Using QR codes to connect with customers
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — QR codes are becoming embedded in the ways customers engage with brands and are more popular than ever before.
The QR code was invented in 1994 by a Japanese automotive company. QR codes can contain a great deal of information about the item to which it is attached and have a greater data storage capacity compared to standard barcodes.
An estimated 83 million U.S. smartphone users, or just under 40% of all users, will scan a QR code at some point this year.
Nelson Spade, the general manager of WISH-TV’s sister company Circulus Digital Media, says there are several ways brands and marketers can use QR codes to benefit customers.
“We’ve been seen testing and different uses of QR codes really at a rapid pace this year, figuring out a best-use case for brands,” Spade said. “Paypal launched a Paypal payments QR code for local businesses to enable customers to use Paypal for their goods and services. It was downloaded by businesses, on average, every 23 seconds in the first quarter.”
Spade says QR codes will likely be used in new ways as technology advances. He says two examples of this — shoppable and interactive television and dynamic QR codes — are already in use.
“For shoppable and interactive television, think of the QVC-type executions of the world where there’s a specific product in mind and you can directly, in a trackable form, connect that person to that offer or discount,” Spade said.
Dynamic QR codes are really growing and gaining steam, according to Spade.
“Dynamic codes are able to be edited on the backend to change what happens when someone scans. You can even progress the user’s experience to a different action on scan one or two or three and so on.”
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For more information, contact Circulus Digital Media directly by email, or visit the website.
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