The world is slowly opening back up as businesses attempt to recover from the global pandemic, but there are many changes to take into account. With many restaurants allowed to reopen after the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic, consumers have an appetite for going out to eat again, but they still want to be safe. To keep your patrons safe, here are some ways you can make payments more reliable.
Allow On-Site Online Ordering
As you look to reopen your restaurant, you should consider solutions to concerns that your customers will have when they start coming back. Contact with another person is something that a lot of people want to avoid right now. With that in mind, allowing customers to order their meals through an online system, even dine-in, is worth considering.
If you have online ordering for take-out already, look into adding a way for customers to select the table where they are sitting. Add table numbers or a layout of the restaurant to your ordering system to order for dine-in. This limits the contact your customers and staff have with each other, which will keep everyone safer.
This also allows the customer to place the order themselves, which reduces the possibility that a server will incorrectly enter an order. Just make sure your staff is fully trained on the system so they can answer customer questions.
Create a QSR Code Menu
One primary concern for around 75 percent of diners is reusable menus. You can opt for single-use paper menus, but the printing will get expensive. Even if you don’t have online ordering, allowing customers to view the menu from their phones will make them feel more secure.
Put a QSR code on every table that customers can scan to view the most updated menu. This can also allow you to make changes to your menu quickly if you find a particular item isn’t selling well, or that you need to modify due to supply shortages. Just update the web page instead of having to reprint menus!
Invest in POS Software that Allows Near-field Communication Payments
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of customers were going cash-free. Cash is easy to lose and requires closer contact with another person. As you look at reopening your restaurant, keep alternate payment methods in mind.
Allowing customers to pay with their phones is a great way to reduce person-to-person contact. With applications like Apple Pay and Google Pay, customers can link their bank account information to their phones. Then, they wave their phone in front of the sensor to pay.
There are also tap-to-go credit cards, which allow customers to tap their card to the reader to pay. You would have to set up the equipment to take these payment methods, but it will make payment quick and contactless.
Take Care with Credit Card Payments
Keeping payments to as little contact as possible should be a top priority. If possible, allow the customer to swipe their card through the machine when checking out. This reduces the number of people touching the debit card.
Using quality POS credit card processing for restaurants will help you keep your customers and staff safe. Having a separate card reader will also help your staff form sanitation habits. Every time they pull the card reader back, they wipe it down with a cleansing wipe before the next customer uses it.
Embrace Paperless Receipts
While the surfaces of paper themselves are not a significant concern for COVID-19 transmission, the potential for accidental contact when handing a receipt to a customer is high. Also, most customers don’t want paper receipts anymore. With a focus on going green and reducing waste and digital banking, more customers opt for emailed receipts.
Asking the customer if they would like a physical receipt, emailed receipt, or no receipt will allow the customer to make that choice based on how they live. Emailing receipts has the secondary benefit of getting the customer’s email address and giving them the option to sign up for information about your upcoming promotions.
Contactless is the Future
Even before COVID-19 began to spread, many customers were going digital with their payments simply because it was convenient. Now, there is even more reason to make your restaurant as contactless as possible. As you look to reopen your restaurant, or if you are already open again, consider ways to keep your customers and staff safe.