(Image Source: ICHIBUNS)

F&B Tech: Toasted QR Codes

In London Soho’s Chinatown, you can now order a burger from the future. Whether your taste is for high-end indulgence or food-to-go, ICHIBUNS’ cutting-edge burger is taking food payments to the next level.

The new-age offering: a wagyu beef burger with all the trimmings – and a toasted QR code. Customers can pay for the burger by scanning the quick response (QR) code.

ICHIBUNS CEO, Benjamin Goldkorn, cooked up the idea while he was chatting with a friend who works in fintech, reported Evening Standard.

“We were looking for a way to make the mobile wallet industry more exciting and dynamic. It’s a world that’s become a bit sterile, and this injects a little life,” Goldkorn said.

Goldkron sees smartphones as a ‘valuable utensil’, connecting customers to their entirely edible meal.

“It offers customers an easy way to make fast, safe payments with a quick scan from a smartphone,” Goldkron added. “We’re closing the loop on waste from bill receipts, and it allows customers to keep on top of their spending. Everyone has their phone in their hand or at dinner now. You can’t ignore that. We have to accept that we’re in a different place than we were five years ago, and take things forward.”

Requiring just four ingredients, internet connectivity, a smart device, a QR code, and consumer awareness of said QR code, the success of the QR code comes from the technology’s simplicity. Aside from the convenience to the consumer, scanning a QR code directs the consumer straight to the advertiser's website, shortening the conversion funnel and, in turn, increasing the conversion rate.

Whilst UCHIBUNS use QR codes to accelerate app downloads and payments, wi-Q Technologies use them to provide instant access to the venue's fully brand customisable web-based menu. With no app to download, even transient, first-time customers can order and pay on their own mobile device in a matter of seconds. For more information on wi-Q for F&B outlets or to request a demo, please get in touch.