The QR code or Quick Response code has been popping up everywhere. I at first felt behind the curve as i had no idea what they were or what they did. Now I know. the vast majority of them take you to a web page. The one below is the QR Code for the main page for the Quill and Quilt Bed and Breakfast.
QR Code for the Quill and Quilt Bed and Breakfast
My question is, who is going to use it? Do they need the weird symbol or would the old fashion, www.QuillAndQuilt.com work just fine? They can’t memorize the symbol so unless they use it now, they have no way to save it. Should we put it on our flyers? To what end? Is it easier to scan this then to type in the URL? I would have to say yes but is it that much easier? I also loose the ability to remember it. Once they have typed the URL into their smart device, it is also in their brain.
The one thing we can do that is nice, we can drive them to a different page. So if our flyer is focused on our green policy, the QR code can link directly to that page. And honestly that URL is too long to type in. But how often do I do that? We can give them coupons or discounts with a quick scan. Yes, that has value. 10% discount! and then it takes them to a page that captures the email and sends them a coupon. Woohoo! I now have their email, and hopefully they will use the coupon.
I know they also can carry much more data then the URL but that seems the easiest for me to take advantage of as I have ways to make web pages and QR codes out of URL’s. The systems are all in place. I doubt I will be doing a customer policy QR code any time soon.
My other big concern is do my customers have a way to access them? I have a smart phone but neither of my children do. My parents do but they both had never heard of these things. I admit that I scanned a few just to see what they would do. They usually just bring up the products website. Not too exciting for most products. Do we need more information right now? It is not expensive and thus is nice to have if I needed more info but do people really want them?