How QR code menus compare to other options

By MixDex Article may include affiliate links

QR code menus are popping up as a popular alternative to printed paper menus — but how do they compare to other types of menus your business can use during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond?

First, QR code menus are entirely digital — they live in the cloud and customers use their own personal devices to access them.

That’s cutting out an item that customers come in contact with — and means it’s one less thing to clean.

Outside of the pandemic, it wasn’t uncommon for restaurants use paper menus printed on regular or slightly upgraded stocks that could become wrinkled, ripped, stained or outright destroyed.

Of course, many restaurants also invest in menus that are laminated or coated and designed to last for longer periods of time — but these can require contact cleaning even outside of a pandemic as the quickly attracted dried food (yuck), smudges and fingerprints.

Cleaning them off with many common restaurant cleaners can result in spots, streaks or even an unpleasant stickiness.

Attempting to clean them with the higher grade cleaners that have become commonplace during coronavirus can often cause these menus to break down, fade, become cracked or reduce their lifetime significantly.

During COIVD-19, many jurisdictions have asked or are requiring restaurants to drop even laminated menus in favor of single use printed ones.

These are often sheets of paper printed on a laser printer or photocopier than are handed out as diners come in. They’re used once and then recycled or thrown away.

It’s easy to see how this could quickly eat up a lot of paper and printing costs.

That’s why a digital menu is a better way to go.

You’ll still need to keep a few paper copies on hand for users without a personal device or who simply prefer a printed copy, but the advantages of a QR code menu accessed on a device they already have touched will quickly become apparent to most diners.