I’m Looking Forward to More QR Codes

I like using QR codes. When I got my first smart TV about a year ago, all the streaming apps installed made it very easy to create accounts, program the apps, set my preferences, and more with QR codes that took me right to their signup page. And now that I have two smart TVs—one in the living room and one in the bedroom—I’m seeing QR codes all the time. They’re embedded into some of the ads: I just scan them with my phone and they take me straight to pages where I can buy the items. They are simple, straightforward, and super-convenient.

And now that the weather is getting warmer, I’m spending a little more time outside, where I’ve been seeing a lot more QR codes too. On billboards, in ads on buses and subway cars, and on store signage. I see them on restaurant menus, event flyers, store sales receipts, product packaging, and even on garage sale notices. Some of the junk mail that I receive on a regular basis now contains QR codes, and it seems that just about every bill I receive in the mail contains a code that I can scan to make a payment, update my account information, check balances and prior transactions, and do a whole lot more.

So when we say in this issue’s cover story (“QR Codes Failed Because the Ask Was Bigger Than the Reward. That’s Changing”) that QR codes are making a comeback, it’s not conjecture, hyperbole, or wishful thinking on our part. They truly are back; I’ve seen it firsthand, and this time around they might actually have some staying power.

I’m not the only one to notice. In the article, Uniqode, a provider of QR code technology, reports that QR code adoption has reached near-universal levels among consumers and marketers, with 71 percent of consumers saying QR codes are useful in their daily lives, and 98 percent of marketers reporting a positive impact on their marketing over the past 12 months.

The article offers an in-depth look at the history of QR codes, why past iterations of the technology did not live up to the hype, and what’s different this time around.

So what is different today? In a nutshell, it comes down to utility. Codes in the past provided very limited functionality, the infrastructure wasn’t there to support them, and often the information they provided was not very useful.

Today’s QR codes offer consumers quick access to supplemental information about organizations and their products or services and a wealth of other options, like making payments, scheduling appointments, booking reservations, or showrooming virtually, all in a simple, mobile-friendly way that requires almost no effort. For marketers, they provide a low-cost way to get the word out supported on the back end by tons of analytics, attribution, and supplemental information about the consumers who scan them. Additionally, QR codes are super easy to put wherever you want them and cheaper to print than a whole ad or company dossier.

Our article is quick to point out—and unfortunately this is a reality with virtually any technology on the market—that QR codes are a fresh opportunity for fraudsters to steal personal information and rip us off. They can create codes that link to websites with malware, spyware, or worse.

Our second feature, “Keeping Customer Data More Secure with AI,” could offer some hope on this front. Though not specifically mentioning QR codes, the same principles raised in the article—the use of digital technologies to detect and thwart digital threats—could apply. I only hope the cybersecurity industry catches on before fraudsters take down QR codes yet again. After all, I’m really starting to like shopping in my sweats from the couch, TV remote in one hand and smartphone in the other, and I would hate to lose that because companies have let down their guard.

Leonard Klie is the editor of CRM magazine. He can be reached at lklie@infotoday.com.

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