QR Code Madness

I’ve been a huge fan of QR codes ever since I found out about them in 2007. The Japanese firm that came up with them really brought us a great new piece of technology. It allows you to put several sentences of information into a compact area, and it is a universal format. Best of all, it allows you to take note of information by using your phone’s camera instead of having to manually enter it or write it down.

Recently, however, it is being used in ways that totally misunderstand the consumer.

Here’s the trick about using QR codes – make them an additional benefit to the shopping experience.

If you use the QR code to replace labelling or conventional text, guess what, 99.9% of your consumers simply couldn’t be bothered. That’s not good for sales.

A recent example has been the development of clothing chain apps that allow shoppers to scan a QR code on the clothes they like, or scan the QR code for the window display out of normal shopping hours. Ostensibly this allows the shopper to keep track of their wish list and see related products. Let’s go through the issues here.

First, they need to download the app.

Second, they need to be motivated enough to pull their phone out and scan the QR code.

Third, this app is dedicated to the shopping chain itself. In other words it is a walled garden approach and we all remember how poorly that worked in the past. (Apparently we are dealing here with an App Potato – which is a subset of the walled garden).

Fourth, if they are motivated enough to pull their phone out to scan the QR code, they probably would have been motivated enough to simply take a photo.

Fifth, you need to show conventional advertising copy and labelling as well as the QR code. One example I saw recently was a graphic design masterpiece. I would consider framing that QR code label – I am not kidding – it looked great. However, they failed to put any normal text readable by a human on the label.  

Don’t put barriers between your shoppers and their purchase.

If you really want to increase sales the best method would be to better train your staff. As the ongoing victim of going clothes shopping with my wife, I am amazed at the difference between shops in the same chain. The best ones have staff who recognise that women often lack confidence in what they look good in, so go out of their way to put my wife at ease and give a few options rather than let her walk out after she tries on the first outfit.

To put that in economic terms – if developing a clothing chain QR code app costs $400,000 and training costs $250 per person per day, you could train up 1600 of your staff in better sales techniques for the same cost as the QR code app. Which do you think will make a bigger difference to your bottom line? I know where my money is going to increase sales.

Other examples include teasing the consumer with games or discounts, if only they scan the QR code. It worked well the first few times, and it continues to work well for the major brands, but now people are mostly over it.

To give another example, when a number of years ago telemarketers and street touts for NGOs (i.e. charity muggers) worked out they could start a conversation by saying “can I ask you a question?” it worked for a while. Now when a telemarketer calls you know they have a script that has similar lines for every response you have,  and you resent them.  Nowadays when somebody asks me if they can ask me a question I say “no” by reflex. We now have immunity to this, and so it is with QR codes.

So, when your advertising agency talks about piquing the consumer’s interest through a clever social networking campaign with QR codes, instead consider simply telling the consumer what your product is, what the price is, any benefits or aspirational messages and where to get it.

We are all faced with so many choices, so many activities and rapidly changing technology. Make your customer’s life easier – not more complex, and if QR codes help then great, but please use them well.