How Do QR Codes Work And How Can They Help My Business?

Many business people have asked the question, "How do QR codes work and how can they help my business?"A QR Code is basically a bar code, and the ways that it can help your business are limited only by the creativity quotient of your entire business.

The "QR" stands for quick response.Invented by the car industry in Japan, the QR code was originally used to track car parts.Its design allows it to upload information to a coded scanner much quicker than a traditional bar code, and it was designed to be read by a narrow beam of light rather than an array.
The type of information that is transmitted by the QR code depends on its programming.It can transmit data in numeric, alphanumeric, binary or Kanji format.(Kanji are the symbols used in the Japanese language.)

Because the QR code needs a coded scanner, it wasn't available for wide use until the invention of smartphones.Smartphones that do not already come with a QR code scanner can download an app that uses the phone's camera as a scanner.The scanner than decodes the QR code, and this is when business magic can happen.

Someone who has scanned a QR code is clearly ready for the next step in the business transaction.The transaction should lead fairly quickly to a purchase on the scanner's part.Because the QR code can be programmed to take the person to a web site with ease and quickness, as long as this web site makes sense and is what the person was looking for, the product should be able to be sold and shipped in short order.

QR codes can be placed just about anywhere - fast food cartons, stickers, newspaper ads are just a few examples.The placement of the QR code may be the deciding factor of where the QR code once scanned takes the person who scanned it.

Someone walking down the street sees a poster for a production of "Annie" at the New Theater Performance Playhouse.In the corner of the poster is a QR code.The person scans the code and gets taken to a web site where he or she can purchase tickets.The tickets are purchased; the person and his date get to the theater, buy a program and a souvenir and enjoy a beautiful musical about the orphan girl with red hair and no pupils.The next step in the process would be to have a restaurant tie in with the poster and its own QR code.

If a business is looking to gain a larger number of customers that use smartphones, the QR code is the perfect way to start.Placing an ad in the paper or a flyer through the mail with the QR code that leads to a special coupon or offer of another sort is a great way to drive customers to the business.It is even better if the transaction can be made there on the smartphone.

QR codes are a great way for a business to transfer information to people who use smartphones.It is quickly assimilated and offers the potential customer easy access to whatever web site the business would like to designate.They can help increase page views on the web site and create buyers out of browsers.They can also encourage impulse buying.The customer wants things to be easy.The less he or she has to think about a purchase, the better off the business is.No second thoughts mean an immediate purchase, and that is good for business.Hopefully, it is good for the consumer too.