The coronavirus pandemic ushered in the instantaneous, widespread use of QR codes, but restaurant industry experts think that the technology will stick around long after the health crisis ends.
Invented by a Japanese engineer in 1994 to keep track of car parts more easily, quick response codes entered the mainstream years later as smartphones with cameras took over. But it wasn’t until the ongoing pandemic forced businesses to double down on sanitizing that they became a ubiquitous sight inside U.S. bars and restaurants, replacing physical menus.
Bitly, a link management service, said that it’s seen a 750% increase in QR code downloads over the last 18 months. Bitly President Raleigh Harbour said that restaurants have realized how valuable the technology is, beyond facilitating touchless service.
“They’re able to adjust their menu offerings on the fly to account for elements like inflation, fluctuations in food and commodities prices, and other variables,” Harbour said.
Prices for food away from home rose 0.8% in July, climbing 4.6% over the last 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Commodity prices for key goods like coffee and hogs have been soaring this year. Restaurants have also raised prices after hiking wages to attract workers.
Shortages have been another area of concern for restaurant owners. Chicken wings, burger patties and tequila are among the items that operators have struggled to source due to supply chain issues tied to the pandemic.
A QR code also gives restaurants more information on their customers. Reservation services like OpenTable, SevenRooms and Resy pass along data on whoever made the booking to restaurants – but not everyone else at the table.
“If you run a restaurant that doesn’t take reservations, you don’t know who your guest is until they pay,” said Bo Peabody, co-founder and executive chairman of Seated, a restaurant booking service that rewards diners for visiting certain eateries. “What the QR code might allow you to do is learn who that guest is right when they’re sitting down.”
Peabody also owns Mezze Restaurant in Massachusetts, sits on the board of Boqueria Restaurant Group and is a venture partner at Greycroft, where he invests with a focus on restaurant tech. Mezze and all of Boqueria restaurants have used QR codes in place of menus during the pandemic, according to Peabody.
Restaurant tech experts see even more opportunity in QR codes beyond just physical menus. The pandemic ushered in an online ordering boom for restaurants, and industry experts are forecasting that change will also stick around. The shift to QR codes helps bring online ordering on premise, instead of solely being tied to delivery and takeout transactions.
Noah Glass, CEO at digital ordering platform Olo, told analysts on the company’s earnings call that digital on-premise transactions made up 1% of overall industry transactions for the first time. The shift can be attributed to both QR codes and the rise of self-ordering…
Read More: QR codes have replaced restaurant menus. Industry experts say it