Digital menus are becoming a trend in the restaurant industry today. However, there are different digital menus in the market – interactive or a view-only PDF menus.

Interactive and PDF menus are both digital menus but are also distinct from each other. An interactive menu allows customers to order and pay immediately through their smartphones, while a PDF menu only shows a view-only digital menu.

Now that the restaurant industry is continuously evolving, using any of the digital menus gives you an upper hand in the industry.

Let’s learn the difference between an interactive and a PDF view-only menu.

Differences between interactive menu and PDF view-only menu

The typical route restaurants looking to update their establishments by switching from paperback to digital menus is to use PDF menus.

However, QR digital menu is changing the rules of digital menu ordering. And here is why.

The food and beverage industry can use a flexible digital menu tool to generate a menu QR code is a QR code menu software.

For instance, QR code menu software allows you to build a cafe, restaurant, or even a pub food menu.

This versatile software is a helpful resource that gives food and beverage businesses access to features like the ability to build their website, receive sales and data analytics, enable digital menu ordering, and construct their digital menus.

Here are a few of their distinctions that will help you understand why customers prefer interactive QR menus to PDF menus at restaurants.

Interactive menu

Through their phones to order food and make payments, consumers can use an interactive digital menu to queue their orders directly to the restaurant’s dashboard. Customers can also quickly leave a tip as a token of appreciation for the services provided by your staff and eatery.

Aside from that, because an interactive menu QR code is customizable and can be updated in real-time, it is easier to update than a PDF menu. This makes employing an interactive menu to reevaluate budget costs inside your business a cost-effective strategy.

Customers can directly order and pay using their mobile devices, which eliminates the need for help from restaurant workers and is also more affordable. You won’t need to hire more employees to help you run your organization. As a result, you may employ the budgetary allocation for other crucial business issues that will support your industry expansion.

An interactive menu QR code is structured into many clickable components, such as entrees, soups, salads, beverages, wines, etc., and is cost-effective. Customers get direct click access. An online menu that is well-optimized gives your clients the chance to enjoy their dining experience to the fullest.

Additionally, interactive digital menus have a search option to make it simple for customers to locate their favorite meal items.

PDF view-only menu

Like a paperback menu, a PDF menu is more difficult to update.

Given that it is in a fixed PDF format, even the most minor update—such as fixing a typo—requires access to the original file or the creation of a new form and is subsequently stored in PDF format.

Moreover, a PDF menu is just a digital representation of a hardback menu, and it does not support placing orders or making payments through a digital platform.

Ordering from a PDF menu necessitates the assistance of restaurant workers because it serves as an electronic substitute for a hardback menu.

They can only scroll up and down on a scroll-only menu, such as a PDF menu, to find the item they want. Customers cannot click the menu’s sections.

Hence, a PDF view-only menu only allows customers to see the menu on their smartphone devices and does not address other existing issues in the restaurant industry.

Final thoughts

It is obvious why restaurant owners pick an interactive QR digital menu, given the distinctions between a PDF menu and an interactive digital menu.

An interactive QR digital menu allows customers to order and pay for digital menu items using mobile devices. It is simple to update, enabling customers to order and pay without the help of a staff member, and encourages simple menu browsing.

As a result, more food and beverage businesses are implementing interactive QR digital menus.