[Study] QR Code Surge in the Restaurant Industry Explained (950+ restaurants surveyed)

This study takes a look at the QR Code surge restaurant industry, especially with QR Code menus in the US, and explores how the pandemic accelerated QR Code adoption. It also features original research from 950+ restaurants that were surveyed to understand the usage and scan analytics.

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Table of Contents

1. January 2020: South East Asia + QR Codes
2. February 2020: Usage in China and US
3. March 2020: Rise of digital menu
4. Search queries on Google
5. Menu apps vs. paper menus vs. QR Code menus
6. Top QR Code use cases
7. Use of QR Codes with logo
8. Use of Customized QR Codes
9. QR Code types used
10. Single vs. multiple QR Codes
11. Use of location in QR Codes
12. Multilingual QR Codes
13. Other interesting statistics
14. Future of QR Codes in restaurants

January 2020: South East Asia & QR Codes in restaurants

In January 2020, only a few articles mentioned QR Codes and their use in automated restaurants in passing.

Like this one from Venture Beat that mentions Alibaba’s launch of a robot-staffed restaurant in Hong Kong that used a whole host of tech – QR Codes, apps and AI to reduce wait times. 

By and large, most of these articles were concentrated in South East Asia.

In fact, look at the countries that searched for QR Codes in January 2020 and you’ll see what I’m talking about: 

This is not to say QR Codes were not being adopted in the US, other parts of North America and Europe. 

Burger King used QR Codes in one of their campaigns in the UK that consumers could scan to claim a prize. (They have used QR Codes in a lot of recent campaigns since, most notably the use of AR QR Codes during the VMAs.)

But, QR Codes in restaurants were not the worldwide phenomenon they are now.

So, what changed?

February 2020: QR Codes usage in China | Payments in the US 

China began using QR Codes to fight the pandemic – using QR Codes to display health certificates to curb the spread.

UK, Brazil, and US were the only 3 countries that had searched for ‘QR Code Menu.’ 

Also, there was some interest in QR Code payments at restaurants in the US but it hadn’t caught on. California was the only state that had searched for ‘QR Code payment’ in January and February.

But by the end of March, everything changed.

March 2020: COVID-19 & the rise of digital menu

On March 11, 2020, WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Things began to take a swift turn after that.

Ohio was the first state to close restaurants and bars and other states on March 15, 2020. New Jersey, New York, Kentucky, Connecticut, Maryland, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, and Illinois followed suit the next day. 

In other states, major cities limited restaurants and bars to takeout orders and delivery. 

That is when the idea of using QR Codes for contactless services started to take shape. 

QR Codes began to be used to lead people to the website and check out the safety guidelines.

Public dining guidelines in South East Asia began to mandate the use of QR Code to display menus. 

That caught on and by the end of March, it started gaining steam in other parts of the world. 

What kind of search terms did people use?

1. QR Code menu
2. Digital menu QR Code
3. QR Code menu for restaurant
4. Restaurant QR Code

Menu Apps | Paper Menus | QR Code Menu: Why did QR Codes win?

Paper Menus vs. QR Code Menus

The CDC mandate requires restaurants to either use single-use disposable menus or QR Code menus. There are several problems with disposable menus.

1. Recurring cost for restaurants
2. Not environmentally friendly
3. Hard to change if the menu has to be changed
4. Several menus needed for restaurants with different menus throughout the day

QR Code menus on the other hand are a clear winner with its flexibility and customization options. They are great for the environment since the same QR Code can be reused even when the menu changes. 

Menu Apps vs. QR Code Menus

For smaller restaurants, building an app is a time consuming and expensive process. While it is an environmentally friendly option, the issue is that you then have to promote the app to get users to download it. 

Since QR Codes do not require an app to be scanned, it is a much better user friendly experience. That’s why apps like Waiterio’s Restaurant POS, which allow you to create QR code menus easily, are so useful.

What are restaurants doing with QR Codes?

We’ve worked with 950+ restaurants including some larger restaurant and hotel chains like Hilton, Marriott, Wyndham and Hyatt and we’ve gathered first-hand intelligence about how restaurants use QR Codes, if they use a specific type of QR Code, average scans and other usage statistics. 

How restaurants use QR Codes: Top 4 use cases

#1. QR Code Menu

QR Code menu is the number one use-case for restaurants of all sizes. Restaurants upload a PDF version of their menu and convert it into a QR Code. Alternatively, many restaurants create a QR Code that links to their website’s digital menu, allowing for a more accessible and user-friendly experience.

#2. QR Codes for food safety and hygiene

Naturally, food hygiene is the #1 priority. Restaurants that offer curbside delivery or home delivery place QR Codes that display the temperature of everyone working in the restaurant, a video of hygiene standards and some general information about visiting the restaurant safely. 

#3. QR Codes to receive contactless feedback

Instead of digital screens or using physical forms, restaurants now use QR Codes with an online form. Diners can scan the QR Code and leave feedback right away or later. 

#4. QR Codes for contactless experiences

Restaurants are using QR Codes to replace physical touchpoints to create contactless experiences.

Patrons scan the QR Codes to know more about a special event, receive coupons, participate in digital scavenger hunts and more. 

Restaurants that use a QR Code with a logo

You can add an element of branding by adding your logo in the center of the QR Code. It also helps users recognize your QR Codes or understand what will happen when they scan the QR Code. For instance, if you use a Facebook logo, users know that it will take them to the Facebook page of the business.

So, how many restaurants use a QR Code?

More than half of the restaurants surveyed i.e. 54.8% of restaurants use a logo – branded or otherwise in their QR Codes. 

Restaurants that use customized QR Codes

Customizations are another way for your QR Codes to stand out. You can change the data patterns, use color in the QR Code, add a background and even a CTA that encourages patrons to scan the QR code to read the menu.

98.5% of restaurants surveyed use custom features in their QR Codes. 

What type of QR Codes do restaurants use?

We know that the main use case is a QR Code menu. Naturally, restaurants prefer uploading a PDF version of their menu and converting it into a QR Code. With the help of a PDF QR Code generator, you can easily convert menus into a QR Code.

But, there are also restaurants that have multiple menus or different menus based on the time of day. And so, the next most used QR Code type is Restaurant Menu.

There are also some restaurants that use other QR Code types like Coupon, Social Media, Landing Page, Form, and Business Card.

I’m going to define each of these types briefly –

PDF QR Code – Restaurants upload a PDF menu and convert it into a QR Code.

Restaurant Menu QR Code – Uniqode’s original QR Code type intended for restaurants that have multiple menus and need more customization features.

Coupon QR Code – Restaurants use this to offer a discount instead of using paper coupons.

Landing Page QR Code – Uniqode’s in-built feature allows restaurants to create landing pages to host their menus or use it for specific marketing campaigns.

Social Media QR Code – Restaurants leverage this to direct users to their social media profile. This is usually an add-on and not the primary use-case.

Form QR Code – Uniqode’s in-built form builder allows restaurants to capture customer feedback without the use of digital screens or pen and paper.

Business Card QR Code – Just like Google My Business, restaurants can display their business information including their business hours and contact information.

Do restaurants use a single QR Code or multiple QR Codes?

54.7% of restaurants use multiple QR Codes.

This indicates that they are using QR Codes for multiple locations and digital menu is not the only use case.

Are restaurants customizing campaigns based on the location?

When users opt in to allow their location, restaurants can gain access to their GPS location and use it to customize their menu, offer special discounts or fine-tune their campaign when targeting a specific demographic.

But, a large majority of restaurants are not using this feature yet.

Only 6.5% of restaurants are using location to customize their QR Code campaigns.

Do restaurants consider linguistic diversity?

QR Code menus can be shown to patrons in their native language. Using the multilanguage QR Code feature, restaurants can have different versions of the same QR Code and display the one that matches the user’s smartphone setting.

Again, nearly all restaurants have not taken this into account and create menus in only one language.

Restaurant scan analytics

I looked at the number of scans vs. the number of restaurants and found that 261 restaurants have 1k-5k scans. 125 have scans between 10k-70k.

With the restrictions being lifted, these scan rates are going to increase exponentially.

Check out overall QR Code scans in real-time on our cool widget here.

Some other interesting stats:

1. There are over 1 million restaurants in the US (National Restaurants Association)
2. 52% of restaurants have switched to QR Codes and more are expected to follow suit
3. As of Dec 1, 2020, 110,000 food joints closed temporarily or for food (NRA 2021 Report)
4. 64% of customers prefer ordering directly from a restaurant. (NRA 2021 Report)
5. There are 33,60,00,000 results for the phrase ‘QR Code menu’ which indicates this is a growing market.

What’s next for restaurants?

According to a recent article by WSJ, 75% of US restaurants have opened their doors again to patrons and OpenTable, a reservation booking site, has data to indicate that the number of people dining out is almost identical to the pre-pandemic world.

But what does that mean for QR Codes?

Restaurant industry experts believe that QR Codes are here to stay for good. Whether it is in the form of contactless payments, dining or just menus – restaurants and patrons will continue using QR Codes to limit physical contact and because of the convenience they offer.

• Author Details

Author Details

Sneh Ratna Choudhary

Sneh is a Content Marketing Manager at Uniqode and has a penchant for all things tech and startups that improve human lives. She adores dogs, Radiohead, and Michael Gary Scott.

sneh.c@mobstac.com