Pizza Today -December 2022 - 3

COMMENTARY
JEREMY WHITE
The Real Thing
JEREMY WHITE
Editor In Chief
jwhite@pizzatoday.com
damnation of the QR code, isn't it? 57
I
was scrolling Twitter one evening
and one of my (much younger)
acquaintances had just put out
this concise Tweet: " I'm not using a
QR code to see your menu. Hand me
a menu. "
He's in his early 20s. He's been out
of college for right around a year. It's
a take I'd expect from a 60-year-old.
Th is " kid " grew up on technology. Had
a smart phone in his pocket at the age
where kids in the 70s and 80s would
have been collecting actual baseball
cards. So, his take surprised me. I
would have thought he'd be all about
the convenience of quickly scanning a
menu with his phone.
In this month's Man on the Street
column on page 14, Scott Wiener
talks QR codes. His take is that many
restaurants don't use them correctly.
Could that be why my 20-something
acquaintance wants an actual menu in
his hand?
From the restaurant's perspective,
QR codes make so much sense.
Owners can easily and quickly make
price changes or menu updates without
incurring printing costs. But the
consumer, it turns out, really doesn't
want them. Th ey are demanding the
physical product.
In a recent Technomic survey, a
whopping 88 percent said they favor
physical menus over QR codes.
88 percent! Th at's a rather resounding
percent said using QR codes felt like a
" chore. " 55 percent said the menu is too
diffi cult to read once pulled up on their
phone via a QR code. Wiener brings up
that exact point in his column.
Th at puts many restaurants in a position
they don't want to be in: one method
is effi cient and cheap - but customers
want the opposite and are strongly voicing
that.
What to do?
Th e way I see it, there's really not a
choice. 88 percent tells you all you need
to know. Sure, go ahead and use a QR
code here and there for those who prefer
it. But give your customers an actual
menu. It's what they want.
Lastly, I didn't feel the need to tease
our pizzeria industry report here because
we put it front and center on this month's
cover. But the numbers you read in this
column don't even begin to touch how
deeply we've drilled down on so many
other topics. Flip to page 40 and immerse
yourself. Th en head to PizzaToday.com
where there's so much more waiting for
you.
Best,
Layout: Josh Keown
VOLUME 40 * NUMBER 12
DECEMBER 2022
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DECEMBER 2022 / PIZZATODAY.COM / 3
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Pizza Today -December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pizza Today -December 2022

Pizza Today -December 2022 - CT1
Pizza Today -December 2022 - CT2
Pizza Today -December 2022 - Cover1
Pizza Today -December 2022 - Cover2
Pizza Today -December 2022 - 3
Pizza Today -December 2022 - 4
Pizza Today -December 2022 - 5
Pizza Today -December 2022 - 6
Pizza Today -December 2022 - 7
Pizza Today -December 2022 - 8
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Pizza Today -December 2022 - 10
Pizza Today -December 2022 - 11
Pizza Today -December 2022 - 12
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Pizza Today -December 2022 - 28
Pizza Today -December 2022 - 29
Pizza Today -December 2022 - 30
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Pizza Today -December 2022 - 40
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Pizza Today -December 2022 - Cover3
Pizza Today -December 2022 - Cover4
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