Six arguments, with the industry data behind them. Where the data is weak we say so: a shorter page is worth more than a more persuasive one.
These are industry figures, drawn from several sources and deliberately rounded. They hold as orders of magnitude: the direction is clear, the decimal point is not.
as many QR scans as in 2021
full-service restaurants use a QR menu (US)
people scan QR codes in the United States: in 2020 it was about half that
roughly, to serve a table with a QR menu
In 2020, explaining how to scan a code was part of the job. Today the camera recognises it on its own and the customer doesn't think about it: they only notice when the code isn't there.
Almost every hotelier reports investing in contactless services, and nearly all guests prefer to handle from their phone whatever can be handled from a phone — starting with arrival and departure.
The hard part — getting people used to it — has already happened. And you didn't pay for it.
of travellers prefer to be served in their own language
among those who don't speak English, where it matters most
would order room service or activities more willingly if they could do it in their own language
slower when requests are handled by voice across languages
A guest who doesn't understand doesn't complain: they give up. They don't order breakfast, don't book the excursion, don't ask for the transfer. And you never find out, because a request that never arrives leaves no trace anywhere.
Studies indicate that communicating in a guest's own language measurably raises satisfaction among international travellers. The reverse holds just as well: someone who has to make do with gestures takes home a different memory.
Colgo translates the catalogue into Italian, English, French, German and Spanish. It isn't an extra feature: it's the difference between a service that exists and a service that gets seen.
hotels report they are short of staff
the productivity gain industry studies report where the repetitive work is automated
calls to reception, with a written channel for requests
The circle is documented, and anyone working in hospitality recognises it without needing charts: understaffed team, overtime, overlapping duties. Service quality drops, so the offer shrinks — the restaurant closes an extra day, the spa opens fewer hours. Reputation suffers, and hiring gets harder still.
Studies indicate that automating the repetitive part cuts operational load by up to a third. But the part the numbers don't capture is a different one: someone who spends the day repeating the same opening hours out loud isn't doing the job they're good at.
And the services nobody has time to suggest today — late check-out, breakfast in the room, the excursion — stop depending on whoever remembers to mention them.
This isn't about having fewer staff. It's about no longer wasting the staff you have.
a year in printing alone for a mid-sized venue, according to industry estimates
paper use, moving to digital
reprints when a price, an opening time or a supplier changes
The real cost isn't the paper: it's everything around it. Someone lays it out, someone takes it to the printer, someone laminates, someone walks the rooms replacing it. And with every change it starts over — or the wrong sheet stays where it is, which costs more.
Estimates of printing costs circulate mostly in material from companies selling software, so we keep them loose: a few thousand euros a year for a mid-sized venue, not counting the hours of the people working around it.
Changing a price in Colgo takes thirty seconds, and it applies to every unit and in five languages at once.
of Japanese consumers order by phone or QR in restaurants: up 20% on 2022
of restaurants in major Japanese cities offer QR ordering
in France prefer a QR menu to a paper one
the Japanese self-ordering market projected for 2028, according to industry forecasts
Japan is the market furthest ahead, and it got there from the same problem we have here: six restaurateurs in ten say they can't find staff. It isn't enthusiasm for technology, it's an answer to a shortage — the same one Italian hospitality has.
And Europe follows: in France the QR menu is already the majority preference. Projections point to a structural shift, not a passing fashion.
None of these markets went back to the paper menu after leaving it. Whoever comes in now comes in on time.
of CO2 for every kilo of paper produced
of the wood harvested worldwide goes to the paper industry
largest energy consumer in the world, for the pulp and paper sector
A single property doesn't save a forest by reprinting less: we're talking kilos, not tonnes, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling you something. The point is elsewhere.
Usually a sustainable choice costs more, takes longer or takes something away from the service. Not here: the cleaner choice is also the cheaper one, the fastest to update, and the one customers already prefer. There is no trade-off to make, because it is the very same decision.
And there's the part people forget: a laminated sheet isn't paper. It's paper and plastic bonded together, a composite that recycling can't separate. Every price list reprinted mid-season because a price changed ends up there — and paper in landfill produces methane, many times more warming than CO2.
Then there's what the customer sees. A code on the table instead of a greasy, much-handled menu says something about the house before you open your mouth. It's the only argument on this page that shows itself, with nobody explaining it.
It isn't the reason people choose Colgo. It's the extra reason why, afterwards, nobody goes back.
The figures on this page come from industry surveys and from several sources that agree with one another; we keep them deliberately rounded. The data on QR adoption and on the Japanese market are the most solid — several independent sources converge. Those on printing costs and customer satisfaction circulate mostly in material from companies selling software: we kept them only where the direction of the figure is credible, and without decimal points. When we can't stand behind a number, we don't write it.
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It answers from what's on this site. For anything else: colgoapp@gmail.com