Tag: quick response code

QR codes from Tencent are popular in China

| May 30, 2014

Mobile users in China can receive lucky money when they scan a red quick response code.

Tencent’s red QR codes are a new way for mobile phone users in China to download apps and obtain a red packet of lucky money from Yingyongbao, an official app store of Tencent that has contributed CNY500 million (over US$79 million) to the campaign.

Downloading apps via the red QR code is a unique process.

Unlike the standard app downloading method, apps can be downloaded directly through WeChat Scan. This provides App developers with a new method for distributing their apps and improving their popularity. The staff at Tencent has revealed that Android mobile users can win lucky money from WeChat every time they scan the red QRcodes through Yingyongbao. Each red packet can hold up to CNY200 (about US$32) in lucky money.

The QR Codes marketing campaign has been a success.

The “Red QR code storm connecting all” was an offline marketing campaign that took place in plazas and landmark buildings in some of China’s major cities, including Beijing, Shenzen and Guangzhou, during the May Day holiday. In addition to Tencent, an estimated 20 app developers participated. The red codes can be found in main streets, buses, metros and in other places in the country’s big cities. Thousands upon thousands of people of all age groups, including Chinese and foreigners, engaged in the QR code scanning activity to obtain the red packets.QR Codes - Tencent

Hundreds of apps are part of the campaign, with many having achieved a 90% download conversion rate. For instance, China Merchants Bank’s “Handheld Life” has increased to one million downloads after joining. The dramatic increase in downloads is not surprising because the cash bonus users can receive from scanning the Tencent QR codes provide mobile users with plenty of incentive to take part in the marketing campaign.

Furthermore, this method allows users to scan the barcode and immediately download the app via their WeChat Scan. They don’t have to search for the app to download and install it. The red QR codes give developers the chance to boost their download numbers. The popularity of scanning these codes grows as people continue to take part in China’s big cities.

QR codes can help schools to keep property from going missing

| December 16, 2013

These quick response codes can help items to find their way back to their owners.

A startup company called My Lost Property has now been created by the parents of a boy who needed a way to find items that had gone missing, using inexpensive QR codes to make sure that belongings didn’t have to be replaced.

The last straw occurred when the son of the creators – the Sheedy family – lost his school blazer that cost $250.

Spencer Sheedy and his wife Rita recognized that while it is frustrating that their own two kids always had their possessions go missing, their children were far from the only ones who had this happen. It was this realization that encouraged the couple to create My Lost Property. Though the concept is quite simple as it is based on the use of QR codes, it is more innovative than simply using stickers and iron-on labels.

These QR codes are each unique and are registered on a website so that when the item is found it can be returned.

QR Codes - Lost School ItemsA missing item’s quick response code can be scanned by someone who finds it. They can then enter the location of the item, which will be automatically texted to the parents so that a pick-up can be arranged. The original concept had involved only stickers for the Sheedy kids. However, it didn’t take long before they found themselves creating labels, keyrings, stickers, and other barcodes for friends. Soon, it became evident that they had a business.

Since then, Mr. Sheedy had brought his barcodes and My Lost Property idea to the local schools. He has managed to create a sponsorship arrangement through Schoolzine, which is an online company that produces bulk school newsletters. According to Sheedy, “Schools have been really responsive. They like the simplicity of it, and lost property is such a problem for them.” He explained that he just wants parents to be able to find out about it.

The Sheedy’s knew that they could solve a very expensive problem for many parents and children with the simplicity and ease of QR codes. “When that $250 blazer went missing, we thought we needed to do something more than just the hit-and-miss putting a name on there and hoping it will come back. This just gives you a bit more of a chance of it coming back,” said Mr. Sheedy.