Are QR Codes Underutilised in Marketing?
Reading Time: 2 minutes The use of QR codes has gone up with the growth and development of smartphones and tablets.
Most modern day smart phones now have the native ability to scan QR codes without the need for external apps.
As virtual marketing is becoming more common, and more people are able to utilise them as smartphone adoption continues to increase, we take a look at how QR codes could be best used for business marketing.
7 Ways To Use QR Codes in eCommerce
- Reinventing shopping and combining the physical with the online. This has been done Tesco in South Korea. In subways there, panels that look like grocery shelves have the items there display QR codes. Commuters can then scan the codes to add to their purchase, and then after doing it the goods bought are then delivered to their homes.
- Not only is shopping reinvented, but user experience can be enhanced as well. Some art galleries and museums have put QR codes next to displays which provide additional information about the display, as well as linking to audio playback.
- Streamlining customer experience. If it is not enhanced, it can be streamlined. That means making customer experience much easier, such as cutting time in line by having customers use QR codes to make purchases quickly. This has been done by Starbucks with great success utilising pre loaded cards and the Starbucks app.
- QR codes can also be used to know what a person wants. Customers can use QR codes on products to find the item that would be right for them. Or it could be giving customers additional things aside from the product itself, such as what Mountain Dew and Taco Bell did as a promotion advertising free music when a drink or food was purchased.
- QR codes are also used to provide real-time information. This could be new information about a product or else for an event. Some places such as Frankfurt, Germany have smart posters that have QR codes on them, providing travellers with up-to-date travel information.
- Some companies such as Verizon have used QR codes for share-worthy competitions. Scanning a code would have the entry shared through Facebook. Verizon noted an increase in sales through this QR promotion.
- QR codes can be used for personalized gift giving. As the holidays are approaching, some establishments would have QR codes attached to tags that could personalize a gift, by taking you to a customised landing page.
Have you utilised QR codes in your business? Or has this list given you some inspiration? Let us know down below.
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Dave Furness
Dave is a Co-Founder of eSeller365. For over 10 years he has been involved with eCommerce with a particular interest in the marketplaces and the huge opportunities available for sellers when utilizing a multi-channel strategy. After a year of being the UK’s youngest eCommerce consultant, he built an education platform called UnderstandingE that showed the world how to utilize Magento as the “Third Generation of Multi-Channel software”.
Dave has also created a YouTube channel dedicated to entrepreneurship and eCommerce as well as a podcast dedicated to mental health awareness. When Dave isn’t working his main interests include learning and playing Chess, researching the Crypto and NFT space, and trying to find the nearest beach.