The café's five QR codes, and where each one goes
Five codes, five surfaces, about twenty minutes of work. The menu one is the famous one and it is not the one that earns most.
Most cafés have one QR code. It is on the table, it opens the menu, and it was printed in a hurry some years ago when everybody had to have one.
That code is doing about a fifth of the available work. Here are the other four, what each one is for, and where it goes — in the order I would put them up, which is not the order you would guess.
| Code | Where it goes | What it is worth |
|---|---|---|
| Review | By the till, on the receipt | The one that compounds |
| WiFi | On the wall, at eye level when seated | Buys you the second hour |
| Menu | Table tents, the window | The famous one |
| The counter, the cup | Turns a visit into a follower | |
| The window, after hours | Catches the question at 8pm |
1. The review code, by the till
This is the one I would put up first, and almost nobody does.
A review is the only thing on this list that keeps working after the person has gone. A follower might see your next post. A review is read by every stranger deciding between you and the place across the road, for years, and it moves you up the list they are choosing from.
The moment is the thing. Somebody has just had a good coffee, they are paying, and they are about to walk out of your life. That window is about nine seconds long and it is the only one you get. A code on the card machine or printed on the receipt costs nothing and asks nobody to say anything out loud, which matters because asking out loud is the part that stops most owners doing it at all.
One rule, and it is not optional: show it to everybody, every time. Steering the happy ones to the code and quietly not showing it to the unhappy ones breaks Google's policies, and the penalty lands on the listing you have been building.
2. The WiFi code, at seated eye level
The WiFi code buys you the second hour, and the second hour buys you the second coffee.
Put it where somebody already sitting down can see it without getting up — the wall beside the table, the back of the table tent, the inside of the menu. Not behind the counter, which is where it usually is, because the person who needs it has already sat down and does not want to queue again to ask.
Use the guest network rather than the one your card machine is on. The password is inside the code in plain text, so anyone who photographs your sign has it — on a guest network that costs you nothing at all, which is the whole reason guest networks exist.
3. The menu code, on the table and in the window
The famous one. Two things about it are worth more than the code itself.
Point it at a web page, not a PDF. A PDF opens as a document your guests have to pinch and drag around one corner at a time, usually one-handed while holding a drink, and it is the single most common reason a menu code annoys somebody who scanned it happily. A plain page fits whatever phone is reading it, and you can change tonight's specials without reprinting anything.
And put one in the window. The table code serves people who already came in. The window code serves the ones deciding on the pavement, which is a much larger group and the only one you are currently losing.
4. The Instagram code, on the counter
There is a gap here that costs real money and almost nobody closes it.
Your food gets photographed. People come in because they saw a picture. And then they leave without following you, because standing in your shop they are not in the app, and by the time they are, they have forgotten your name. A code on the counter is the only moment those two things overlap.
It works on the cup and the takeaway bag too, and that version is better than it sounds: the follow happens later, on the sofa, which is where people actually use Instagram.
5. The WhatsApp code, in the window
The one that works while you are asleep.
Somebody walks past at eight in the evening wanting to know if you do birthday cakes. Right now that is a missed call at nine the next morning, or more likely nothing at all. A WhatsApp code in the window turns it into a message you answer when you open.
The part most people do not know: WhatsApp normally makes you save someone as a contact before you can message them, which is three steps and a decision while standing in the street. A code skips all of it and opens the chat directly. That is why a WhatsApp code converts where a printed number does not.
Use a business number rather than your personal one. The chat opens against whatever number is in the code, and a personal number means customers in your personal WhatsApp with your photo and your last seen, permanently.
Where to start if five is too many
Two. The review code by the till and the WiFi code at eye level.
The review one because it compounds and nothing else on the list does. The WiFi one because it is the only one your customers will actively look for, which means it is the only one that gets scanned without you doing anything at all.
The rest can go up whenever you next print something.
Five codes, about twenty minutes.
Every code on this list is free to make, has no watermark and never expires. Pick a type, fill in one field, print it.
Open the generatorWhich code should a café put up first?
The review code, by the till or on the receipt. It is the only one on the list that keeps working after the customer has gone — a review is read by every stranger choosing between you and the place across the road, for years.
Should a menu QR code point at a PDF?
No. A PDF opens as a document people have to pinch and drag around one corner at a time, usually while holding a drink. Point it at a web page, which fits whatever phone is reading it and lets you change the specials without reprinting.
Is it safe to put the WiFi password in a QR code?
On a guest network, yes. The password sits inside the code as plain text, so anybody who photographs your sign has it. On a guest network that costs you nothing, which is why guest networks exist.
Do I need an account or a subscription for these?
No. Every code here is static, which means the information is inside the code itself rather than on a page somebody keeps running for you. No account, no expiry, no monthly fee, and nothing that stops working if a supplier goes away.