QR Code Digital Menus

The coronavirus has changed how we live and how we do business on many levels. From offices focusing on remote work from home structures to restaurants and food delivery services becoming a staple in many Americans’ lives, there is no question that post-coronavirus we will be facing a new world of business standards.

One new standard that will stay with us going forward is the use of QR-based digital menu scans. If you have not seen these yet, these hands-free options of menus are not only a great idea for the health and safety of our customers and employees, but also a wonderful money-saving tool for your business.  We will talk about both advantages and then let you know how we can set these up for your business.

What is a QR code? A QR code is a scannable pattern that is very similar to the barcodes used in grocery stores. These images link the scannable image to a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). This way when a person scans the QR code, it goes to a specific website or address. Most modern phones will automatically identify a QR code from the camera function and ask the user if they want to open the location on the code.

How this technology relates to us is that these QR codes can be put on table tents, posters, art, and other forms of marketing material so that your customer can bring up your menu on their phone.

This offers dozens of advantages. On a health and safety side, menus will no longer be handed back and forth between customers which will cut down on the potential transmission of viruses that have a surface life. Secondly, with digital menus, you do not need to worry about the wear and damage that may have happened to your menu during customer use.  Third, your menu can always be up to date without having to pay for reprints on all your menus. Fourth, your customer service team no longer needs to make the additional trip back and forth to provide clear menus from a table. Fifth, and this is our opinion one of the best advantages of using QR codes, you can host your menu on your webpage and if you do not change the URL for the webpage when you update your menus on that page, your menus will always be up to date with your customers regardless of how long ago they got your QR code.

So how can you do this? If you are a little tech-savvy or have someone who handles your webpage, it is time-consuming but simple. First, you make a PDF version of your menu or prepare your menu content to be embedded into your web page. You then take the URL from that page, generate a QR code that links to that URL, and save a copy of that QR code as an image file (we suggest PNG export from an Adobe Illustrator file). You then take that QR code, create the design on the print format materials you would like (like inserts for table tents, business cards, posters, or ad inserts), and have those items printed.

Or, if you would like, contact us and we can take care of almost all of that for you.