Branch QR Codes Fuel Max Fashion’s Growth

Max Fashion, a flagship brand under the Landmark Group, began its journey in 2004 with a single store in the United Arab Emirates. Today, Max Fashion has expanded its presence to nearly 650 stores across 19 countries throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Southeast Asia, and India.

Committed to simplifying and enhancing the shopping experience, Max Fashion launched its online business in 2016 and then introduced its mobile app, which generated about 90 percent of its business. The app has grown by 33 percent year over year and has become a crucial driver of customer engagement and revenue growth.

As the retailer’s digital presence grew, so did the need for more effective ways to engage customers and drive app adoption. The company recognized the potential of quick response (QR) codes to equip stores and employees with a powerful tool for driving offline-to-online engagement but faced limitations with its initial setup, according to Sneha Chaudhary, the retailer’s e-commerce manager.

“The QR Code campaign was driven by a key business challenge: bridging the gap between offline visibility and online conversion,” Chaudhary explains. “With increasing footfall in offline spaces (events, stores, billboards), we saw an opportunity to turn high-visibility physical assets into measurable, trackable digital entry points to our e-commerce platforms.”

However, the company found that handling the project itself was unworkable. Early on, the team could generate only a single QR code for all stores, making it impossible to track individual contributions. This lack of incentive left staff unmotivated and hindered the team’s ability to measure store performance.

Max Fashion partnered with Branch, which it had already been using for mobile commerce, to launch a dynamic QR code campaign designed to incentivize employees and grow customer engagement.

“Unlike the previous solution, Branch enabled the Max Fashion team to generate an infinite number of customized QR codes,” Chaudhary says. “This meant we could track key metrics like click-to-install rates, app opens, and revenue contribution per user.”

Introducing QR codes also unlocked more creative campaigns, like the “Spin the Wheel” activation, according to Chaudhary. During busy seasons, the company saw significant foot traffic from families browsing but not buying. To turn those visits into sales, Max Fashion set up an in-store “wheel.” Customers scanned a QR code to download the app to play and win prizes like 10 percent off in-store purchases or free delivery on online orders. They could redeem their rewards right away or save them for their next visit.

Branch produced mobile-optimized QR codes on each wheel. Max Fashion could track key metrics through each code, including how many customers spun the wheel, and subsequent app downloads, opens, and purchases, Chaudhary says. This initiative provided valuable insights into customer behavior and supported Max Fashion’s goal of delivering a seamless omnichannel experience.

There were more than 15,000 codes produced, one for each employee, enabling Max Fashion to track and reward individual contributions. Employees earned commissions based on the number of app installs generated through their QR codes.

Deep-linked QR codes ensured that customers who already installed the app were directed straight to the app from any campaign touchpoint, such as in-store posters or promotional materials, rather than being redirected to the mobile web. This seamless journey improved customer conversion rates and led to higher app engagement. During the campaign period, QR codes drove 15 percent of total app installs and cut customer acquisition costs by 10 percent.

“Branch is integral to our innovation, helping us elevate our marketing efforts and achieve our omnichannel business objectives,” Chaudhary says. “Branch is always evolving and giving us multiple solutions whenever we have an idea to implement.”

In the future, Chaudhary hopes to work with Branch to get more details on organic traffic and growth measurement. She also wants to see a breakdown of traffic sources (organic, paid, omnichannel, referrals) and relate that to the revenue generated from specific partners.

This would help Max Fashion identify where to focus investments to acquire high-quality customers and further decrease customer acquisition costs.

The Payoff

Since installing the deep-linked QR codes from Branch, MAX FASHION has achieved the following results:

• a 92 percent increase in app installs;
• an 85 percent growth in orders from QR code-driven installs; and
• a 10 percent decrease in customer acquisition costs.