause headaches. Making minor changes to a menu requires reprinting and processing, which can sometimes take days to complete. 

Unlike paper menus, QR code menus are easy to edit on the fly. For our point-of-sale (POS) integrated restaurants, QR codes are the most accurate menu option, as online ordering syncs with your POS. Any back-of-house edits to menu items or pricing appear instantly on the customer-facing menu.

3. Ease Staffing Strains

If your restaurant is struggling with server shortages, QR codes can help ease the staffing burden of reopening your dining floor. Customers can navigate to your online ordering page and select the dine-in option to view your menu. Diners can then place an order, indicate their table number, and pay without the assistance of a server. 

Once an order is placed, a ticket with the table number is generated in the kitchen, indicating a dine-in order. This lets the back-of-house staff know to plate the food rather than box it up for carryout.

“The expo, food runner, or any staff in-house can then deliver the food to the table,” explained Day. Implementing this system will allow in-house staff to focus on other tasks, especially when the restaurant is short-staffed. 

Restaurants that offer counter service can use a QR menu to reduce the time customers wait in line, improving the customer experience. Upon arrival, diners can access your online menu and quickly place their order instead of wasting time in line. This option allows your staff to spend less time taking orders and more time fulfilling them. 

4. Menu Experience

A digital menu can do more for your patrons than traditional paper menus. “Customers can view the menu on their own devices,” suggested Day, making the ordering process more familiar. Digital menus are “easy to view and read for the customer as their phone settings may be modified to adjust to their visual needs, such as larger fonts.”  

A delicious food picture will increase the likelihood of a diner adding an extra appetizer or selecting a featured dish. Menufy can upload photos to your restaurant’s online ordering page, improving the customer’s understanding of each menu item. 

If you want to learn more about taking mouth-watering food pictures, Menufy experts have compiled a list of best practices for photographing menu items.

Final Thoughts 

Offering a QR code menu is the newest way to improve the diner experience and ensure the health of your customers and employees. Not only are paperless menus convenient and cost-efficient, but they also help relieve the pain of staffing shortages. 

For Menufy restaurant partners, a custom code is available at no additional cost and is easily accessible through the Manager portal. If you are a restaurant owner looking to take advantage of commission-free online ordering and free marketing tools, visit our website or call us to chat at (913) 738-9399.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Melissa Dimmitt, Marketing Communications Coordinator

Melissa began her digital marketing career nearly a decade ago at a restaurant group. She worked with restaurant managers and executive chefs while coordinating seasonal menu releases, executing photoshoots, and creating fresh digital content.