QR Ordering for Restaurants: Complete Guide
Discover how dynamic QR codes are transforming hospitality, enabling autonomous ordering, table payments, and a superior customer experience.
How does QR ordering work without an App?
Unlike traditional apps that force users to download software taking up space on their mobile, our technology uses Web Apps (PWA). The process is simple:
- The customer opens their smartphone camera (iOS or Android).
- Scans the unique QR code located on the table.
- Instantly opens the browser with your interactive digital menu.
- The customer selects products, customizes ingredients, and confirms the order.
- The order is automatically printed in the kitchen and bar.
Competitive Advantage
Removing the barrier of downloading an app means many more people actually finish the order: if something has to be installed, a good share of customers drop out halfway.
Types of QR Codes we offer
Static QR
Ideal for viewing PDF menus. Does not allow table identification or complex orders.
Dynamic QR (Mesapp)
Linked to a specific table. Allows ordering, paying, splitting bills, and calling the waiter.
Security and Rotation
Many restaurateurs fear a customer taking the QR home and placing fake orders. That is why you can regenerate and reprint the QR codes periodically: old codes stop working and orders only come in from the QR codes active in your venue.
How much more does a restaurant sell with table-side ordering?
The most robust study on table-side ordering was published by Tom F. Tan (Southern Methodist University) and Serguei Netessine (Wharton) in Management Science in 2020. They analysed 2.6 million checks from 66 restaurants that rolled out table-side ordering devices in a staggered way, which let them isolate the causal effect. They measured that the average check rises by around 1%, but that the meal lasts about 10% less, so that sales per minute of occupied table go up by around 11%. The study looked at fixed tablets on the table; Mesapp applies the same principle from the customer's phone with a QR code.
The gain is not that each customer spends much more, but that the table frees up sooner. On a Saturday with a waiting list, that is one more round.