Why is it important to have a user-friendly digital menus for restaurants and bars?

Doyo - DoYourOrder Blog Image

2020 was the year when the world stopped as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic. Great things came out of it: For once millions of people stopped commuting to the offices saving millions of CO2 transport emission. The savings in commuting time could be reinvested in doing plenty of more useful things. On the other side, the social distancing policies for the first time propelled several QR code technology which now are used for payments, displaying website or digital menus in bar and restaurant. The main drive in this case was health: reduce the risk of people in getting exposed to the virus by making them use their own devise instead of using a paper menu. The advantage of having a menu digitalized brought clear advantages: the most noted one was the ability to be able to change the offering more frequently without having to spend a lot of money in printing. But few places seem to be moving back to the old way of working. With paper menus. Why? Why moving back to a filthy piece of paper? Rarely cleaned and most of the time with products out of stock?

A short answer: most of the digital QR menus out there are user unfriendly. A mere upload of a pdf document into a google cloud solution and accessible via a standard QR code. A menu which is not readable and which in most cases requires the user too zoom in. In case owners, run out of stock on any specific item, they would have to log in to their PC and go on the cloud document to delete it and upload a new one without that item. Very few do this. Once the item is again in stock, then you would need to go back and add it manually.  If the client would ask you for a card in a different language, servers would bring them another QR (most of the restaurants don’t even bother translating the menu in any language). Probably one that has a different offering than the main one, because the translated menus are updated less frequently and with less care then the main ones.  Most of those menus do not have a picture, and if they do, it is rarely for all items served. 

Would it not be nice to be able to have a digital menu which actually adds real value to the client and to the restaurant owner? And it is actually free? We have the solution for you as we are offering modern and user-friendly menus for free. Updatable anywhere at any time by using a smartphone

For clients using Doyo has the advantages of accessing an automatically translated menu with pictures. They would also have the ability to easily exclude dishes they are allergic to. For owners they would be able to add easily new product to the stock by using their phone. Hide immediately the ones that run out of stock. Read more here: digital menu link. We hope that eventually, few of the people are actually willing to upgrade to our full-scale platform services. If not, we really try this awesome technology not to die, by giving it away for free! Peace.

MOST READ

Why should a restaurant use digital menus instead of paper Menu?

The digital menu accessible to clients via their own smartphone are updatable in real time from any phone or laptop. This allows restaurant for real time price changes or to temporarily hide product which are out of stock. It also allows to add in few seconds new selling product. Having a menu on the table at all time, saves time! The client does not need to wait the server/waiter to bring him the menu to start reading it. As a result, the table turnover increases as well, bringing in more sales revenues to the restaurant. 

Clients, can filter the food by allergens and exclude the items to which they are allergic to. Also, they are able to see the items in 8 languages and with pictures. This reduces the number of misunderstandings and increases their experience and satisfaction. 

Having our digital menu increase on line and social media presence on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TripAdvisor. They have the option to add those links at the bottom of the menu. The client can be redirect there, so that he has the possibility to rate, follow or like your restaurant. The more people interact on line, the higher the number of people coming (assuming your offering is also good).

Last but not least, owners are able to run promotion in certain time ranges. For instance, if you have raw materials close to expiration day, you can reduce their stocks by offering a product discount before having to dispose them at a full loss. Or in case you have a bar and would like to schedule regular happy hours/discounts between certain working hours. Discounts lead to an increase the number of guests and sales volume.

There are always people who will continue preferring the old-fashioned paper menu. Especially elderly ones. It is good practice to have a couple of paper courtesy menus available for them to read. They could be edited and printed daily.

2 minutues
What is a KDS and why is it better than paper tickets?

KDS stands as Kitchen Display System. Essentially, all orders are displayed digitally on a screen instead of been printed on a paper ticket. One screen fits up to 10 tables in one single view. Having a KDS solves practical issues such as changing the paper roll during the busy kitchen period times. Most importantly it allows for the kitchen staff to coordinate delivery to a table across different department by using the “Synchronization” functionality so that all people at the table eat at the same time. Currently in most of the restaurant such coordination across department is done physically by a manager (running between departments) or radio channels. Another big advantage of a KDS is to flag when the food is ready. The waiters who called the items will receive a notification on their phone/work device and will know it is time to pick up the food and “Deliver” it to the client. Once food is delivered by the waiter, the table will move at the back of the queue to that the next table can be start to be prepared. The last advantage of KDS are their environmental footprint. A heat laser printer consumes more energy than the average LED screen. On top also many Kilometers of high-quality printing paper per year! Such a waste ☹. For a well aired kitchen, you can use also a google smart tv as a KDS! What are you waiting for doing the switch?

1 minutues

FOLLOW US

Ready to get started?

Download the app and let’s start your digital journey together!