Mobile Commerce Press

Marketers now need to use these barcodes for more than just pushing content.

According to data from an Ofcom study, more than half of smartphone users in the United Kingdom regularly scan QR codes and perform other tasks with their devices while they’re out shopping.

It also noted that 21 percent of shoppers use their devices for scanning barcodes.

This means that over one in every five consumers in the U.K. are scanning the QR codes that they see in advertising, on product packaging, and in other locations, in order to obtain more information about the products that they are considering for purchase.

As there are 25 million British people with smartphones (as penetration of these devices has reached 51 percent in that country), considering that one fifth of them are using QR codes on a regular basis, this means that 4.5 million people in the U.K. are regular scanners while shopping.

The implications of this heavy use of QR codes should not be overlooked.

Marketers and retailers alike should recognize that this presents a tremendous opportunity, and that the odds are that the number of users will only skyrocket along with the ever rising penetration of smartphone devices. Though NFC does still hold a great deal of potential, it is QR codes, and not near field communications, that are currently changing the way that British mobile consumers are engaging with brands.

Experts in the industry, such as Laura Marriot, the CEO of NeoMedia, believe that QR codes are now on the cusp of a time of rapid expansion, and that as an increasing number of verticals are starting to notice this trend, the importance of the barcodes to marketing will blossom.

The key is for marketers to understand that it is not simply a method of providing content to consumers. In fact, this tendency is doing more harm than good for the overall health of the use of QR codes. Instead of simply providing the barcodes in order to allow consumers to scan them and view a website or a page about a product, it is being recommended that they be used for a much more appealing and action based purpose.

Experts are encouraging marketers to use QR codes to share discounts, promotions, offers, and other attractive benefits that will encourage consumers to continue to scan, and to use what they receive in order to make a purchase

There is a demographic that is broadly using these barcodes and marketers should target accordingly.

Though QR codes got to a slow start in terms of their use by consumers, despite their broad implementation by brands and marketers, the Millennial demographic has now embraced them and is using them quite regularly.

The key is to make sure that when you market with QR codes, you focus on the right age group.

Millennials are, after all, the demographic among whom the smartphone has the greatest penetration. They are tech savvy and use their mobile devices for many of their everyday tasks and communications. They are also used to the regular introduction of new features, technologies, and uses for their gadgets. Therefore, it is only natural for them to easily accept the use of barcode scanning, and the app download and snap the image to scan the code.

At the latest Business Insider’s Mobile Advertising Conference, Jason Wagenheim, the publisher and vice president of Teen Vogue, told those in attendance that 42 percent of the readership of the magazine is currently scanning the QR codes printed among its pages.

Teen QR code scans have increased by 133 percent in a period of 18 months.

Similarly, the Mr. Youth managing partner and senior vice president of account and strategy service, Melissa Lentz, has agreed with Wagenheim’s statement that QR code scanning is important and growing. Her statistics show that 46 percent of Millennials use product bar code scanning as an factor in their shopping experience, as they search for better deals on the internet.

This makes it not only very important for marketers whose target audience is Millennials to begin the use of QR codes as a part of their overall marketing strategies, and to make sure that those barcodes actually work. If they cannot be scanned properly, then it will taint the entire opinion of the Millennial.

Mobile commerce changing very quickly. Where it would have been exceptionally challenging and involved to accomplish a simple goal a couple of years ago, the same task can be completed in hardly a blink nowadays. With an evolution at this speed, it is important to keep on top of the latest consumer behaviors and trends, to help to make sure that the right moves are being made and that they align with the current and likely future direction of m-commerce.

Moreover, Millennials have certain expectations about the redirection from their scans. They don’t simply want to be brought to the standard mobile website homepage. Instead, they want to gain access to content that is exclusive and easy to use.

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QR codes regularly scanned by 4.5 million people in the UK