Staying up to date with the emerging trends of the hospitality industry is no easy task. With social distancing, new technologies, dietary trends and an increasing focus on sustainability, restaurant-goers have more to consider than ever before. Luckily, there is one technology that accounts for all of these and can increase your revenue in these changing times: QR code menus. 

In this article, we’ll take you through the benefits of digital and QR code menus over paper menus, giving you 5 handy tips on how to switch your menu to a digital format.

Why Go Digital? Digital v. Paper Menus

The world has gone digital without looking back. In recent years, QR code menus have snowballed in popularity — but what exactly are they? In a nutshell, QR code menus are a digitised version of a dine-in menu. Guests can access this digital menu by scanning a QR code with their phones and alongside viewing the menu, they can order and pay for meals with the touch of a button. 

There are many more benefits to the QR code restaurant menu. For starters, digital menus are perfectly suited for hospitality businesses during COVID-19. With new COVID regulations that many businesses must now adhere to, going digital is a huge plus. And in addition to digital menus being more hygienic, they are a whole lot more convenient, too! You can make on-the-spot updates for menu items that are unavailable, or make changes to the menu without having to reprint the whole thing. Efficient AND eco-friendly! 

In our experience, a well-designed digital menu can also complement your restaurant’s existing website and social media efforts, helping you take your online presence to the next level. On average, venues using a Mr Yum QR code menu experience around 20-40% higher spending per person, helping to ease already thin margins.

If you’re new to QR code technology and digital menus, it might seem a little daunting and difficult to get started but moving from physical to digital platforms has never been easier. If you’re wondering how to create a digital restaurant menu that’s fresh, exciting and enticing, here are 5 tips on how to make the switch.

5 tips to prepare your digital menu

1. Great food photography

Humans are visual creatures and food is always more appetising when customers can see just how delicious the meal they are about to eat is! Our first hot tip is to nail your food photography. Effective food photography has been shown to increase sales by at least 30%. This is partly because the customer knows exactly what to expect; it takes some of the risk out of trying something new. Eating is a sensory experience, so by offering diners a glimpse of what the meal might be like, they can make a more informed dining choice. 

2. Promote your upsells and cross-sells

When creating a digital food menu, you can integrate upsells and cross-sells to increase your sales. The setup of Mr Yum’s web-based mobile ordering and payment platform and your digital menu means that when a customer selects an item, they are offered popular pairings and chef suggestions. Does the chardonnay go particularly well with your specialty pasta? Make it a suggested pairing! Do people usually order a side of chips with the salmon? You can recommend this to your customers while they’re ordering from your digital menu. 

The suggestion function can be helpful for customers who struggle to decide on a dish and can often be the final push a customer considering dessert or cocktails needs. Basically, it gives your customers a better dining experience while increasing your sales at the same time. Sounds good, right?

3. Decide how you want to display the pricing

So now that you have killer photography and have offered some recommendations to your diners, you need to decide how you’re going to display the prices and food. We’ve been around long enough to know a well designed and thought out menu can do wonders for your sales!

The best advice we have is to make the price as inconspicuous as you can. Having a dollar sign in front of the price can remind customers that they’re spending money. Instead, try listing the steak as 40.00, or even 40. One study on menu pricing found that numeral-only prices (40) encouraged customers to spend more on their meal, followed by written out prices (forty dollars), and finally the traditional dollar sign price ($40).

Nested pricing has also become quite popular. This is where rather than having the price on the opposite side of the page to the description, it is ‘nested’ at the end of the description. This is so the customer selects an item by its description rather than the amount it costs. 

You’re also going to need to decide how to order your items. Most expensive first? Least expensive first? No order at all? It’s been found that having expensive items at the top of the list can encourage guests to spend more. This is because having the most expensive item first makes the following items seem more reasonably priced. If the customer feels like they’re getting good value for money, then they’ll spend more at your establishment.

4. Decide on your most popular items

Are your fish tacos the reason people travel across town to visit? Do you make award-winning loaded milkshakes? You can let your customers know by highlighting it on your QR code menu. Guests are more likely to purchase an item if it’s popular. Customers tend to trust the opinions of other customers! If 100 people liked the fish tacos, they probably would as well. Take this into account when you create a restaurant menu.

With the emergence of culinary trends like veganism, vegetarianism, and gluten-free, you can use this function to highlight dietary options in a simple and convenient way. Keeping up with culinary trends will make your establishment seem fresh and attract a larger crowd.

Our advice: choose a few items to highlight. If you select too many, it can have the opposite effect and potentially overwhelm your customers. One item per category generally works well. 

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5. Write enticing product descriptions

Tantalise your guests with sensory descriptions, don’t bore them with blocks of text. If the description sounds delicious, your customers will be enticed to buy. Simple as that. The key is to create a succinct yet mouth-watering description. You can include descriptions of the history, texture, condition and taste of the dish. Hand-made dumplings, locally grown greens, Australian grass-fed beef, crisp beans, artisan sourdough… you get the idea. And extra points for creativity! 

Effective product descriptions can increase sales by almost 30%. If a customer feels they’re getting good value for money, they will be willing to spend more. Studies researching food product descriptions also showed that when customers were given an appetising description, they were more likely to rate the dish higher than without having read the description. Not only does your description increase sales, but it can also increase customer satisfaction. 

Final thoughts on how Mr Yum’s QR code menu can help your business

More restaurants are realising how much going digital with their menu can boost their sales. The world is going digital and if you want to keep up with the trends, having a digital menu is a great step in the right direction. Venues using a Mr Yum QR code menu experience around 20-40% higher spending per person – so if you haven’t considered it, now’s the time! We hope you’ve found this article helpful and will consider making the switch to digital QR code menus — good luck!