Today’s shoppers are tech-savvy and hungry for engaging mobile content and QR Codes are becoming a part of their every day life. What makes QR codes such a powerful tool is their ability to turn physical displays into compelling, interactive experiences. A well-designed campaign can drive sales and provide shoppers with the information they need to make a buying decision, while giving you an edge over the competition.
Whether you’re looking to encourage purchases, promote an event or provide a better in-store experience, QR codes may be the solution.
Feedback Requests
Combine customer feedback requests with a discount incentive!
A great way to encourage shoppers to leave feedback about their shopping experience with you is to hand over a card with their receipt containing a QR code for them to scan. This will take them to an on-line feedback survey. Once the survey has been completed they are given a 10% discount code to use on their next visit.
Enhancing the Shopping Experience
Some savvy department stores have been quick to realise the potential in QR codes for enhancing shopping experiences.
By placing QR codes next to a selection of products or specific brands, customers can scan the code and be provided with more in-depth product information.
Competitions / Promote an Event
In-store customers can scan a QR code to enter a competition or RSVP to an event.
Not only a great cost effective way to build your database, but you could also share their entries on Facebook to increase brand awareness and new Facebook profiles.
Personalised Gift Giving
Allow customers to add a personal touch to their gifts. When you purchased a gift from any JCPenney store last Christmas, you received a "Santa Tag" with an accompanying QR code. By scanning the code, the giver could record a personalised voice message for the recipient. The giver stuck the code on the package like a gift card.
Place them in printed ads
Place a QR code in your magazine or newspaper advert and link it to a coupon, special offer or other compelling content, like a product demo or exclusive information.
A simple way of further engaging consumers, especially for brands with a mobile savvy demographic.
In shop windows
Direct shoppers to your store page for the location allowing them to bookmark the details including opening hours etc.
They could see details of products on display or be directed to your online store where they could buy the product, even when the store is closed.
For a QR campaign to have a chance of being effective, it should match the following criteria:
- The code should be easy to scan. i.e. somewhere where people can reach.
- It should give people a reason to scan it. Curiosity is not enough. Let people know what they can expect when they scan.
- It should lead to a mobile-optimised landing page. People are scanning QR codes on mobile, so they need to view the web page, video or voucher on mobile.
- It’s worth adding both a URL and an SMS option for those without code reader apps.
How to do it
There are plenty of sites that can generate QR codes for you. A couple of examples of such sites are:
If your QR code is linking to a website address, it's a good idea to track the incoming hits so that you can evaluate the success of your campaign.
If you have Google Analytics installed, this is an easy exercise - just create a custom address via this Google tool and use the resulting address for your QR code. When you check your next Analytics report, you'll see just how many users visited your site as a result of scanning the QR code.
Click on this link to read more about custom campaigns from Google.
