As one of the industries hit hardest by the pandemic, restaurants and hospitality groups have looked for innovative contactless dining solutions to ensure the comfort and safety of their guests. Flowcode, an advanced, customizable QR technology that enables instant, contactless connections, has emerged as a leading solution for the struggling restaurant industry.
Flowcode, together with its complementary product offering, Flowpage, provides an entirely free platform for restaurants to activate touchless menus, and connect directly with their customers. In a matter of minutes, a restauranteur can visit Flowcode.com to create a custom designed circular QR code, branded with their own restaurant logo and colors. This then redirects customers to their free Flowpage, which can house menus, online ordering, social media, reviews, reservations, merchandise, GoFundMe pages, contact tracing, and more – all in a mobile first, easy to navigate landing page.
Tens of thousands of restaurants and hospitality groups across the country—including a couple of hundred in New Jersey—have begun to utilize Flowcode and Flowpage. These restaurants range in size from a small Texas café to a chain of Las Vegas restaurants, and describe the tech as one of the most valuable and empowering services they have deployed during the pandemic. With Flowcode and Flowpage there are no hidden fees, and no hidden agenda. During a time when restaurants are struggling for profit and decisions for operators feel burdensome, Flowcode and Flowpage offer a free product that solves multiple problems: Flowcode’s contactless menu technology means no more costly and unsustainable printed menus that need to be changed daily, and Flowpage’s sleek, mobile-first link aggregation technology allows for direct online connections between the restaurant and every customer, which can be sustained and nurtured well after a single dining experience has concluded.
“We were forced to close for weeks,” says Randy Nason, the General Manager of Seven Stars Bakery, which operates four locations in Rhode Island. Like many restaurants, they struggled through their closure, working to pivot their business model and launch new online ordering systems for to-go offerings. “We started using Flowcode when we reopened our cafes. We had never done online ordering before, so we put our Flowcode everywhere. Customers used it to get right to our order page. We went from being a technology dinosaur to being a technology innovator overnight and our customers loved it.”
Another establishment, Hula Hut in Austin, TX, wasn’t as lucky with the ability to survive as a to-go establishment. “At first we attempted to operate as to-go only, but with the city in lockdown and the general fear of contracting the virus, our sales couldn’t keep us open,” says General Manager, Elias Chocalas. “After reopening in May, Flowcode helped us cut costs. We were spending hundreds of dollars weekly to print menus that were being thrown away after one use. As for marketing – it has helped us put out new menu items almost instantly without having to worry about printing new menus, table tents, etc. We push it to the platform and it’s there. It also helps direct people to our social media channels while they’re here, and it looks good to our guests that we are trying to limit their exposure.”
Restaurateurs have heralded Flowcode’s ease of use, capacity for customization, and free price tag during a pandemic that has created long-term industry suffering like it’s never seen before. Jayson Storicks, General Manager of Mother’s Ruin in Nashville, said “We began utilizing Flowcode upon reopening as a way to eliminate the need for single-use paper menus and allow a safe way for our guests to access our menus. Additionally, it has allowed us to remain environmentally conscious by eliminating unnecessary paper waste. The response from our guests has been overwhelmingly positive and the Flowcode is a shining example of our commitment to keeping our doors open while maintaining as safe an environment as possible for our guests.”
“With the continuous uncertainty in today’s consumer behaviors, the hospitality world needs a safe way to connect, using intention and purpose, not algorithms,” says Andrew Duplessie, the head of direct to consumer. Businesses of all sizes in the hospitality space were hit particularly hard during COVID-19 and with the increasing demand for contactless options, establishments are forced to find creative, and affordable solutions at an accelerated rate. Due to this fact, Flowcode is committed to offering our services 100% free of charge for restaurants in the face of the global pandemic.
