QR codes: A quick scan of what you need to know

By Gabrielle Stannus
 

Over the last two years, Australians have been forced to deal with QR codes when checking into facilities as a means of enabling contract tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, most people in this country are now familiar with using QR codes daily. Leading greenlife businesses who have adopted their use are reaping their benefits with improved inventory tracking and more effective marketing campaigns.

The quick response (QR) code was invented in the early 1990s by Masahiro Hara, an engineer at Japanese industrial equipment manufacture Denso Wave, to track automotive parts at factories¹.

The QR code is a two-dimensional version of the barcode and can convey a wide variety of information almost instantly with the scan of a mobile device, i.e. a basic smartphone. As QR codes are two-dimensional, they can store more information than the one-dimensional barcodes². A QR code can encode words and phrases such as internet addresses. There are two types of QR codes: Static and Dynamic.

Static versus Dynamic CR codes: Which one to choose?

A Static QR Code contains information that is fixed and uneditable once the code has been generated. They are great for personal use and for QR Code Application Programming Interface (API), a key to creating large batches of codes for employee IDs, event badges, technical product documentation, and more². However Static Codes are not ideal for businesses or marketing campaigns as Static Codes do not track metrics or allow for editing post creation.

Dynamic QR Codes allow you to update, edit and change the type of the QR Code however many times you need, making them more suitable for business and marketing purposes². They also allow you to track your marketing campaign statistics and to gain insights from scans. The metric tracking feature of those QR Codes helps you to understand your campaign’s strengths and weaknesses, learn more about where and who your audience is, and improve how you deliver content on your website, social media platforms, and through your print marketing.

Businesses are using QR codes in marketing materials including business cards, banners, posters, flyers, labels and stickers, social media, brochures, product packaging, websites, and t-shirts. They are also using them to track inventory. QR Codes are even being used on tombstones³!

How are greenlife businesses are using QR Codes?

Guru Corporation

Guru Corporation’s Sales Director Nick Lowe says that QR codes are allowing people to get the information they need more quickly and easily, including his workforce.

“Every single item that comes into our warehouse is labelled with a QR Code for our inventory,” says Nick, “As the staff go and grab stock, they quickly scan it with their phone, and it is automatically registered that that stock has been taken out of our inventory.”

Guru Corporation has owned Tytags, makers of pictorial and push in plant tags, since 2020. They have worked with PlantFile to create what they call talking plant labels. Each of these labels contains an image of a plant along with basic cultivation and maintenance notes. Each label also includes a QR code that customers can scan to listen to an audio file with plant information. There is also a link to a website for more detailed information.

“Imagine that you are shopping at your local nursery. Sometimes you have only got a small tag with some printed information, it does not really give you all the information you need,” says Nick, “So you can now scan this QR code, and it will give you an option to start talking to you. It will start telling you about the plant and what conditions it likes and where does it come from. It goes through a whole range of information that normally would not be available on a small plant tag. So I love the fact that you can hear something as an audio message, as opposed to just a written message, because a lot of people, particularly the elderly, have issues with eyesight and small text.”
 

Fernland

Nick Hutchinson, General Manager at Fernland, says that the business has only just started using QR codes over the last year. Fernland are using QR codes to enable customers to order pre-emergent herbicides without the need to go onto and navigate through their website. “If this proves to be popular with our customers, we will be using QR codes more extensively,” says Nick.

“You can direct someone who is interested in one product. The QR code takes them to exactly where they want to go to get more information about that product,” says Nick, ““Our customers can click on the QR code on their applicators, and it takes them to a number of different pre-emergent products that they could be using.”

“We are using QR codes to link our turf customers with a private Facebook group called the Fernland Turfys where we share product information with them and offer any advice that they ask for,” says Nick, “We have started to use a QR code on our new business cards. When you scan this QR code, our business details will be downloaded directly to your mobile phone with only one click.”

Nick says that QR codes can help to spark your customers’ interest in gardening and keep them buying more.

“As well as providing information such as watering requirements, QR codes can show customers what a plant will look like when it is advanced so they get a better idea of how it will look in their garden,” Nick says, “And QR codes can be used to share photos of other plants that are suitable for planting with that plant, thus providing an upselling opportunity for your business.”

“With a lot more knowledge able to be shared in less space, QR codes may also mean smaller labels with less product going to landfill,” Nick claims.

How can your business use QR codes?

In addition to using QR codes to track your inventory, consider using them as part of your marketing and promotional campaign to help your customers:

• Access your loyalty program
• Connect with you on social media
• Download your apps
• Join your Wi-Fi network in your store
• Log into your website
• Make payments
• Order food at your nursery cafe
• Prevent counterfeits
• Promote your competitions
• Promote your event
• Purchase your products and get them delivered to their home
• Redeem your coupons
• View your multimedia, e.g. demonstration videos

Creating a QR code soon? Read this first!

For a QR code marketing campaign to be successful, your business needs to have clear objectives, know who you are targeting, provide valuable content, place code at appropriate locations for ease of scanning, decide on the right time for the campaign and finally execute it in a creative way to stand out from the crowd⁴.

Make sure you choose the right QR Code maker for your purpose. Some free QR code makers only allow the creation of low resolution QR codes (.pdf and .eps) and do not offer vector formats (.svg) which can be used for further editing⁵.

If you want to track your campaign statistics, be aware that some free QR codes are not trackable, i.e. a Static QR code.

Pay attention to the size of the code. “The smaller you print the code, the more chance the QR code will not register correctly on your customer’s device,” says Nick Lowe.

“If you are producing a QR code, you must check that it is pointing to the correct URL. There is nothing more embarrassing than having the QR code point to the wrong website or the wrong phone number,” Nick adds.

How to generate a free QR Code

There are many websites where you can generate a QR Code for free with a minimum of fuss.

QR Code Monkey: https://www.qrcode-monkey.com/   

QR Code Generator: https://www.qr-code-generator.com/  

Canva's QR Code Generator: https://www.canva.com/qr-code-generator/ 

Further reading

How To Use QR Codes In Nurseries: A Detailed Guide: https://scanova.io/blog/qrbatch/qr-codes-in-nurseries/

Plant info QR codes: https://www.joyofplants.com/qrcodes.php

(References)

1. Sugiyama, Yuhi 2021, 'From Japanese auto parts to ubiquity: A look at the history of QR codes', The Mainichi, 10 November 2021, viewed 21 February 2022, https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20211109/p2a/00m/0bu/024000c
2. QR Code Generator n.d., ‘What is a QR Code?', viewed 16 February 2022, https://www.qr-code-generator.com/qr-code-marketing/qr-codes-basics/  
3. Kefer, Michael 2008, 'QR code graves give a “Memorial Window”', Japanese Trends, 20 March 2008, viewed 21 February 2022, https://web.archive.org/web/20120502174456/ http://www.japantrends.com/qr-code-graves-give-a-memorial-window/
4. Asare, IT & Asare, D 2015, 'The effective use of Quick Response (QR) code as a marketing tool', International Journal of Education and Social Science, Vol. 2., No. 12, December 2015, viewed 16 February 2022, http://www.ijessnet.com/uploades/volumes/1598624040.pdf
5. QR Code Monkey n.d., viewed 21 February 2022, https://www.qrcode-monkey.com/