QR code ordering that lands in one queue with your till and kitchen

Guests scan, browse, order and pay from their phone with no app to download. Orders route straight to the kitchen. QR cards are 1.5% + 20p; the counter is 1.4% + 10p. Included on every Servio plan.

Ordering that is actually connected

The point of QR ordering is not just letting guests order from their phone. It is that the order lands in the same place as everything else. With Servio, a scan from the table joins the same queue as the counter till and routes to the right kitchen station, so there is no second screen to watch and no re-keying. QR payments run through Stripe at Stripe's published UK rates with no markup: 1.5% + 20p on the phone, 1.4% + 10p in person at the counter. That is not the same rate, and it is not a third-party ordering-app surcharge either.

Why it lifts a busy service

No app friction. It runs in the phone browser, so guests order in seconds. More covers at peak. Guests reorder without waiting to catch a server's eye. Fewer errors. The order goes in exactly as the guest entered it, modifiers and all. On when you want it. Included on every plan, so switch it on for weekend table service and off for counter-only trade. It is the same connected-system logic behind why order errors collapse on one platform, and there is practical advice in getting guests to order from their phone.

How it works in service

A guest scans the code on the table and your menu opens in their browser. No app, no download, no account. They browse, pick modifiers, and pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. The order lands in the same queue as one rung through the till and routes to the right kitchen station. Staff see it on the floor view against the table number, so anyone can pick up the table. Nothing is re-keyed and nothing is shouted across a hot line.

Because the menu is the same one the till uses, an item marked out of stock disappears from the phone at the same moment it disappears from the counter. Prices, modifiers and allergen notes only ever exist in one place.

The questions operators actually ask

Does it replace staff? No, and venues that pitch it that way tend to see adoption fall. What it removes is the walk to the till and the queue at the counter, which gives staff their time back for the parts of service that need a person.

Will guests actually use it? Some will and some will not, and both need to work. Table service carries on exactly as before for anyone who prefers to order from a person, because both routes feed the same queue.

What about tips? A tip prompt appears at payment, at rates you set, and tips land with the order so they are attributed to the right table and shift.

What if the signal is poor? The menu is lightweight and loads on a weak connection. If a guest cannot get online, staff take the order the usual way and it arrives in the same place.

Where the code goes, and what the guest sees

One code per table, numbered the way the floor plan is numbered. Stick it where a seated guest can scan without standing up. A one-line prompt beats a paragraph. The menu that opens is the live till menu: 86 an item at the counter and it disappears on the phone. Allergen notes and modifiers are the same objects, not a second spreadsheet. There is no guest app to download.

Card rates, without the usual fudge

QR payments are Stripe's online UK rate: 1.5% + 20p. Counter taps are 1.4% + 10p. Servio adds no markup. Turning QR on therefore does change the blend if a larger share of cards move from the counter to the phone. What it does not do is push those orders through a third-party Order and Pay app at 2.50%. On £40,000 of monthly card sales with a 70/30 in-person/QR split, the card line is in the methodology. Put your own mix in the calculator.

Table-ready texts, tips, and when to leave it off

Guest SMS is a £29 add-on on Starter and Growth (Enterprise includes access, not unlimited texts): 500 collection or table-ready messages per venue per month, then 6p. Receipts and booking mail stay on email. A tip prompt can show at payment, at rates you set. Counter-only weekday trade can leave QR off; weekend brunch can turn it on. It is included on every plan, so that is a switch, not a new contract.

How a venue actually turns it on

Print one code, order from it as a guest, then print the rest. The afternoon sequence is in Set up your venue in an afternoon. Starter: 14 days free. Founding Growth: 30 days free, no application, then £109 for six paid months, then £219. Practical adoption notes are in getting guests to order from their phone.

86 an item once. It disappears on every phone.

The guest is not browsing a PDF. They are browsing the live till menu. Mark a pastry 86 at the counter and it disappears on every table code at the same moment. Allergen notes and modifiers are the same objects the cashier sees. That is why QR on Servio is not a second menu to keep in date. It is also why a modifier that reads fine in a spreadsheet should be walked on a phone before you print fifty codes.

Two people at a table, no guest account

There is no guest app and no guest account to create. Two people at a table can scan the same code, or staff can still take the order on a phone. Both routes land in the same queue against the same table number. A tip prompt can show at payment, at rates you set. Apple Pay and Google Pay run through Stripe in the browser.

What QR is not

It is not a US internet card product. There is no 1.99% + 9¢ rate and we will not invent one. The counter does not take remote internet card payments. QR is Stripe's UK online rate at 1.5% + 20p; the counter is 1.4% + 10p. It is not a staff-replacement pitch. Venues that sell it that way see adoption fall. It is not a marketplace. Direct Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat are on the way. Collection-ready SMS is a £29 add-on, 500 then 6p, not unlimited texts.

Print one code before you print the room

Table numbering is the thing everyone changes their mind about. Order from one code as a guest, then print the rest. If signal is poor, staff take the order the usual way and it still arrives in the same place. The menu is lightweight on purpose. Adoption notes are in getting guests to order from their phone. Errors collapse when QR is not a second system, which is the argument in one connected queue.

Common questions