We’ve written many times about how the Covid-19 pandemic inspired more than just a revival in QR code usage, it delivered mass-market consumer acceptance of the strange looking patterns of squares and symbols.
In the UK, the NHS app that underpinned the track and trace system saw QR codes being used by people, and by organisations, that had never given the technology a second thought beforehand.
In recent weeks and months some things have changed. The advent of the so-called ‘Pingdemic’ has led to many people deleting their track and trace app and seeking to avoid being ‘caught’ by the system. But it hasn’t actually harmed usage and acceptance of the QR code and its underlying technology. That has proven its case for a place in the world.
In the US, CNBC reports that many restaurants, having adopted QR codes for menu downloads during the pandemic, are reluctant to go back to the printed versions. According to Bitly President Raleigh Harbour, QR code downloads have increased 750 per cent over the last 18 months and that’s a genie that not going back in the bottle.
For a start he said:
“Restaurants are able to adjust their menu offerings on the fly to account for elements such as inflation, fluctuations in food and commodities prices, and other variables.”
That flexibility of the code to be constantly re-written at the back-end to adjust for market dynamics, or speciality pricing, is what helps to set it apart from its printed cousins. And that is before we get to the great data harvest QR codes can generate.
QR code menus immediately create the potential to learn more about your customers. Customers ordering from printed menus and paying by cash leave virtually no data trail. With QR codes, even a walk-in customer without a reservation leaves something behind, and that data is priceless for marketing purposes.
What’s even more powerful is that the QR code as a payment mechanism is certainly here to stay. One report said that QR code payments rose to staggering 47 per cent of digital wallet transactions in 2020, and even in post-pandemic decline will still account for 40 per cent of all transactions through to 2025. While Juniper Research says that QR code payments will be adopted by 42 per cent of all mobile phone users – some 2.2bn people globally – by the same year.
Our Onescan payments and authentication system uses specially generated and encrypted QR codes to generate any type of transaction, or authorisation, with enhanced security. Because Onescan doesn’t rely on a central data store it gives hackers no target, and it business and consumer users complete reliability and security. Simple to use, and requiring no pre-downloads – just any smartphone with a camera – Onescan meets the European Bank’s Strong Customer Authentication regulations and all the requirements of the European-wide PSD2 legislation.
To find out more about how Onescan can help your business – click here.