There are QR codes everywhere in the corners of the table, on the screen, on the wall of the restaurant, and as long as you scan it with your mobile phone, the waiter can order. Compared with handmade ordering, scanning code to order brings convenience to customers and saves manpower for merchants, so it has become a popular way of ordering today
The cause of the outbreak is also very inconvenient to contact, and the scan code order is fast, and there is no need to ask the restaurant waiter.
However, while scanning code a la carte is rapidly popular, it also gradually has a tendency to replace manual ordering. During the interview, the reporter found that the ordering table of some restaurants was useless, and the waiter was busy delivering food for the dining table during busy hours, and the waiter did not have it at all. During the interview, the reporter found that the current restaurant does not advocate counter ordering, but generally encourages customers to use self-service machines or mobile phones.
Originally, it was possible to scan the code to order, but it can also be manually ordered, but now it has become a disguised "forced" scan code to order. With no WeChat or no use, the elderly can only give up ordering, and for many consumers, they feel deprived of choice. "We generally don't have WeChat on our phones, so you asked me to scan the QR code, we are inconvenient, and there is no way." Then we can only leave. The old man told reporters that in addition to the digital divide that could not be crossed, the waiter's booing and warming was less, and he felt that the discount to go to the restaurant was also more.
What is even more disturbing is that behind the scanning code order is also hidden the trap of forced attention and information acquisition.
After interviewing several restaurants, it was found that almost every restaurant had a buffet a la carte service. Most of the scan code ordering systems mainly enter the ordering page through weChat or Alipay business applications, or WeChat public accounts that pay attention to merchants. The system often requires a series of authorizations from the user to take the next step, including a WeChat account, mobile phone number, location, and possibly even a name and ID number. Curiously, it's just a meal, how can the ordering platform get this information?
Tang Jiansheng, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission, pointed out that as long as you know which table it is and what dish to order. Regarding whether there is Zhang San or Li Si on this table, his mobile phone number, his user name and other information, the restaurant does not actually need to know. Restaurants should try not to collect or collect as little customer information as possible.
Since information is not required, why do food and beverage merchants and a la carte platforms still find ways to obtain this information? When a user keeps clicking "Agree to Access", where does this information go?
Three or four years ago, there was a scan code to order, with the continuous expansion of coverage, the functions covered by the ordering system software are becoming more and more comprehensive, including ordering, checkout, takeaway, back kitchen, background big data, etc. Ordinary small restaurants choose to outsource services, and software service providers provide corresponding functions according to their needs. If you choose the direct order function, the merchant can only see basic orders, revenue and other information in the background; if you set up a public account or register a member, all the personal information previously authorized by consumers will be retained in the business background.
Using these retained personal information, merchants can turn customers into public account fans or APP members, and become traffic in their private domain, thereby improving the success rate of marketing activities. For example, timely release information such as special services and preferential activities on their official accounts and APP to activate consumption and increase the arrival rate. The manager of a chain store told reporters that as long as the code is scanned to register, they will send specialties to customers, as well as 30 yuan vouchers, consumption points will be stored in the membership card, which can be exchanged for coupons.
According to experts, consumers' personal information is eventually passed on to the a la carte platform. In November 2017, Ali's word-of-mouth platform announced the opening of smart restaurant technology for the first time, followed by Meituan and Ele.me also launched a scanning code ordering system, and competed for offline entrance through high subsidies.
This fierce competition is because for the a la carte platform, the big data industry chain behind this information is far more valuable than fan marketing. They have a lot of data in their hands, can accurately draw user portraits, and even kill a lot of data. For example, using scan code plus paying attention to this extremely low-cost "customer acquisition", and then launching various types of ads, people are overwhelmed and even misled to consume.
Tang Jiansheng, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission, told reporters that the third party has collected all this information, will integrate this information, and push it through the algorithm, and people of different ages and different hobbies will receive different information, which will cause consumers to misunderstand and choose dilemmas. For example, if you buy white sesame seeds, you'll get better information about white sesame seeds than black sesame seeds, and if the buyer's age is 50, you'll get advice that people 50 should eat white sesame seeds.
In addition, the scanning code ordering system also has some open source code, which is not difficult to develop, and the system service providers on the market are uneven, which also makes the risk of consumer information leakage greater. Some consumers expressed concern that after the merchant obtains the information, it can authorize it to go elsewhere, or make secondary sales, and the personal information can be said to be "dangerous".
In the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law and the Cybersecurity Law, although there are relevant provisions on the information "collected" and advertising "pushed" brought about by scanning codes and ordering dishes, the definition of excessive collection is relatively vague, and the law enforcement is not strong, so that merchants and platforms dare to wipe the edge. Lawyer Chen Siqi pointed out, "On the one hand, there are unclear places in the legal provisions, such as the collection of necessary information, its decisions and decisions are decided by the merchants themselves, on the other hand, the cost of violating the law is relatively low, and many of them stay at the level of warning and ordering corrections, resulting in the merchants having no fear in practice."
However, this situation is expected to improve. At present, the first domestic "Personal Information Protection Law (Draft)" is being revised, and it is proposed to establish special provisions to strictly limit the excessive collection and compulsory collection of personal information. For merchants and platforms, only by respecting consumers' independent choices and keeping the bottom line of information acquisition can users be retained.
The above is the content introduction of Zhongxian Online's scanning code ordering system, hoping to help everyone.