RESOURCES
Don Scott demonstrates how print providers can help hospitality clients reintroduce the customized printed menu with a flexible and convenient Web-to-Print workflow.
A curious trend has been observed in restaurants, cafes, pubs, and bars as restrictions from the covid pandemic have lifted, and life has returned to normal. More and more businesses are reintroducing printed menus as a solution to the pushback against QR code food ordering.
A report in the New York Times says that scans of restaurant QR codes have fallen by 27% in a year. Plus, fewer restaurants are creating new QR-code menus, and about 75% of all restaurant QR-code menus were scanned fewer than 90 times in the past 12 months.
We’re XMPie, and you know we love our QR codes. Still, this aversion to scanning during the restaurant experience is an excellent reminder that technology should be used when it can genuinely add value to the problem at hand, not just for the sake of it.
The printed menu is in, and the QR code is out.
Customer service, not just the food, is at the heart of a superior dining experience. In the race to add automation and other time-saving technology, restaurant owners cannot afford to eliminate that main ingredient.
Customers don’t want to be treated as a means to an end, just existing to maximize profits. They want to feel valued and appreciated. Whether a business gives customers a printed menu or asks them to use their phone to scan a QR code is not simply a choice between a print or digital experience. It is a contest between human interaction and impersonal transaction.
Of course, one of the significant advantages of the digital menu for the restaurant owner is that it is highly editable. If they need to raise prices, add a gluten-free option, or change the daily specials, it does not take long to edit the menu in the application to make those changes. But even if the information is up-to-date and accurate, they are still stuck with a digital experience that will not cut it for their customers.
XMPie StoreFlow: An opportunity awaits in the hospitality industry
And therein lies the opportunity for Print Providers and Agencies, especially those with the XMPie Platform, who can show prospective restaurant clients they do not need to sacrifice agility when reintroducing the printed menu.
Updating and customizing printed menus is fast and convenient via a template-based workflow from a StoreFlow Web-to-Print portal.
StoreFlow is an online platform for businesses to order customized branded print such as posters, flyers, brochures, and more from their preferred print provider. It is a perfect solution for restaurant owners who need flexibility with their printed material and want to regularly make edits to customize their menus with unique designs, high-quality images, and appetizing dish descriptions.
In this example, which demonstrates some features of the XMPie Platform, you can show your hospitality clients how to customize a table menu. Configure the card to your selection of meals and drinks – and even set the prices.
With StoreFlow, restaurants can have complete control over menu design and content, and there is no need to rely on paying a designer for every little amendment. Staff can easily add or remove dishes, update prices, and adjust the formatting to create a menu that reflects their brand and style. They simply need to log in to the portal, select a pre-designed menu template or create their own design, and place their order. The menus will be printed and shipped directly to their restaurant, making the process fast and easy.
Restaurant franchises can set their storefront to lock down corporate-controlled elements in the template while giving each branch the convenience of customizing certain localized areas of the design. The workflow is 100% based in Adobe InDesign, guaranteeing accurate on-brand colors and design integrity. Corporate-controlled default shipping addresses can even be added for each branch for quick selection and an error-proof experience.
QR Code menus served a critical function during the pandemic, but they left something to be desired. Yes, we managed to order food, but the experience felt impersonal. As we move on from the pandemic, we can enhance the dining experience using web-to-print menu printing. With this solution, we can reignite the human connection that makes dining out so unique.
