Bridging Online and Offline Marketing for Restaurants

It’s no secret that e-commerce has seen exponential growth in the last decade. It has challenged the traditional brick and mortar system, with websites like Amazon.com effectively competing against retail behemoths like Walmart. Yet, for businesses based on experiences or perishable inventory, both of which apply to restaurants, there is limited e-commerce opportunity. Gift card sales, online ordering and group buying allow restaurants a taste of online sales, but the lion’s share of the revenue continues to change hands at the register.

To fully realize the value of e-marketing, restaurants need to bridge the gap between online and the real world. With an expected 120 million smartphone users in the U.S. by year’s end, the third screen (after television and computer) has the ability to bring the immediacy, trackability and marketing opportunity of the web to the street. [4] With quick response (QR) codes, restaurants can easily and effectively interact with customers’ mobile devices at any point in the communication process.

These square-ish symbols, comprised of jumbled lines and boxes, act as real-world hyperlinks, able to trigger any online property. Via 3rd-party apps, a smartphone user simply scans the symbol with their device’s camera, and is jettisoned to the target link -- be it a video, photo, landing page, Facebook profile, etc. On some devices, these codes can even generate SMS messages or interact with installed apps, without the need for a wi-fi or 3G/4G connections.

QR codes are not new. Created in 1994 by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave, they have been widely used in Japan for over a decade. Today, 86% of Japanese consumers scan four or more times per month. [5] It appears that the U.S. has finally taken to this technology. The combination of a surging smartphone market and increasing marketer adoption drove 1,500% year-over-year growth of mobile scans in 2010. And for the first time, the United States saw a higher volume of scans than any other country. [2]

It is estimated that some 70 million smartphone customers have installed an app capable of scanning QR codes. [2] In perspective, that’s more than 10 times the number of potential users as popular location-based service (LBS) Foursquare. [3] Further, the audience using this emerging technology is more diverse than its LBS counterparts, which skews highly to the under 30 cohort. [6]

The explosion of mobile barcodes brings seemingly limitless opportunity to the restaurant industry. The following is only a sampling of how these 2D codes can be applied to your restaurant's marketing program...

MAKE YOUR TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING MORE ACTIONABLE:
For decades, newspaper FSI’s, direct mailers, billboards, window decals and other printed advertising have proven successful for restaurants. With 2D codes, that same traditional ad space can generate a significantly higher return on investment. Trigger your online reservations page, online ordering system, or refer-a-friend link. Take it a step further and apply a coupon or provide exclusive access via URL tagging.

BRING ONLINE MARKETING TO OFFLINE LIFE:
For nearly a decade, online promotions had to be printed in order to redeem in-store. QR codes in your emails, banner ads and other web properties can provide a great convenience to your present and future customers. Call a mobile version of the offer that can be presented at the register, saving time, money and even trees.

EXTEND THE VALUE OF PRINTED MATERIAL:
QR codes take little physical real estate and require no special printing process. Encode a 2D link to your Fishbowl mobile join form and let your napkins, cups, to-go bags, business cards, receipts and any other printed material help to grow your guest database.

ENCOURAGE VIRAL GROWTH FROM INSIDE THE STORE:
There’s never a better time to ask for a Yelp review, a GoWalla “check-in” or a Facebook ”like” than when a customer is dining in your restaurant. Table tents, menus and bill inserts adorned with QR codes can help coax social media activity.

**SOURCES:

[3] - http://foursquare.com/about
[2] - ScanLife - Mobile Barcode Trend Report, 2010
[5] - http://www.androidtapp.com/exclusive-att-mobile-barcode-stats-using-barcodes-as-creative-advertising-platform/
[4] - Asymco http://www.asymco.com/2010/12/04/half-of-us-population-to-use-smartphones-by-end-of-2011/
[6] - Location Lucrative: Check-in Services Boast Coveted Demographics   http://www.fastcompany.com/1708849/location-lucrative-foursquare-check-in-services-boast-coveted-demographics