Leverage QR codes for Retail Promotions and Discounts

Key takeaways

QR code technology can offer seamless access to discounts and offers. It helps bridge the divide between the physical experience and online convenience.

Personalised offers and discounts can be communicated and delivered to customers within seconds of a QR code scan within the retail store. Such personalised offerings have a much higher engagement rate and lead to higher sales.

QR code technology can offer a truly omnichannel and gamified experience within the store premises, ensuring a much more convenient and desirable customer experience.

Tracking and analysing every customer interaction via QR codes leads to much more optimized marketing campaigns, which in turn help customers in their buying journey and lead to higher sales.

Introduction

With the advent of immersive technologies, retail shopping experiences have the potential to become more engaging. Quick Response (QR) codes have now become a vital part of most retail marketing strategies.

Dynamic QR codes can simplify access to personalised offerings, give direct visibility of discount offers, and streamline data collection and tracking processes.

Use QR code coupons to improve retail promotions

QR codes combine digital omnipresence with physical shopping experiences, creating a convenient yet powerful customer experience. Retailers can place QR codes in strategic locations throughout the store — on merchandise tags for quick access to inventory information, in different departments to highlight promotions, or at the cash register for last-minute deals. This strategy not only enhances customer engagement but also ensures convenience, especially when staff availability is limited.

Here are some ways QR codes can be used for retail promotions and discounts:

Seamless access to deals and offers

QR codes are generally placed on product price tags, shelves, entry or exit touchpoints, digital screens, or marketing materials like banners and posters placed strategically within the store premises.

Customers can easily scan these QR codes to discover personalised or general promotions and discounts. Such an immersive and highly engaging customer experience makes the buying journey more enjoyable and boosts the chances of conversion.

Example

Imagine a customer named Jack is in a clothing store browsing the new collection. Each product is tagged with a QR code. Jack scans the QR code on a shirt’s product tag and discovers that he is eligible for a 20% discount based on his past purchases. He’s thrilled with the instant offering and immediately redeems the coupon at checkout.

Similarly, during peak retail shopping periods such as Christmas or Black Friday, stores can strategically place QR codes on various products. Customers effortlessly access the special offers and deals, which has a direct impact on engagement and sales.

Advantages of QR codes for deals and offers

Instant gratification: Shoppers enjoy the thrill of being able to unravel discount codes on their favourite products, which increases their propensity to purchase and be retained for future buying.

Frictionless journey: The long process of finding the most appropriate discount offerings is now replaced by a quick camera scan of the QR code, creating a fast and liberating experience for customers.

Personalisation offerings for the customer

The beauty of dynamic QR codes is that they can be linked with various types of data flows. When QR codes are integrated with customer loyalty data, retailers can offer much more relevant discounts and provide better product recommendations.

This type of personalisation is generally based on the customer’s browsing history, browsing behaviour, price preferences, or category affinity. Such personalised offerings make promotions and discounts more relevant and useful for customers in their buying journey.

Example

When a customer named Linda enters a grocery store, she scans a QR code placed at the entry door. This QR code lands Linda directly on the customer loyalty page where she can look at her past purchases and see the available balance of her reward points.

Based on Linda’s past purchases, the store can suggest new products in her favourite category like gluten-free food items, along with exclusive discount offerings on newly launched products in that category.

If Linda has not purchased for a long time and is on the verge of churning, the store might want to offer a higher discount percentage to ensure she stays a loyal customer. Such methods of personalised offerings significantly improve customer satisfaction and can boost conversion rates substantially.

Advantages of dynamic QR codes for personalisation

Highly engaging customer experience: Personalised offers have a direct impact on customer engagement and overall conversion. Not only is the experience more relevant, the customer feels empowered and valued since they maintain a 1:1 connection with the retail company.

Better sales: Personalised offers lead to higher conversion rates, which has a direct impact on increasing sales — the ultimate goal of any major retail player.

Optimised omnichannel experience

An optimised omnichannel experience is essential for any physical retail player. Every retailer is trying to bridge the gap between the offline and online worlds, and QR codes are a direct gateway to achieve this.

Example

During the pandemic, many physical stores had to adapt and offer omnichannel experiences. For example, an electronics retailer can allow customers to scan the QR code on a product, check detailed information, and then add it to their cart. Customers can then decide at a later time if they want to complete the transaction in store or order purely online.

Such customer experiences have now become a mainstay in offering convenient and flexible buying options. This is relevant for both high-involvement products like electronics and low-involvement products like basic groceries.

Advantages of QR codes for omnichannel experience

Flexibility: Such offerings give flexibility to customers in their buying journey, letting them choose when and where to complete a purchase.

Integrated experiences: Allows for effective tracking of every customer interaction and preference irrespective of the channel from which the customer is interacting.

Gamification of shopping experiences

Gamification of the retail experience through QR codes can lead to high customer engagement and an elevated shopping experience. Scavenger hunts and reward point systems are starting to become common, and such offerings can lead to a higher frequency of customer visits and subsequent conversion.

Example

A furniture retailer invites customers to discover QR codes hidden at various places inside the store. Scanning each of those QR codes provides coupons or digital tokens which can be used by the customer.

Such gamification offerings lead to a better customer engagement rate and an enhanced shopping experience. The overall goal of such a gamified experience is to have a higher basket size and better customer experience.

Advantages of QR codes for gamification

Interactive shopping experience: Gamified initiatives provide a fun and engaging way of customer interaction which leads to good word of mouth about the company.

Higher footfall in stores: Better word of mouth because of gamified offerings leads to higher footfall and sales conversion both in the offline and online world.

Simplified data collection

The best part of a QR code implementation is that it gives a mechanism to track physical customer interactions in an objective manner. Most QR code platforms provide vital pieces of information like time and place of scan, and the subsequent customer activity can also be tracked.

In this way, retail players can form a 360-degree view of the customer which can ultimately be utilised to deliver a better customer experience.

Example

A beauty retailer leverages QR code technology in their stores by collecting data about customers’ interactions with different products. QR code tracking and analytics also show which promotions get the most interest. Such insights help enhance product placements on shelves and improve promotional strategies effectively.

Advantages of QR codes for data collection

Analytics and tracking in real time: QR code platforms can give direct insight on the performance of ongoing marketing campaigns and customer interactions.

Pointed and targeted marketing: QR code integration can make interactions more relevant and targeted, which leads to higher engagement and satisfaction among customers.

Best practices for implementing QR codes in retail promotions

To enhance the performance of retail promotions, follow these best practices:

Placement: QR codes should be placed at the entry, exit, and checkout kiosks for higher visibility and adoption.

Printing: QR codes should be printed in high-quality formats to ensure good visibility and scannability via smartphones. Avoid blurry codes that frustrate customers.

Content refresh: The offerings and discounts should be revised at appropriate intervals to keep an element of excitement and surprise among customers.

Staff education: Staff within the retail store should be well trained to address and answer any customer queries related to QR codes placed within the premises.

Boost retail promotions with mobiQode

QR code technology can drastically boost the efficiency and efficacy of retail promotions through seamless access to discounts and a personalised shopping experience. Unlike static QR codes, dynamic QR codes offer the flexibility to modify and update information even after distribution, making them a superior choice for retailers aiming to stay ahead in the competitive market.

Start your 14-day free trial with mobiQode and create branded, trackable QR codes for your retail promotions today.