All guides How-to

How QR ordering works in a restaurant

QR ordering is the channel where a customer at a table — or at a counter, a pickup point, or a hotel room — scans a QR code, browses the restaurant's menu in their phone browser, orders, and (usually) pays without involving a waiter for those steps. The kitchen receives the order in the same flow as a counter ticket. Sinqro Order Hub treats QR as one more channel: same menu source, same POS handoff, same status flow.

What a customer experiences

The customer scans a QR code printed on a table tent, on the wall, on the takeaway counter, or on the room key card. The phone opens a web URL — no app install — that loads the restaurant's QR menu for that specific location and, if relevant, that specific table. The customer browses categories, adds items with modifiers, sees the running total, places the order, and pays in the same screen. A short confirmation tells them when the order will be ready or who is bringing it.

Where the menu actually comes from

The QR menu is rendered from the same menu source the restaurant edits in Sinqro Order Hub — same products, same modifiers, same prices per channel, same availability rules. One menu update propagates to the QR menu, to the direct ordering site, to Glovo, to Uber Eats, and to every other connected channel. No separate QR menu CMS to maintain.

What the kitchen sees

A QR order arrives in Order Hub like any other channel order, with the table identifier (or the takeaway code, or the room number) attached. Order Hub hands the order off to the POS and the POS routes it to the kitchen station as if a waiter had typed it. The Work App shows the order on the floor with the table label so the team knows where to deliver it once it is ready. Status changes (preparing, ready, served) flow back to the customer view on their phone.

How payment is handled

Payment for a QR order goes through a payment provider connected to Sinqro — card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, local wallets, depending on the market. The restaurant receives funds net of payment fees from the provider; the POS records the sale with the channel attributed as QR. From an accounting and reconciliation perspective the QR channel is a peer of Glovo, Uber Eats, and the direct ordering site: the same Data Sync flow handles it.

QR ordering is not the same as a marketplace

A delivery marketplace owns the demand and charges a commission per order. A QR menu sits on the restaurant's own premises (or rooms, or pickup zones) and the order is direct — no commission to a third party, no listing competition, no marketing fee. The restaurant keeps the customer relationship. That is why QR ordering is one of the highest-margin channels and why Sinqro treats it as a first-class peer of direct ordering rather than as an aggregator.

Quick answers

Common questions

Does the customer need to install an app to order by QR?
No. The QR points to a web URL that loads in the phone's browser. No app store, no install, no account required — although the customer can optionally save their details for faster repeat orders.
Can the QR identify the specific table?
Yes. Each table (or pickup point, room, etc.) gets its own QR with a unique identifier. The order carries that identifier so the team delivers it to the right table without asking.
Does Sinqro charge a commission per QR order?
No commission on restaurant sales. Sinqro pricing is a SaaS subscription with included volume per venue. The QR channel is part of the included Order Hub flow.