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The hospitality industry has widely adopted QR Codes in the past few years. A big reason for this, of course, has been the pandemic. The contactless nature of QR Codes and their ease of use have earned them a great reputation.
Fast forward to the present:
- 7/10 US-based restaurants opt to implement QR Codes.
- 58% of adults in the US say they are more likely to access a menu QR Code on their phones.
- By 2025, 75% of hospitality and travel organizations will offer multiple payment options including QR Codes, improving customer satisfaction by 15%.
These trends show that the rate at which QR Codes have been adopted in the hospitality space is unprecedented.
From basic applications like providing a menu via QR Code and allowing for contactless check-in to launching QR Code based marketing campaigns and generating revenue, we’ve come a long way.
And given how popular QR Codes are, you can create one easily on Uniqode.
In this blog post, we will explore how the hospitality industry has evolved, along with some key benefits of using QR Codes and their real-world use case.
Table of contents
- Hospitality trends and adoption of QR Codes
- How QR Codes benefit the hospitality industry
- Global brands using QR Codes in hospitality
- Frequently asked questions
The pandemic effect: New hospitality trends and adoption of QR Codes
Three trends have shaped the hospitality industry in the last few years:
- A deep focus on hygiene, safety, and cleanliness.
- Climate change concerns have focused put a focus on eco-friendly and sustainable solutions.
- And, an evolved customer who demands a more digital experience.
QR Codes for hospitality have addressed these three pain points and provided a solution smoothly and cost-effectively. This is primarily because QR Codes are 100% contactless, making them sustainable, and they offer a digitally-enhanced experience to the customer. Moreover, dynamic QR Codes allow you to change your QR Code content without any reprinting, making them extremely eco-friendly.
From the hotel chains like Marriot, to amusement parks like Disney World, the biggest global players in the hospitality industry have begun to leverage QR Codes for their business needs.
Let’s explore this in more detail in the next section, where we discuss the benefits that QR Codes have to offer in the hospitality space.
The 4 C’s of hospitality industry and how QR Codes benefit them
You could translate the benefits of using QR Codes in hospitality with the four Cs:
Let us delve into how QR Codes complement each of these key levers of hospitality services.
1. Customer service
The hospitality industry is nothing if not the epitome of customer service. A warm welcome and an experience that leaves guests feeling like a celebrity are perhaps a given in hospitality.
Great customer service means delighting the customer at every touch point. In the case of a hotel, it starts with the booking experience, which extends into the check-in and subsequent communications at every step of their stay – and beyond.
How QR Codes help: The modern customer hates to wait. Guest satisfaction scores drop by 50% if there’s even a five-minute wait at check-in.
A simple application of QR Codes at hotel check-in can enhance the customer experience, reduce wait times and improve the overall customer journey.
In addition, you can implement QR Codes in hotel rooms to provide more information about services like spas, restaurant menus, local tourist attractions, and such.
Think of a PDF QR Code, which upon scanning, can lead to the spa service menu.
“(…) My guests can load my digital menu through a PDF without having to download it to their personal devices. This helps me gain the trust of my guests.”
Orlando Hitzig’s Hilton hotel’s executive chef
Also read: How QR Codes can enhance customer experience.
2. Customer loyalty
A powerful and consistently good customer experience can create customer loyalty.
This goes beyond a customer’s experience at the venue itself. It is the answer to the question: What keeps you going back to that cafe?
“You don’t earn loyalty in a day. You earn loyalty day-by-day.”
How QR Codes can help: Feedback surveys, QR Codes for loyalty programs, and online reviews – all these can be great ways to hook your guests long after they’ve used your services.
75% of consumers will favor a brand if there is a loyalty program that rewards members.
So introducing special loyalty rewards programs is a fun and engaging way to promote customer loyalty through QR Codes.
For instance, you can strategize a points-based rewards program—like the one offered by Starbucks.
In a simple move, Starbucks asked customers to vote for their favorite roast via a QR Code and rewarded them with $1 off from their favorite Starbucks tote bag.
You may also consider using QR Codes at billing counters or on promotional materials to promote point-based rewards programs, conduct customer experience surveys, and more.
3. Convenience
Hospitality is not only about offering convenience to your customers. It is also about empowering your staff and freeing up their time to focus on delivering stellar service and building relationships.
This is where technology and automation can play a major role. Making the entire customer journey convenient and intuitive is like building an app with a fantastic user experience.
How QR Codes help: Hospitality staff can automate several repetitive operations and secure data in one place for strategic use with QR Codes. No more reams of paper to check in guests or manually take restaurant orders.
This helps negate the room for error – leaving the staff to do what they do best–delight customers by providing the best-in-class service.
Another advantage for businesses in hospitality is that when a customer scans a QR Code, they share important information and data. Business and marketing teams can leverage this to enhance customer convenience.
For instance, consider a customer who placed their order via QR Code menu and made all-vegan choices at your restaurant. Their preferences become valuable data stored in your restaurant database.
You can use this and similar scan data to further build loyalty or for highly personalized marketing campaigns- in this case, special vegan dishes to attract like-minded customers.
4. Campaigns and conversions
In a digital world, establishments don’t have to struggle to keep the conversation going after a customer leaves.
From lead generation to retargeting and staying in touch with the customer, the post-sale experience is crucial and it can impact your business’s bottom line.
How QR Codes help: When used correctly, QR Codes can give you in-depth data about the number of scans, demographics, preferences, and more.
Uniqode’s in-house QR Code analytics feature, along with its robust integration with Google Analytics, lets you access a myriad of end-user data. You can generate QR Code campaigns that are optimized for conversion.
You can also use Zapier integration to capture leads directly from Uniqode’s dashboard into your CRM tools.
In addition to this, you can also use our QR Code retargeting feature to retain customers who might have interacted with your brand.
When a customer scans a Uniqode QR Code at a hotel, they get added to a retargeting list. Promotional ads for that particular hotel will show up on other platforms they might be browsing, like Facebook and Google.
Here, ‘offline data’ can do magic for your ‘online advertising’ and even help convert leads.
Global hospitality brands using QR Codes to improve customer experience
QR Codes have a myriad of usages across the hospitality sector. Here are some prominent ones:
1. Hotel promotion by W Hotels
A construction site in Philadelphia was plastered with QR Codes.
The idea was: upon scanning, the scanners could learn about the new branch of the W Hotel chain that was coming up at that spot.
A unique way to generate interest amongst passersby for sure.
2. NYC deploys QR Codes at Central Park
For Arbor Day, 2011, New York City’s Central Park launched the World Park campaign where QR Codes designed like trees were placed all over the park.
Upon scanning, one could view scenes from movies and historical information and even participate in interactive games.
3. Travel agencies implementing QR Codes
When passersby scanned these QR Codes, they landed on a webpage that contained the deals and offers mentioned in the posters and allowed them to place an inquiry directly.
Many high-end travel agencies like Cox & Kings, Audrey Travel, and others implemented this QR Codes strategy for their marketing.
4. Disneyland uses location QR Code for easy navigation
QR Code maps are an efficient and sustainable way to find facilities like cafes, popular rides, and washrooms at amusement parks and zoos. Additionally, malls can use QR Codes to help find free parking spaces.
For instance, Disneyland Paris was among the first to obliterate paper maps and introduce QR Code maps that guests could navigate via their app.
5. QR Codes at Universal Studios
In September 2022, Universal Studios announced a Scavenger Hunt where visitors would mint seven million Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) by scanning seven QR Codes concealed across seven separate parks.
A guest could mint an NFT after locating a QR Code and scanning it with their mobile phone.
Why you should use Uniqode’s QR Code maker
Now that we’ve concluded that QR Codes play a significant role in the hospitality space, let us talk about why Uniqode is the best QR Code generator for you.
With Uniqode, you can track, edit, manage, and launch QR Code campaigns at scale.
Whether it is customization in terms of design, ease-of-use, and modification you’re looking for or powerful analytics to power your marketing campaigns – you can access it all from a single dashboard.
If safety is a concern, Uniqode is GDPR compliant and the world’s safest QR Code generator that’s SOC 2 type 1 and type 2 compliant.
Go ahead and sign-up for our 14-day free trial and check it for yourself.
Frequently asked questions
#1 What is the use of QR Codes in hospitality?
QR Codes can be used throughout the entire customer lifecycle to provide an easy and smooth customer experience in the hospitality space. This includes experience enhancements during check-in, accessing digital menus, placing orders, payment, gathering feedback, and online reviews. Additionally, they can be used to share information about a product or destination.
#2 What is the trend of QR Code used in the hospitality industry?
In the past few years, especially since the pandemic, QR Codes have become extremely popular in the hospitality industry due to their 100% contactless nature. Due to their digital nature, QR Codes offer the advantage of making the customer experience frictionless, contactless, and eco-friendly.
#3 How are QR Codes used in tourism?
The travel and tourism sector has been using QR Codes to share information with tourists about a destination, itineraries, directions, and points of interest around a specific destination. QR Codes are also used for getting feedback, reviews, and ratings and growing followers on social media.
#4 What are QR Codes used for restaurants?
Restaurants have many uses for QR Codes but the most popular are digital menus that can be scanned via mobile device easily. You can create and change the menu with dynamic QR Codes. Restaurants also make it easy to make payments via QR Codes.
Ektha is a QR code expert with years of research and analysis into the evolution of QR codes. Having written over 70 in-depth articles on QR technology, she has developed a comprehensive understanding of how QR codes are transforming industries. Her insights, including The State of QR Report, have been featured in leading publications. With a passion for simplifying complex topics and providing actionable strategies, Ektha helps businesses leverage QR codes to enhance their ‘phygital’ connections.
