Is your business using QR codes to their full potential?

During the pandemic, QR codes popped up everywhere. Short for “quick response” codes, these matrix barcodes full of data came into their own, used to access everything from health screening questionnaires to in-depth product information to menus at restaurants.

All indications are they’re here to stay now that people see them and reach automatically for their smartphones, ready to use their cameras to scan them. Businesses have also discovered how useful self-service using QR codes can be, especially with employees in short supply and labour becoming more expensive.

What can QR codes do?

The information within a square QR code can trigger many actions, including displaying an image or text, opening a webpage, displaying a form, downloading a file, sending a text or email, calling a phone number, or even posting a social media comment. An increasingly popular use of QR codes is facilitating contactless payments within a point-of-sale system.

How can a business use them?

Because QR codes are so versatile, businesses are using them for all kinds of things, including:

Marketing — linking to websites, brochures, and coupons, with an ability to track results

Sales — linking to an online payment gateway such as Alipay and WeChat Pay
Customer service — linking to videos, instruction manuals, frequently asked questions, or your venue’s WiFi network, as well as directly to your customer service team by phone, text, or email
Quality improvement — providing opportunities to share feedback by rating products, accessing surveys, and making social media posts

QR codes can also support a business’s move towards frictionless, contactless purchases and payment, complementing other solutions such as SoftPos, unattended kiosk payments, mobile wallets, and card-not-present transactions.

What are the pros and cons?

While some businesses worry that QR codes reduce face-to-face, human interactions, they can be targeted towards areas where technology does things best (such as facilitating payment) so the people in your business can focus on higher-value points of contact with customers.

QR codes let people conveniently and instantly access information or services they need, which is why customers increasingly expect to find them everywhere. Applied according to a well-thought-out strategy, they can significantly improve the customer experience. Just keep in mind it’s still important to provide alternatives for customers who are slower to adopt new technologies.

Interested in learning more? Talk to your Prospera business advisor about how QR codes can be integrated with your payment systems.

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