How to set up Contact-less dining for your restaurant?

With the Covid 19 crisis upon us, the world is still debating the future of dining out.

Some predict restaurant and dining will change forever with the shift being towards eating at home and ordering take away.

There are some reports that guest will be afraid to touch menus and will want to opt for “contact-less dining” what ever that means.

But since we are in lock down, the jury is still out on this one and how it will affect the future.

How can we prepare for a world of ” Contact-less dining” ?

If you have not heard this word, it just means that guest would want to reduce the interaction with servers etc in keeping with the trend of social distancing.

If you have been reading the news lately, most of the online delivery platform have now started this feature. However that means usually 2 things, Getting your restaurant database on their platform, increasing your dependence further on them and paying more commission from your revenue for their services.

How to set up your own “Contact-less” dining setup?

To understand the same, you just need to break down the flow of the guest journey.

Reservation

The reservation phase has moved to online or on call long back so is contactless any way. All you need is a reservation software or a book to write down your reservation. Guest anyway do not have any contact with you during this phase.

Menu

Menu cards introduce an element of contact. To set up a contact-less environment, you can place a tent card with a QR code.

This is not a new idea. QR code have been around for ages. There are paid options which give you flexibility to set up your dynamic URL or free options which get the job done.

To generate your QR code, take the web url of your menu from your restaurant website and put it in the qr code generator

Save the file and send it to the printer to print on a tent card.

Let your guest scan and see your restaurant menu on their own devices.

Ordering

If you have a ordering software, you are in luck. If you run a QSR with limited or no menu customisation, you can use this online module.

However you know that almost 99% of our guest will want some customization to their food. A touch screen with the menu options will not be able to give you the level of customization your guest need.

Train your team to maintain social distancing. Ask them to follow efficient hygiene practices. Wear masks if necessary if that makes guest feel safe.

Contact-less payment

India has made great strides in accepting digital payments. Contact your bank and ask them for a QR code linked to your bank account for accepting P2M ( Peer to Merchant) transaction . Read more on the Times of India article here

Customer Feedback

Feedback system with paper has been dead for a while. If your restaurant has been offering paper based comment card, time to stop it. Use platforms like Tripadvisor restuarant, Facebook or even Zomato and encourage guest to leave their feedback on those platforms.

If you still wish to set up a feedback form, use a service like, Survey Monkey or paid options like Trust You or Rep Up that allow for contact less feedback options.

So this is how you set up your own Contact-less dining program for your restaurant without paying out extra commissions.

If you have any thoughts, please do give your feedback in the comment box below.