Kebab, snack, fast food: cut the queue with a QR code and smartphone payment

Lunchtime, or bars emptying on Saturday night. Fifteen people are waiting at the counter. Each waits their turn, dictates their order — "wrap or bread, salad-tomato-onion, sauce blanche, harissa, fries, drink" — the cashier re-enters everything, takes payment, gives change. Meanwhile the meat turns and the cook waits for the next order. Some customers look at the queue, turn around and go elsewhere.

The kebab business is a volume business: France counts more than 11,000 outlets (Le JDD) and about 350 million kebabs consumed per year (Businesscoot). In this trade, it is not the kitchen that limits revenue at peak hours: it is the counter.

The idea: take ordering out of the counter

A QR code displayed at the entrance, on the window, on the wall of the queue and on the tables. The customer scans it while waiting:

1. the menu opens in their phone's browser, with no app and no registration;
2. they build their sandwich themselves: bread, meat, vegetables, sauces, meal deal, drink;
3. they pay immediately by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay;
4. the order prints or appears in the kitchen as soon as payment is made, with a number;
5. a screen or a call announces "order 47 ready", and the customer comes to pick it up.

The same link works even before arriving: from the office, school or the next street, the customer orders at 12:05 and picks up at 12:15. This is click & collect, without a delivery platform and without their commission.

Why it is faster

• Orders are taken in parallel. Ten customers can order at the same time on their phones, instead of going one by one through a single till.
• The kitchen starts earlier. The order arrives the moment the customer pays, not when they finally reach the counter. Time waiting in the queue becomes preparation time.
• The counter only hands out orders. The person at the counter no longer takes orders, no longer cashes out, no longer gives change: they prepare and hand over bags.
• Fewer sauce and option mistakes. The customer chooses "no onion, sauce samouraï on the side" themselves. No more misunderstandings in the noise.
• The basket fills itself. Suggesting "upgrade to a meal", a drink, a dessert or cheese fries at the moment of ordering works better on screen than at the counter when the queue is getting impatient.
• The menu speaks every language. Erasmus students, tourists in Strasbourg or Nice, German customers at the border: everyone reads the menu in their own language.

Payment: by smartphone on the QR code, cash at the counter

For this format, online payment is the key: it is what allows preparation to start immediately, with no risk of a sandwich prepared but never paid for. The QR code journey must therefore be online payment only.

However, note: in France, a business must in principle accept cash, except for limited exceptions (foreign currency, more than 50 coins, counterfeit notes, lack of change), and an unjustified refusal is punishable by a fine (Service Public Entreprendre (the French government's business portal)). The simple, compliant solution: the QR code is paid by card or smartphone, and the counter stays open for customers who pay in cash. In practice, the majority switches to the QR code because it saves time, and the counter queue becomes short.

Two points to check before choosing: acceptance of meal voucher (titres-restaurant) cards online, important at weekday lunchtimes, and per-transaction fees, which weigh more heavily on a €10 basket than on a restaurant bill.

No need to develop anything: the tools exist

All of this already exists, ready to use, by monthly subscription. And it is far cheaper than an ordering kiosk like those in the big chains — a kiosk generally costs between €2,000 and €15,000 depending on the hardware and services (Innovorder) — since the QR code uses the customer's own phone.

A few solutions used in France, with their public entry-level prices:

Prices change often and options (terminal, screen, kiosks, payment fees) add to the entry price: always check the current offer. I am not affiliated with any of these vendors.

How to choose? Start from your current till. If your till already offers a QR ordering module, that is almost always the simplest choice: one menu, one payment point, no double entry. The law also requires sales to go through secure cash-register software (economie.gouv.fr): a "second till" alongside is to be avoided. If you change tills or open a new business, compare two or three solutions against your real needs: meal vouchers at lunchtime, call screen, click & collect, per-transaction fees on €10 baskets.

The work then consists of connecting and configuring the tools:

• build the menu: photos, sandwich composition, sauces, meal deals, allergens, translations;
• link orders to the kitchen printer or screen, and install the "order ready" call screen;
• print and place the QR codes where people actually wait: window, queue, tables;
• test a real rush, train the team, plan plan B if the network goes down.

The mistakes that make the project fail

• A QR code hidden next to the till. It must be visible from the queue and from the pavement, with a clear message: "Order here, no waiting".
• A menu that takes too long to build. If building a kebab takes twelve screens, customers go back to the counter. The most frequent choices should be checked by default.
• No screen or number call-out. Without a clear indication of the ready order, customers still crowd the counter to ask "is it mine?".
• The kitchen overwhelmed by pre-orders. You need to be able to limit the number of orders per quarter-hour or display a realistic waiting time.
• Forgetting the network. In a small shop at the back of a mall, 4G sometimes works poorly: a guest Wi-Fi visible on the poster solves the problem.

Measure before extending

Before launching, note three figures over a few peak services: number of orders per hour, average time between joining the queue and receiving the order, number of customers who leave without ordering. Take the same measurement after a month. This is the only way to know what the system really earns you.

I set up this type of system for kebab shops, snack bars, food trucks and fast-food restaurants in Strasbourg, in Alsace, in Baden-Baden, on the French Riviera and in Monaco: selection and connection of existing tools, online menu in several languages, integration with the till and the kitchen, call screen, team training. The €390 audit — two hours on site at peak times, then a written report within a week — shows what is feasible in your business and what it would cost; it is deducted if you launch the implementation. Let's talk about your business →

Also read: table ordering by QR code for cafés and restaurants.