Tag: qr codes

The latest design for the product packaging will feature the smartphone friendly barcodes.

In its latest step to appeal to nutrition conscious consumers, McDonald’s Corp. has announced that it will be adding QR codes to the latest design of its product packaging, to make it easier for customers to learn about the foods they are purchasing.

The fast food restaurant has been making several similar efforts to simplify the transmission of information.

This largest fast food chain in the world has been making a number of different efforts over the last few months and in recent years, in order to make nutrition a higher priority. The QR codes are an element of this overall effort, in that they make it easier for consumers to check the nutrition content of the foods that they order.

By using QR codes, this nutrition information becomes much more conveniently accessible.

Kevin Newell, the chief brand officer at McDonald’s, explained that “Customers tell us they want to know more about the food they are eating and we want to make that as easy as possible by putting this information right at their fingertips.” As a growing number of those guests to the restaurants have smartphones, QR codes became a natural choice to assist in this effort.

The packaging featuring the barcodes will be launched throughout the United States, this week. Though they will not be present on every item, these black and white square will be found on the carry out bags, as well as on the fountain beverage cups from American locations. Throughout the rest of 2013, this same effort with QR codes will be rolled out worldwide as the information is translated into 18 additional languages.

The packaging, itself, was designed with the assistance of a number of different groups of people. It began with the feedback of the customers, themselves, but it also took into account the opinions of advisors in the fields of nutrition, fitness, and public health as a whole. The QR codes are an extension of the effort made last September, where all McDonald’s locations in the United States added the calorie information to each of the foods listed on their restaurant and drive through menus.

Mobile commerce set for aggressive growth, according to Forrester Research

Forrester Research, a leading market research firm, has released a new report concerning the performance of mobile commerce in 2012. Last year, more consumers made purchases from their mobile devices than ever before. This may be due to the larger number of people with mobile devices or the more comprehensive mobile commerce services that they have access to. Whatever the case may be, the report shows that mobile commerce had a strong showing throughout 2012, and this momentum is likely to carry the sector to new heights in the future.

Report shows proximity payments drive mobile commerce growth

According to Forrester Research, mobile commerce accounted for $12.84 billion in mobile payments by the end of 2012.The report divides mobile payments into three categories: Mobile proximity payments, peer-to-peer payments, and retail mobile commerce. The report shows that proximity payments, those powered by NFC technology, were one of the most popular ways for consumers to pay for products in physical stores. The report also shows that QR codes used to facilitate mobile transactions were also well received by consumers.

Mobile transactions to grow by 601% by the end of 2017

Forrester Research predicts that the mobile commerce sector will account for more than $90.5 billion in transactions by the end of 2017, a 601% increase over the transactions the sector had seen last year. NFC technology is still a major part of mobile commerce, so proximity payments are likely to continue being a popular option for consumers. Some parties are looking to move away from the technology, however, due to concerns regarding the security of a consumer’s financial information.

Some look for alternatives to NFC technology

Companies like Apple and PayPal are looking for alternative to NFC technology. Both companies are currently developing their own solutions, with PayPal’s mobile wallet service proving to be a somewhat popular alternative. The majority of the companies involved in mobile commerce, however, support NFC technology and its ability to facilitate mobile payments and keep consumers safe from exploitation.