Trend in restaurants is spreading – but Germans don’t like it at all

Digitalization is also making further progress in the hospitality industry. But a survey now shows that many Germans do not like it.

It is supposed to make visiting a restaurant easy, quick and uncomplicated. However, a survey has now shown that the QR code as a menu is not well received by most guests.

This is the result of a survey by the POS system and payment platform Lightspeed, which is available to “t-online” and carried out in cooperation with the survey provider Medallia. The QR code was introduced in the catering industry especially during and after the Corona pandemic. Many restaurants then switched to it completely. Even though Gen Z seems to be increasingly suffering from a kind of “menu anxiety”, according to the results, most respondents prefer an analogue menu.

Restaurant visit: German guests have little to do with the new trend

The results clearly show that a majority of Germans (85.73 percent) still prefer traditional printed menus to digital alternatives. The trend towards QR code menus, which can be viewed directly at the table using an issued code, is met with rejection by many, as EXPRESS.de reports.

Despite the obvious skepticism about QR codes, almost half of Germans (43.51 percent) still use them in restaurants that do not offer physical menus. However, a third of respondents (35.13 percent) insist on receiving a printed menu, and almost 7 percent of guests even leave the restaurant if only digital menus are available.

Read here also: Trend in German restaurants: Long-popular classic is dying out

However, the survey, which covered over 7,500 people in several countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, France, the Netherlands and Belgium in May 2024, also shows that there are advantages to digital menus that will be perceived by guests: 16.47 percent of respondents find the digital version more convenient and 24.45 percent find it more hygienic.

In Germany, 1,002 people took part in the survey. All were over 18 years old and had to have been to a restaurant at least once in the last six months.

The results suggest that, although acceptance of technological innovations in the hospitality sector is growing, many Germans prefer to stick with the usual processes. The survey results were anonymized and quality checked to ensure an appropriate margin of error.

Price increases and the abolition of the VAT reduction are driving up restaurant prices and causing anger. This is having an impact on the eating habits of many Germans.