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Hotels worldwide are going digital and using advanced technologies to ease operations, reduce staff workload and improve customer satisfaction. One of the most cost-effective technologies with many uses and benefits is the quick response (QR) code technology.
Hoteliers use QR codes to promote, upsell and increase customer engagement. One of the more popular applications of QR codes is hotel restaurant menus. They are interactive, and the best providers have advanced features allowing personalization and convenience.
What is a QR code menu?
Many restaurant owners have already turned to QR code menus to improve their restaurant operations and customer satisfaction. But what exactly are QR code menus? They are digital menus using quick response technology to access the food and beverage list.
With QR code menus, you need to create a good menu structure that’s easy to read and offers a visual representation of your F&B. It’s just like designing a traditional menu for your restaurant using print materials but digitally and more conveniently.
You host the menu on a specific webpage (e.g., the restaurant menu on your hotel’s website) and convert it into a QR code.
You can place QR restaurant menus anywhere you wish, but some strategic places are the tabletops, guest rooms, the bar or tent cards. Customers can quickly scan the printed code with their smartphone or another mobile device with a QR scanner to access the digital version of your menu.
Why should you create a QR code for your menu?
There isn’t only one specific reason you should create dynamic QR codes for your menu. The reality is that creating menu QR codes presents numerous opportunities for you, your business and your customers. Let’s see some of the reasons why you might want to implement this technology.
Use technology trends to stay ahead of the competition
Many hotels already have implemented the latest technology trends into their business operations to achieve excellence and meet customer demands. Most people are not only used to but expect to be able to perform most of the operations through their mobile devices.
The QR technology doesn’t fall behind and is widely used for various purposes such as increasing guest engagement, upselling and cross-selling, executing marketing campaigns and more. Creating QR codes for your hotel restaurant menus gains you a competitive edge and helps hotel guests recognize you as a leader in hospitality industry services.
Create an online queueing system
No matter your restaurant’s capacity and the number of employees, it can always happen that you are fully booked and new customers start to arrive. As no hotel or restaurant owner wants to turn their guests away, creating an online (virtual) queuing system might be the best solution in a similar situation.
Your arriving restaurant guests can scan a QR code which leads them to a custom landing page where they can enter their contact details, such as names, email addresses or phone numbers.
By submitting the information, they are automatically added to a virtual queuing system which will send them a personalized message when their table is ready, and you can tend to their needs. In the meantime, they can enjoy nearby attractions without constantly having to check up on you.
Offer safe and contactless menus
Another reason to create QR codes for your menus is health and safety considerations which rose throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Providing your guests with a contactless menu will reduce unnecessary touchpoints and enable customers to use their own devices, thus reducing the risk of potentially transmitting harmful bacteria and viruses.
Allow your guests to access your menu from anywhere
Allow your guests to access your contactless QR code menus from anywhere by placing them on the restaurant premises and in other hotel parts.
Except for the tables and the bar, you might want to print out and place the codes inside the guest rooms for room service orders or around the lobby so your newly arrived guests can quickly see what you offer.
All they need to do is scan the QR code to see your best offers and most popular dishes. That way, your customers will know what they want for lunch or dinner before entering the restaurant.
Structure large menus and make them easy to navigate
Does your restaurant offer a large selection of food and beverages? Are you looking for a way to make it easy to scan for your customers and facilitate their choice? Creating QR code menus will enable you to do so.
While with print-put menus, clients have to flip through the pages to find something of their liking, digital menus can use options such as searching and filtering.
You can create categories based on the type of meal/beverage or the time of the day (breakfast/lunch/dinner menus). Digital menus also enable your guests to meet all their dietary requirements with the option to sort out meals by including or excluding specific types of ingredients.
Make F&B orders interactive and increase customer engagement
With QR code menus, you can easily engage with customers and create an interactive environment for them. Adding clickable headers and banners, high-quality images, search and filtering options, and special promotions are not always possible with printed menus.
Your customers can submit feedback and reviews about your F&B options and services.
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Key benefits of QR code menus
QR code menus offer various benefits for hospitality businesses. Most restaurants that implement the technology as their menu solution experience easier updates, reduced costs, convenience and the ability to collect valuable data and gain insights.
Easy updates
Every restaurant updates its menu once in a while. Printing entirely new menus can take a lot of time and materials. With QR codes, you can easily update your menu, edit the URL page or upload a new PDF file.
The dynamic QR code stays the same, so you don’t have to print out new ones and replace them with the old ones.
Reduced costs
Easy updates of digital menus reduce printing needs and consequently printing and laminating costs. Customers can quickly access the menu by using their smartphone camera. Thus restaurant employees don’t need to think about supplying every new table with a paper menu. Instead, they can focus on other tasks and increase revenue and tips.
Eco-friendliness
Reduce your environmental footprint and generate less waste by eliminating physical menus. QR codes are eco-friendly and the perfect solution for hospitality businesses. Such practices gain popularity among eco-conscious travelers and turn them into potential customers.
Convenience
Digital menus are a convenient way to reduce order and service times to a minimum and improve customer satisfaction. Your guests can start looking through the menu immediately after choosing their table, and some of them can choose their preferred dishes even before entering the restaurant.
Branded design
You can design and personalize your PDF file or webpage according to your brand colors, fonts, and other signature looks. Besides branding, you can highlight special offers and promotions and add engaging and user-friendly filters and banners.
Data collection
Some QR code generators offer advanced customer data collection and trend analytics features. Using such features can help business owners to gain insight into their services and customer preferences to improve their processes.
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How to make a QR code for your business in 3 steps
Given all the benefits and various ways to use QR codes in your hotel restaurant, it wouldn’t be surprising if you are already thinking about how to get them. Here is a step-by-step guide on making QR codes for your business (in three steps).
Step one: Make your menu available online
The first step of creating a QR code touchless menu is to make it available online on your hotel’s website. You can do so by adding a dedicated webpage or uploading a PDF file.
Make sure that it’s user-friendly, easy to navigate and engaging for customers since this is where the QR code will take them after they scan it.
Add lots of visual content (photos of dishes and cocktails) and important information such as price tags and which allergens are present in the food. Offer your guests different filter and search capabilities for easier navigation.
Step two: Create QR codes
After your dedicated page is ready, it’s time to create its QR code. You can use free QR code generators, but most of them lack the advanced features your hotel might require.
That’s why choosing a leading provider in the hospitality technologies such as InnSpire enables you to create custom solutions for your clients. We can integrate the QR codes with your POS and PMS systems creating unlimited capabilities.
Step three: Print and display QR codes
The final step of the process is to print the generated QR codes and display them at strategic places, so your guests can easily see and scan them. It’s not necessary to print all the QR codes; you can also display them on digital screens.
You can place them directly on dining tables inside the restaurant or as a screensaver on in-room smart TVs.
FAQs
How do I create a QR code for a hotel menu?
You can create QR codes for hotel menus using paid professional QR code provider’s services with advanced features and integrations or generate a free QR code with fewer features and personalization.
How do I scan a QR code on a hotel menu?
To scan a QR code on a hotel menu, you need to use your smartphone or mobile device’s camera or QR code scanner. You will be automatically redirected to the digital menu.
How do hotels use QR codes?
Hotels use QR codes in various ways, including creating digital menus and presenting them to customers. QR code menus for hotel restaurants are convenient, cost-effective and eco-friendly. They are interactive and increase customer engagement when compared to printed menus.
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