QR codes may be great, but will a url do just as well?

It may seem like an obvious question, but with the current hype around QR codes, it’s worth stopping to ask if marketers are – instead of using an ‘innovative’ form of technology – instead placing a huge barrier between their content and their consumers. QR codes may be eye-catching, but there is still a significantly large portion of people, smartphone owners included, who don’t know what a QR code is or, at the time they see one, aren’t really in a position to download an app just so they can scan the code. We’ve seen some great uses of QR codes, but it may be time to ask the obvious and say – will a printed url do just as well?

Have you ever had to explain a QR code?

The other day I was out with a friend and we walked past an ad that had a QR code. I asked if she had ever scanned a QR code and she replied that she didn’t even know what one was. The more I tried to explain it in a simple way, the more complicated and totally unnecessary QR codes seemed. I was trying to explain their benefits and she asked how it was any different to just displaying a url. When I then explained the need to have a QR code reader on her smartphone to access the QR code on her phone, she had lost interest completely. Maybe I wasn’t explaining it very well, or maybe the whole concept was in fact completely pointless.

This was further exaggerated by the fact that when I scanned the QR code to show her how they worked, it took me to the website of a band – exactly the same url that was printed beneath the QR code anyway.

John Lewis QR code store

In defense of QR codes, there are of course many examples when a printed url simply wont do the job. Or at least, won’t do it as well as a QR code. While the example above wasn’t going to be the best way to explain to someone the benefits of them, leading as it did to a simple homepage, there are impressive QR code campaigns that use QR codes in a unique way. To replace a printed url, or do the job that a simple printed url couldn’t do. The most recent example of this is John Lewis’ virtual QR code store. Though not the first example of a QR code store, this is a great campaign by John Lewis to show QR codes ‘in the wild’ done well. The store has been set up in Brighton and showcases the store’s top 30 Christmas products. Each one is displayed with a QR code beneath it, which when scanned takes you directly to the product :

This is an example of QR code use done well, as to display an individual url underneath each product would arguably be a much more cumbersome user experience.

Beginning to grow

A recent report produced by Comscore does show some encouraging stats around QR code use. They found that in June this year, over 14 million people in the US scanned QR codes – representing around 6% of the mobile audience (not the total smartphone audience). And interestingly, the majority of QR code scans were from magazines or newspapers, which may be more likely also because the user can easily download a QR code reader through wifi, or is seeing it at a more leisurely time than passing one in the street, so is likely to engage with it.

But are these numbers for QR code use really any different to saying ‘x’ number of people accessed a url via their mobile? While it does show an indication of QR code use starting to grow, it is easy to get distracted by the numbers and think that this is where you should focus on. QR code use is beginning to rise because more marketers are using them ; it is not a grassroots movement being led by consumer demand. What if marketers suddenly stopped using QR codes? Would mobile access from an ad or poster suddenly go down? Or would you find that instead of printing a strange symbol that 94% of your audience have never used before, you print a url, which is even more accessible? It’s difficult to imagine that there would be much of an outcry from consumers.

While you can argue that you can of course do both, the difference is in the user expectation. If you have taken the trouble to fire up your QR code app, placed it strategically in front of the QR code and waited until it’s taken you to the url, you’re going to be pretty disappointed if you’re not greeted with something spectacular. This should serve as a warning to marketers. It’s important to remember the user experience and only use QR codes if you can do something truly different with them. It may not look as sexy, but sometimes a plain old url will do just fine.