Tag: quick response codes

Though people don’t typically like the way they look, they are still scanning them, study.

QR codes are being used on a rapidly increasing basis for mobile marketing purposes, and the results of a recently conducted study have shown that as much as people don’t find them attractive, they are still using them.

The results of this research are in direct contrast to many who doubt the effectiveness of the barcodes.

Among the various industries where there has been the highest use of QR codes by mobile marketers and yet the largest amount of controversy, is tourism. While some marketers are fully convinced that the barcodes are a cost effective marketing tool that is appealing to consumers and that produces results, others feel that they are simply a fad that is not worthy of being included in their advertising.

A recent trial program for QR codes was just implemented to help to judge their effectiveness.

In order to be able to judge the effectiveness of using QR codes, Ruidoso Tourism started to test them using two different methods. The first method was including them in print advertising in order to help to draw attention to the launch of the company’s new website. The barcodes were issued in various different publications, and depending on the publication in which they were printed, the themes of the ads themselves were different.

Some of the QR codes were linked to outdoor activities such as winter sports, trails, or attractions. For instance, the barcode that was published in Wild West magazine linked to the Lincoln County History page. Those print ads generated 1000 scans, which was well within the success bracket designated by the marketers.

The other barcodes were printed on restaurant menus. Their goal was to promote restaurants within specific areas. A page was created for a range of different restaurants at the destinations, and each one was assigned its own unique QR codes. When the barcodes were scanned, they led to reviews and images of the meals, as well as additional information about the restaurants such as their specific locations. At the high point of the marketing campaign, there were 35 restaurants included in the listings. Within the designated time period, those barcodes were scanned more than 1,500 times.

A Dutch test run in a retail store has shown that near field communication beat out quick response barcodes.

According to the fashion retailer, Vic, following an in store pilot program that used both NFC technology tags and QR codes, it was the former that was more popular among its customers.

The store feels that this is an important discovery in terms of what experience consumers find most appealing.

According to a release issued by Vic, “We have found that the NFC tags are more popular than the QR codes because they are very simple to use.” It went on to say that “It is definitely something we hope to keep in our store going forward into the future; it is our way of connecting our online and offline worlds.”

The NFC technology pilot program was used in the Groningen location in the Netherlands.

There were tags encoded with NFC technology located within the retail store location that allowed shoppers to use their smartphone to access additional information about products, as well as promotional videos and discount vouchers.

The program was managed by the provider of NFC technology tags and QR codes, SenseMe. It placed these tags and barcodes around the store location in various places that were felt to be relevant, as well as on some of the individual product items, themselves.

By using either form of tech through a smartphone, shoppers could view a promotional video or head to the website of the specific brand in order to learn more detailed information about that brand or its products. Vouchers and coupon offers were also available.

According to Jouke De Jong, the manager of the store that participated in this trial, “It is a very cool system, especially for some brands who have a lot of information on their websites about certain products.” The location also made sure to show customers how to take advantage of this digital material through the use of tablets.

They demonstrated both the QR codes and the NFC technology enabled tags so that customers would understand their benefits and could choose to use them when they were seeking additional information. What the store determined was that the tags were more popular than the barcodes simply because of the ease of their use.