During the pandemic, restaurants shifted to QR codes as a contactless solution for sharing digital menus with customers. However, a study conducted by Technomic, Inc. shows that 88% of guests still prefer traditional printed menus over digital QR codes.
It has been observed that code scanning has declined and guests often request classic menus. Reasons for this include: disrupting the overall dining experience, many guests, especially the elderly, do not want to use their phone during the meal, scanning issues, lack of ability to easily share digital menus among guests, and concerns about privacy and data collection.
How do QR code menus impact restaurants?
While they provide benefits like flexible updates and cheaper production, they can negatively impact restaurant revenues, as guests can order directly without interacting with servers. Restaurants also face complaints about the functioning of QR codes.
From the data in this research, it can be concluded that the era of QR codes in restaurants is coming to an end and that traditional paper is becoming dominant again. What is also very important with classic menus is that they are maintained to look clean and tidy, which implies more frequent replacement.
The most important thing for restaurants should be the overall guest experience, which in this case means a return to the old form of menus, until the creation of some new trend.
Are you a proponent of QR codes in restaurants or do you prefer to browse through printed menus?
