08/18/2020

In a Touch-free World, the QR Code Is Having Its Moment

The patterns are proving their worth during COVID-19

Venture outside and you’ll soon see them. Printed on posters and signs, pasted on pub walls and hotel lobbies, taped to picnic tables in beer gardens: QR codes.

As the hospitality industry begins tentatively to open up, restaurants and hotels are turning to technology to deliver a dine-in experience that is as touch-free as possible. Suddenly, a card menu that gets passed through the germy hands of one customer to the next doesn’t seem so appealing. QR codes—the black, barcode-like squares that can point to text or a website—have been around for a while but were previously dismissed as largely a marketing gimmick, at least in a consumer context. Now the QR code has found its time to shine.

“Up until now a QR code, certainly to me, has just been a collection of black and white patterns on a billboard or on a bus stop or wherever,” says Edmund Inkin, who co-owns three hotels across Cornwall and Wales under the brand Eat Drink Sleep. “I’d never really thought of using them.” Now, visitors to Eat Drink Sleep hotels can access the food menu, drinks list, and details on room bookings via QR code (QR stands for quick response).

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.