Who doesn’t like pondering over a good menu? Unfortunately, these days getting our grubby little hands on one is an issue.
Yes, hygiene. Blasted Covid-19.
So aside from wiping them down with disinfectant every minute someone touches them, we considered a few alternative approaches, some quite old school and others altogether innovative and new.
Disposable
Well it is the obvious, yep, plain old paper menus. Printed en masse at your local printer or simply output on the hotel printer and disposed of when used. Just because they are disposable however, doesn’t mean they need to be drab! Get creative. Have some fun.
Old School
Most common is the gold old chalkboard but with that said, people are taking to all manner of substrates nowadays in the pursuit of being creative. Just look at a few of these ideas like the large paper scrolls. Display your menus on your walls or for that personable touch, even have an attendee carry them out when delivering table service.
Projection
Let there be light! A great idea if you have a suitable wall, is to project your menu onto it. There are several advantages: the menu can be as large as you want it to be so people with poor eye sight aren’t reaching for their glasses, it can be projected onto as many walls as you choose (providing you have a projector or two), and your menu can easily be updated. Think of the money you spend on printing menus and whether these funds could be directed into investing in a projector.
Digital Signage
Best said by QHA member, who has been servicing the hospitality industry for 40 years, Bepoz, “There’s nothing quite like a vivid digital menu board or signage to stimulate the appetite of your patrons and boosting sales. Digital signage and the software that goes with it provides a dynamic POS advertising opportunity, to promote hot combos, specials and happy hour deals, illustrated with tempting, vibrant graphics to boost impulse sales. Sell your sizzle with digital signage software and systems.”
Online menus and ordering software
There are all manner of web software platforms and apps now available that can transform your menu to the digital world and more importantly mobile. The advantages are that individuals can not only view your menu on their own phone, addressing any hygiene issues, you can update your menu regularly with ease, save on printing and even introduce photos of the meals if you so please. Better still, this technology can enable online ordering and be used for in-room dining or takeaway.
Most have probably heard of Menulog, Uber Eats and Deliveroo. Well where those suppliers can reportedly charge venues as much as from 30-35% per order, we have a number of QHA partners who provide a similar service at a fraction of the cost. Indeed, QHA member, Harris Data Systems, only charges 1% and is in fact wavering the commission on all transactions until 1 November 2020 and there is 0% setup fee.
The app is customisable to your venue and features a 2-way integration with SwiftPOS, meaning all your products, pricing and promotions flow directly to the app. It handles in-venue, takeaway and delivery orders. The app is also integrated with both Max and Odyssey loyalty systems, with members able to view a digital membership card, view and redeem their points, or access their vouchers and gift cards.
Uorda is another QHA Member offering solutions in this space. It too allows customers to place and pay for their orders directly through their own phone for both in-room dining and takeaway. Not an app, Uorda can be accessed via simply scanning a QR code.
Uorda is also focused on providing customer insights and data so that your marketing efforts are targeted specifically to your past and previous customer base for better conversions.
And finally, QHA member Bepoz also offers a service facilitating online ordering for your venue. The system is fully integrated and synchronised with Bepoz Point of Sale. It is a full-featured e-commerce platform with products, orders, users and loyalty points all synchronised with Bepoz. It supports pick up, delivery and COD ordering with tailored trading hours and can even facilitate order turn time estimates based on preparation and delivery times. There’s even advanced filtering options for allergies, cooking instructions and adding extra ingredients to the order.
To see the May 2020 - previous edition of Latest & Greatest - "Takeaway Packaging" - Click here
