Where Have all the QR Codes Gone?

Remember how in 2011 QR codes were the big thing? They started cropping up everywhere. They popped out the snow, like daisies! (Props to you if you know what I just quoted.) I remember scanning a couple but mainly being unimpressed with them. They seemed like they had a lot of potential, but weren't used effectively. In fact, Alex Kutsishin, president of FiddleFly, said that:

"If there was ever a technology that was frustratingly unpopular despite its true potential to improve the way consumers and businesses interact, it would be the QR Code."

QR stands for quick response. Originally they were created as a way to track things for Toyota but have since evolved. They can hold 100 times the information of traditional barcodes, making them look great to businesses for marketing. QR codes are read digitally, most likely by your smartphone, with the pairing of an app too so that you can do a myriad of marketing with it. Ideally, QR codes enable businesses to connect offline customers with online content in an engaging and interactive way.  Unfortunately, before they could really become mainstream, the technology started to trip over itself and sort of fell flat on its face - ouch. 

Consequently, the steps for engaging with a QR code often look something like this process, aptly described by Joshua Johnson in an article for Design Shack:

"1. Get out your phone.
2. Find you phone’s QR Code reader, assuming you’ve downloaded one.
3. Search for that QR code app that you downloaded one time, the name of which escapes you.
4. Realize that you deleted that app ages ago because you never used it. Go to app store, search for and download a new free QR Code reader.
5. Take a nap because you’re exhausted at this point.
6. Launch app and wait for the camera to initiate.
7. Hold phone up to QR Code.
8. Wait for browser to launch and page to load.
Tadaah, a web page! Wasn’t that easier than typing in a URL?"

The problems mainly stem from the fact that businesses don't know how to use them effectively. Some common problems are when the code sends you to a place that isn't set up for mobile sites - it's choppy and hard to navigate, which just becomes annoying and people lose interest. The next problems is that when you're on the page, there isn't a clear action - sometimes it just takes you to their unfriendly mobile site. Great. What next? It leaves users confused and frustrated that they wasted their time. The placement of QR codes is also important since you have to be able to take a picture of the code, having it in places like billboards and television commercials, isn't going to allow the user enough time to actually scan it. You also need an internet connection to scan it, so placing it in underground subways or on airplanes isn't helpful.

Those that did harness the QR and used creativity to make it beneficial for consumers did very well. Target had coupons that you could download onto your phone once you scanned their QR codes, Taco Bell and Mountain Dew used their codes for free music downloads, and Tesco, the second largest grocery chain in South Korea, created virtual grocery stores in select subway tunnels (those with cell service), allowing commuters to shop while they wait for the train by scanning QR codes next to items they want.  The items are then added directly to their carts and delivered to their homes after work.

So there is great potential for these little guys, but you can see how things can fade very quickly if they aren't used creatively. Now, I don't know if it would be possible to bring these codes back, people have already written them off. It will be interesting to see what the future holds - maybe they'll make a comeback.