Shopping With A Difference This Year

Will we see more people whipping out their cell phones to scan QR Codes found on packaging, display racks, brochures, cards, and products this year compared to last year? Will Americans be more accepting of the QR Codes technology during this shopping season? Well, it all depends on how quickly we can see a global standardization for the said technology which will in turn result in more receptive advertisers and marketers making use of this ‘new’ marketing tool.

QR Code technology not at all new. Actually, the technology is not at all new because Japan has been using it for countless years. If you walked along a popular area in Tokyo, you will be mesmerized with how many QR Codes you can find all over the place. Literally, all over the place. In and on buses, on buildings, on fences, on food product packaging and on clothes.

Pre-installed decoder with change Americans’ shopping habits. As Americans change their old phones in exchange for newer and funkier cell phones, consumers will be more inclined to use the QR Code system. Why? Most new model cell phones comes pre-installed with QR Code readers. The QR code reader is a software needed to decode the information contained within the black-and-white square boxes of the QR Code. Right now, consumers are turned off with the fact that they have to hunt down the software, download it, have it installed and then test it. If it doesn’t work, then the search is on again. It is cumbersome to the consumer. But all that will soon change when manufacturers starts installing the software directly into the cell phone before it hits the market.

Big brand names in on the game. Wal-Mart, Pepsi, Starbucks, Google, Microsoft are early adopters of the system. The marketing team of people behind these giant corporations obviously saw the true potential of the system. Airlines and railway companies have begun issuing paperless tickets to their customers so that all consumers need to do is to present their phone, have it scanned and then they are on their way. Giant cosmetics and skincare brand name, L’Oreal, is also game for it, it seems,

Happy scanning this year? So, we have an increase in the number of cell phones that comes pre-loaded with QR Code readers. We have eager marketers hopping into the band wagon. We also have a much-anticipated standardization of the system. And we have small businesses hoping that QR Codes will help inform and educate the general consumers into easy shopping.

Shall we say that it all points to an increase in the number of people who will be scanning QR Codes in malls this holiday season?

Yes, more likely there will be.