Your restaurant menu is the most important tool for informing customers about your restaurant's dishes, a well-designed restaurant menu is a vital part of any restaurant's marketing strategy as it reflects the personality of your restaurant. So, when creating a menu keep in mind that it should focus on your entire restaurant operations, enhancing profitability, setting your budget, and maintaining your brand presence in your customers' minds. Imagine if you follow all these steps and still use PDF menus; you are definitely losing out on a great opportunity. Continue reading to figure out why you should stop using PDF menus for your restaurant and start moving towards actual digital menus.
Isn't it about time you switched from PDF to digital menus on your restaurant's website or social platforms? There is a compelling case to be made for you to do so. Here are a few advantages and disadvantages of utilizing PDF menus on your restaurant's website.
PDF menus can come in handy since It's typically straightforward to replace an existing PDF menu by just saving the new one over the old, making menu updates a quick and painless process. This can be one positive point towards PDF's but there are various disadvantages to be talked about. In the year 1996, Jakob Nielsen gave reasons a why PDF files shouldn't be read online. Barely three years after they were established, PDFs were still proving to be an issue for consumers. Despite this fact, they are nevertheless far too commonly implemented into present online content.
5 Disadvantages of using PDF menus for your restaurant
PDF menus are larger in size which leads to slow downloads
Imagine a potential customer looking online for a pleasant restaurant to dine at. They come upon your webpage or social platforms and decide to look at the menu. It's a PDF menu and they are forced to download it. Generally, PDF menus tend to be large in size so it takes forever to download. The customers are aware that the download will take longer than they anticipated so they might simply move towards searching for another user-friendly restaurant menu.
PDF menus irritate customer user experience
About 83% of potential customers view menus on their smartphones. PDF menus do not adjust to the screen size of the user's device, they are difficult to read, there is a lot of zooming in and out, as well as up and down scrolling. Users waste a lot of time on this and might get frustrated which can affect one's restaurant's profitability.
PDF menus cannot be edited
A PDF version of your restaurant menu cannot be updated once it has been published. This means that if you want to make changes, such as correcting errors or adding daily or weekly specials, discounts, or offers, you'll have to create a new menu and publish it. Imagine the time and work it would take to add one apostrophe that was missing! And the countless number of versions you may have of your menu could be the ultimate cause of confusion.
Inability to provide an updated menu
When customers download PDF menus, it remains on their devices long after you've updated your restaurant PDF menu. This means that several copies of your 'latest menu' could be circulating among your present and potential customers.
It's difficult to share the link.
It's critical that your menu is simple to share, so that your loyal customers may suggest your restaurant to their family and friends, and they can start sharing the menu link. It's difficult to share PDF links because one has to download them.
A restaurant menu should be appealing to the eye and reflect the restaurant's image. Without resorting to PDF menus, there are ways to accomplish this with digital menus. When we consider the downsides of PDF menus, it is clear that they will not be suitable for restaurants. A digital menu is a considerably more effective and feasible choice. The digital menu activated with a QR code, will not only solve the problems that PDF menus have, but it's also the ideal fit for the present era.
What distinguishes digital menus from PDF menus?
There is no need to download an app or a document because digital menus are accessible online. To gain access, simply scan a QR code. Because they are mobile responsive, the menu adjusts to the size of the user's device screen, making it much easier to read. When you go digital, you can develop a restaurant menu that is tailored to the needs of both your restaurant and your customers. You may arrange your meals any way you like, while your customers can jump right to the category of their preference with a single click. Quick and efficient!
Applova offers free digital menus.
Yes, you read it right, Applova provides custom-branded digital menus for absolutely free. These QR-activated menus are stylish and elegant, and they will become the visual virtual identity of your restaurant. They're quite simple to set up; in fact, you can design a restaurant menu in just minutes! You have the choice of adding your own restaurant logo and selecting your theme color, as well as the freedom to alter your menu whenever you want, all for free. Keep your customers and staff happy while also ensuring that you make enough revenue in this new year.
Create your Digital Menu now, it's totally FREE Forever.
So, what are you waiting for? Increase customer engagement, retention rates, and go next-level digital.
Check out a sample menu here and sign up now!