QR Codes and Wine Lists

I'll be one to say it and I'll say it here. I really do not like having to look at a restaurant menu or worse yet, a restaurant wine list on my phone. The whole craze of using QR (quick response in case you weren't sure) codes to get to a menu or a drink or wine list is a craze that makes me crazy. I'm not as facile as most of the people half my age and my eyes just don't like looking at the list either in a microscopic size or pinching it so that it's bigger, but then having to scroll all over the place to see what I really want to see. Imagine a 5-page wine list or a 10-page list or a 200-page list on your phone. Maybe you can, but for me, it is a nightmare that just won't quit.

But, for restaurants, there are hueg advantages. If wines are kept online so that diners and drinkers can see the list on their phones, then restaurants can easily track inventory. They can also track the likes and dislikes of frequent guests. They can see how people are choosing their wines.

They can go even beyond that. They can make changes on the fly. So, if the wine list features the 2017 Chateau La Lowinventory Pinot Noir and the distributor brings you 2018, you can change the vintage on the fly. And, then here is the trickier part for the consumer. The Domaine du Customersarereallylikingthis is flying out of the cellar like hotcakes. The restaurant, seeing that demand at $75 per bottle exceeds supply, can change the price to $85 right at 6PM.

You're sitting at the table perusing the wine list as the price changes. Which price applies to you?

With these advantages come responsibilities. If you are a proprietor and you show vintages, there is no excuse to get them wrong. Never. It only takes a few seconds to update the digital list. You don't have to reprint anything. There is also no excuse to have someone make a selection and to have your server look for 10 or 15 minutes only to learn that label is sold out. 

Finally, there is the privacy responsibility. Do not let me find out that you are selling my likes and dislikes. I will not set foot in your establishment again. And, I will let the social media loving world know what you are doing.

All in all, I think the advantages probably outweigh the disadvantages even though I hate having to use my phone for this. And, what do I do if I forgot my phone? Will the restaurant accommodate me?

So many problems ...

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