Square announced this week it has released a new ordering tool for restaurants this week.
The new self-serve ordering tool, which boasts a contactless experience, allows diners to place their order on their mobile device. The service doesn’t use complicated technology, but leverages a QR code that links the customer to the restaurant’s mobile-optimized ordering page.
Once the customer inputs their order, it is received by the restaurant’s point of sale platform and is sent to their kitchen. When the meal is ready, the staff brings out the food. The self-ordering technology minimizes human contact, limits error, and improves efficiency by removing wait times.
QR code technology has re-emerged as a promising tool for payments and ordering. The technology had fallen out of favor around 2012 with the advent of NFC and BLE communication technologies. With recent concerns around the coronavirus, however, we’ve seen an uptick in QR code usage. Just yesterday InComm announced partnerships with five QR and barcode payments processors that will facilitate point-of-sale payments acceptance at retailers across Japan.
Square’s self-serve ordering is available now for Square Online sellers in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia.
Photo by Michael Browning on Unsplash