The unforeseen catastrophic situation created by the COVID–19 pandemic have set the world upside down. The way we were used to see the world is no longer the same. The pandemic situation has now altered the ways in which we used to behave and carry on with our daily lives in the pre–pandemic world. We are now faced with the unprecedented condition wherein we have to maintain social distancing from all our fellow humans, even from our own family members.
While the social distancing norms are good and must be adhered to strictly for the wellbeing of the entire society, it also spells doom for the different kind of businesses that we come across in our day to day lives. No matter what a business deals in, it depends mainly on human to human interaction. The restaurant industry in particular is highly dependent on human interaction. From taking down orders to bringing in the bill, the restaurant industry is heavily dependent on the human to human interactions.
It is pretty much needless to say that the restaurant industry is thus, undoubtedly one of the many industries that have been greatly impacted by the ongoing pandemic situation. The coercive and hardline measures taken by the governments to tackle the condition like localized / national lockdowns have brought down doom on all the restaurants, all across the world. With prohibitory orders in place and with the dining area bans in many places, the businesses have been down for too long. In fact, many eateries have even had to shut their doors permanently.
The restaurants across the world, no matter how big or small, how popular or not, have experienced a hell lot losses in the past one year or so. Even today, with the lockdowns and other such restrictions being revoked in many countries, the restaurants are still struggling to get back up. With many restaurant reporting double-digit fall in their profit percentages in light of all the unprecedented challenges that the COVID–19 pandemic has been continuously throwing at them. Thanks to the new age online ordering systems, many restaurants are at least able do some business and make some profits through takeout and delivery services. Many restaurants who have the necessary amount of space are even trying to organize outdoor patios and socially distanced dining rooms. These ideas are however are not feasible for most of the restaurants as they do not have the required resources to. The restaurant industries thus need some universal solution that can be easily adopted by all kinds of restaurants, irrespective of their resources.
Most of the restaurants are thus still struggling to find out ways to keep their business going. A number of new technologies are being tried and tested to understand how frugal they can be in supporting their business plans. Many restaurants are now solely relying on their takeout and home delivery option and are hence becoming more dependent on mobile apps and other such online ordering platforms. The problem is with those who do not have any such online delivery or takeaway systems and hence have to rely on dine–in option only. In such cases contactless menus and payment services are the only ways to limit interactions between. The QR Code Menus are really helpful in reducing the interactions between waiters and customers thereby helping in reducing the chances of any contamination / virus transmission. It also helps in streamlining the entire dining process thereby helping to minimize the amount of time diners spend in the restaurants.
Why QR Codes Are A Safer Solution?
In today’s date the biggest concerns for the restaurant industry is to make the customers feel confident enough to be able to come to their restaurants. Most of the customers are aware of the fact that the coronavirus is capable of surviving on different surfaces for several days. While tables and utensils are properly cleaned after every use in most of the hotels but the physical menu cards are something that cannot be cleaned regularly. Whereas these menu cards are actually highly prone to touches and hence are more likely to be the mediums of spread of the virus. In fact many researches have actually confirmed that there is less risk of the virus spreading through breathing the same air than through touching surfaces. A QR Code Ordering System can thus play a key role in keeping the number of touches and human interaction low. Even the surveys have shown an average of 42% percent increase in the number of consumers who had scanned a QR Code at a restaurant, bar or café in the last one year time period. This shoes how handy and easy placing orders through these digital QR Code Menus are. It considerably reduces the time that would otherwise had to be spent in close proximity with waiters and hence lowers the risk of infection. In fact QR Codes can actually play a vital role in reducing the need for waiters to hand over receipts or credit / debit card swiping machines to the customers thereby reducing the chances of contamination even further.
Most of the large restaurant chains have their own resources to develop their own payment solutions. The smaller ones can avail the services of the third party apps for a nominal sum of money.
Is QR Code Ordering System The Future?
All these safety concerns and fear of disease transmission is going to be short lived. Disease prevention might be of top most priority for consumers and restaurants at this point in time, but with mass vaccination drives under way in many countries and mass vaccine productions and supply, the time is not far when we all will be free again. However customer preferences are likely to change in the post pandemic restaurant business scene. Numerous studies conducted by U.S. based agencies have shown us how the speed and convenience that the QR Code Ordering Systems provide has been preferred at least by 38% of the customers. A further study in November last year (2020) have found the diners in the U.S. state that convenience was the main reason behind their preference of ordering food via mobile phones. This clearly points out to the fact that a majority of diners are agreeing to the fact that the online and QR Ordering Systems are better and easier ways of ordering food from / at restaurants. The QR codes in particular are very helpful and may as well be the most apt replacement for the traditional ordering systems that can help the restaurants in the long run, even after the pandemic gets over.
The fact that the online and QR Code Ordering Systems are bound to be the future of the restaurant industries is already crystal clear from the fact that, as much as 45%(approx.) of Americans prefer to view menus, place orders and pay for their orders over their phones rather than the traditional way of interacting with a server. A further 40% of the population say that they are going to continue with this practice even in the post pandemic world.
The usage of QR Code Ordering Systems by a massive customer base clearly signifies that these systems are here to stay. The restaurant industry has always been an industry of cutthroat competition, thus any technology / innovation that the restaurant can use to win their customers’ trust and give them utmost satisfaction is bound to be valuable for the restaurants, especially during these depressing times. The innovations, which are now being driven by customer demand, are going to become the way of the world soon. The technologies like the QR Code Ordering Systems are thus bound to stay even after the pandemic ends. The restaurants that have already adopted these innovations are already reaping significant dividends from them in the form of satisfied customers. The restaurants which still have not adopted these technologies should thus start preparing themselves accordingly because implementing the QR Code Ordering Systems after the pandemic ends can actually help all these restaurants bounce back in no time.