QR-Codes-On

Using QR Codes in Menus

Digital menus are a big step forward for the food industry. By offering a virtual menu in your restaurant, bar, café, or delivery service, you can easily keep your prices and product list up to date—without spending money on printing new paper menus.

Benefits of incorporating QR codes in Menus

During the COVID-19 pandemic, QR codes became a key tool for many businesses. In restaurants, QR code menus helped people enjoy meals out safely by reducing contact with physical menus. But the benefits go beyond safety. QR menus also make it easy to update content without printing costs, follow digital marketing trends, offer payment options, and speed up the ordering process.

The boom of QR codes during COVID-19 +

The year 2020 brought major changes for people and businesses around the world. To help slow the spread of COVID-19, the focus shifted to hygiene and preventing infection. Restaurants turned to delivery and takeout to keep earning money while they were closed. At the same time, QR codes became a simple and safe way for customers to keep their distance and avoid touching shared items like printed menus, catalogs, payment machines, or cash. As a result, many restaurants started using digital menus and QR codes to connect customers to online platforms. Since then, QR codes have become a lasting part of the dining experience.

An ecological and hygienic alternative for your menus +

Today, it's common for restaurants to use table tents with QR codes to share their digital menus. This makes it easy for customers to view the menu, place orders, and even pay—all from their phones. Using a QR code for daily menus reduces contact between staff and customers and helps save on printing costs. Plus, since the menu stays on the customer’s phone, it’s easy for them to order again later from home or anywhere else.

Digital menus can also include Link List QR codes that take customers to your Instagram, Facebook, or other social media pages. By sharing photos of your dishes and linking to your platforms, you can attract more online customers. This helps boost followers, increase visibility, and encourage more people to engage with your restaurant online.

Improve your customers experience +

Many restaurants and bars offer more than just food—they also provide entertainment, like live music or performances. You can keep your customers engaged, whether they’re dining in or ordering takeout, by using QR codes in creative ways. For example, you can share an MP3 QR code to support local bands and let customers enjoy their music.

You can also build trust by offering a behind-the-scenes look at your kitchen or supply chain. A Video QR code can link to a playlist that shows how your food is prepared or where your ingredients come from. To promote special deals, like a 2-for-1 offer or a discount for returning customers, use a Coupon QR code on your menu. This lets customers save the offer to their phone and use it on their next visit or order.

With the variety of QR codes available from Divsly, you can share different types of content and keep your customers interested and connected.

Take advantage of the tracking feature +

By using our dynamic QR codes, you can track your marketing campaigns in real time. You’ll get useful data like the location of scans (city and country), the time of each scan, the type of device used, and whether scans are from new or repeat users. This helps you see how well your QR codes are working and if they’re reaching the right audience. With this information, you can make smarter decisions and improve your campaigns over time.

How to add a QR code for Menus ?

1

Sign up to access the QR code generator and choose the type of QR code to add to your menus. We recommend starting with the QR from URL code.

2

Simply enter your website link, and your QR code will be generated automatically

3

Personalize your QR code design by adding a frame and a "Scan Me" label.

4

Select the colors for your QR code to match your brand or personal style.

5

Click "download" to save your QR code as a .jpeg file.

6

Add the QR code design into your menu.

Top ways to incorporate QR codes for Menus

Today, QR codes are no longer limited to plain black-and-white designs. Now you can customize them with creative tools to match your brand or campaign style. Here are some of the features you can use.

1
Add instructions

Many people forget an important detail when using QR codes: adding a short message that tells customers why they should scan it. When you create your code with QRFY for your menu, include a clear call-to-action like “Check out our lunch specials,” “Get a discount on your next meal,” or “Order for delivery.” This small step can make a big difference in how many people scan your code.

2
Frame it

Use our customizable frames to make your QR code match your brand or giveaway design. After generating your QR code, you can pick from many frame styles, colors, and CTA messages to catch people’s attention. You can also choose a different icon, change the shape, and add your own custom text.

3
Add a logo inside your QR code

After customizing the frame, shape, and color of your QR code, you can also add your own logo in the center. You can choose from the options in our QR code generator or upload your own logo. You can even add a custom call-to-action like “Veggie Menu” or “See Promotions.” Don’t worry about the logo size—our system automatically adjusts it to make sure your QR code stays easy to scan.

4
Save your designs

Sign up for Divsly and easily reuse your saved QR code designs without starting from scratch. You can save all your designs and use them again in new campaigns. So, if you're promoting a new product or contest and want to keep the same look, just reuse a saved design instead of creating a new one.

5
Customizable URL

By default, each dynamic QR code gets a random short URL that redirects to your page. You can customize this URL with your company name to stand out from the competition and build more trust with users.

Explore QR codes in action for Menus

If you’re still unsure how to use QR codes in your menu, here are five simple and creative examples—some real, some fictional—to give you ideas:

Allows you to pay without cash

A simple way to offer cashless payments for both dine-in and online orders is by adding an Apps QR code to your digital or printed menus, as well as at the register. This promotes your restaurant’s payment app for easy access.

Make ordering easy with images

If you have a food stall or cart in a public space like a shopping mall, you have less room to promote your dishes than a restaurant. For example, the fictional fast food chain Los Burgueses set up a dessert stand in local malls, offering promotional prices on cakes and ice creams. They decorated the stall with photos of their desserts and added a Menu QR code that linked to the day’s menu with pictures of all the options. They also included a Coupon QR code next to the promotional items, so customers could easily access discounts and share them with friends via text, email, or social media.

Show the production process of your dishes

QR codes can link to any kind of content, bridging the gap between the physical and virtual worlds. For example, you can use a Video QR code on your menu to give customers a virtual tour of your kitchen. This lets them see how their meals are prepared while they wait, whether in your restaurant or at home. It’s a great way to build trust with your customers.

Create your online community

A Link Listing QR code connects directly to your online channels, making it easy for customers to find and follow your restaurant. They won't need to search for your business online. Plus, our dynamic QR codes let you keep your menu, hours, location, and special offers up to date.

Less paper waste

Using QR codes on menus lets restaurants, bars, and food chains combine all their options into one code. If you used to have separate drink and dessert menus, now you can share everything with a Menu QR code. This saves table space and reduces paper waste. Plus, our dynamic QR code can be updated anytime to add new dishes, fix mistakes, or update the holiday menu, without the need for reprinting.

Frequently Asked Question

Some restaurants are hesitant to use QR codes on their menus because they worry about changing how they serve customers and fear that some customers might resist new technology. Additionally, some see the investment in tech as a big hurdle, rather than seeing how it can improve the customer experience and streamline operations. For example, in Singapore, QR codes have changed dining by allowing customers to scan a code at the table to view the menu and order from their phones. This has reduced wait times and made service more efficient, giving diners a more convenient and contactless experience.

Using a digital menu app in a restaurant offers many benefits. It provides a more interactive and personalized experience for customers, allowing them to easily browse the menu, learn about dishes, and order and pay from their phones. It also saves on the costs of printing physical menus and makes it easy to update prices and availability. This improves the restaurant’s efficiency and gives it a modern, tech-savvy image that can attract younger, digitally-focused customers.

Digital menus are becoming a big trend in the dining industry. As technology advances and people use mobile devices more, more restaurants will likely adopt digital menus. They offer benefits like easy updates for prices and products, detailed nutritional info, and the ability to personalize for customers. Plus, in a post-COVID-19 world, digital menus are a safer, contactless option that promotes hygiene. Because of these advantages, digital menus will likely keep growing in popularity and become a standard in restaurants.

The goal of digital menus and QR codes isn't to replace traditional menus, but to complement them. However, with a focus on sustainable marketing, it’s important to reduce waste and unnecessary printing. QR codes provide an efficient way to share information in a compact, mobile format, using printed materials as a starting point. In this way, digital menus enhance the dining experience, making it more interactive and smart.

Got more questions?

For additional details, check out our
Help Center.