Happy Hour in a QR menu: how to run discounts in a restaurant

What Happy Hour means

Happy Hour is a temporary discount during a set part of the day: for example, 20% off drinks on weekdays from 17:00 to 19:00. The usual aim is to bring more guests in during quieter hours.

When restaurants and bars use it

• On weekday evenings, before the main dinner rush.
• In the middle of the day, when the room is half empty.
• Late at night in bars, before closing.
• For a short time, to introduce a new drink or dish.

Discounts by day and hour

In QRMENUS each Happy Hour has a name, days of the week, a start and end time and a discount percentage (from 1% to 90%). Times follow Tbilisi time, whatever the clock on the guest’s phone says.

A Happy Hour can run past midnight, for example from 22:00 to 02:00. Such a window belongs to the day it starts: a Friday 22:00–02:00 offer is still on at 01:00 on Saturday.

Discounts on categories and dishes

You choose what the discount applies to: the whole menu, specific categories (for example “Drinks”) or individual dishes. If no category and no dish is selected, the discount applies to the whole menu.

Discounts do not stack. If several Happy Hours apply to one dish at the same time, only one is used: the highest percentage.

Showing the regular and offer price

The guest should be able to tell both prices apart clearly. During an offer, the QRMENUS guest menu shows:

• on the dish card, the offer price with the regular price crossed out next to it, and the discount percentage on the photo;
• in the dish window, the crossed-out regular price, the offer price and the percentage;
• above the menu, a strip with the Happy Hour’s name, percentage, hours and how much time is left.

The dish price in the database does not change: the menu works out the offer price only for display, so there is nothing to restore when the offer ends. The price is rounded to the tetri.

Automatic start and end

You do not need to switch Happy Hour on and off by hand. An open menu checks the start and end time every 30 seconds and refreshes the list of Happy Hours every 5 minutes. So an offer a manager adds or changes soon shows up even in a menu that is already open.

If the restaurant has table ordering switched on, the server works out the order price by the same rule, so the price in the cart and in the order matches the one shown in the menu.

Different branches, different rules

If you have several branches, the main location’s Happy Hour can apply:

• only at that location;
• at every branch;
• only at selected branches.

A branch can also have its own Happy Hour. If a branch’s own offer and a central one apply to the same dish at once, the branch’s own is used, even if the central one is bigger. Among several offers on the same level, the highest percentage applies.

The guest experience

A good Happy Hour does not confuse the guest: it is clear up front what it covers and for how long, and the price is the same everywhere: in the menu, in the cart and on the bill. Do not give the offer a vague name, and say which dishes it covers.

How to use it in QRMENUS Business

1. Open the Happy Hour page in the dashboard.
2. Add a new one: name, days, start and end time and percentage.
3. Choose categories or dishes, or leave it empty for the whole menu.
4. If you have branches, choose where it applies.
5. Save. The offer starts and ends by itself at the set time.

Limits and exceptions

• Happy Hour is a Business plan feature; on the Free and Pro plans the guest does not see it.
• Choose Business from the pricing page, just like Pro.
• The discount is a percentage (1–90%); a fixed-amount discount or “two for one” is not part of this feature.
• Discounts do not stack.
• A dish marked as unavailable does not show an offer price.
• Orders are paid on site, in cash or by card; table ordering has no online payment.