Mr Yum adds QR code mobile table-ordering for SA restaurants

Mr Yum's ordering technology has been used across Australia and New Zealand for over two years.

Offering any combination of dine-in table ordering, pickup and delivery, the concept was brought to South Africa by a team of local entrepreneurs who launched the technology locally to help restaurants become more profitable.

Early adopters of the table-ordering technology include Cape Town-based Harringtons Cocktail Lounge, Surfa Rosa, Latitude Cafe and Peddlars.

A real-time menu is accessed through a QR-code, without having to download an app or sign-up. The menu is interactive and visual, personalising the diner's experience. Diners order and pay immediately, removing the headache of splitting a bill or flagging down the waiter to order and pay.

The platform makes it easy to place multiple orders and batches orders by table for the kitchen and bar, linking directly to the point-of-sale.

Digitalising the restaurant trade

“Unlike other industries, restaurants have remained largely unchanged by technology, even as customers have changed their purchasing behaviours,” says Mr Yum SA COO Gary Harrod. “Consumers are using technology in more parts of their daily life and their expectation is that restaurants will offer a seamless technology-enabled experience. Mr Yum has stepped up to transform dining out in the same way that Shopify transformed retail shopping.”

Restaurants have no sign-up costs, fixed costs or lock-in contracts. Mr Yum takes a transaction fee of 4.9%, with volume and group discounts available, which includes the payment gateway fee, free point-of-sale integrations, staff training and unlimited customer support. To help restaurants during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Yum is offering a free visual menu option with a built-in guest register at no cost to restaurants.

“We always encourage restaurants to trial the platform, because once they see how it impacts their bottom line they stop viewing us as a cost but rather a tremendous value-add. With hundreds of dine-in venues at a group level, not a single restaurant has tried table-ordering and switched it off,” says Harrod. “This is the future of dining out. The value is clear, and the early movers will quickly see the benefits.”