The QR code comeback
By Line Heidenheim Juul
The QR code is an excellent tool to digitalize and merge offline experiences with online advantages such as direct payment links and individualized content. It is user friendly and free. In fact, it is used for almost everything in China.
In China, the QR code is commonplace and has been thriving for many years, implemented in everything from payment to tracking to online to offline retail experiences. Its success in the Middle Kingdom is owed to the leapfrogging that China has made past laptops and credit cards to being almost “mobile only” and basically cashless. As other countries are locked down and industries such as retail are suffering, there is good reason to look to China for inspiration on how businesses can take advantage of QR codes.
For payments
China has leapfrogged over the PC and the credit card, and is almost cashless now. Living in Shanghai, I have not used cash or credit card for the last 3-4 years.
With a massive +800 million mobile payment users and a population of 1,4 billion, not everyone is yet on the bandwagon, but it is a growing number. And this might be part of the explanation of why the QR code has been so easily adopted here. It offers a smooth and contactless payment experience, whether you are just opening a shared bike on the street, getting an apple in the local fruit store, or collecting money for your local charity. Even beggars in China have a QR code ready.
For tracking
Food safety has been and is still an issue in China. Some vendors and supermarkets, like Alibaba´s hyper modern supermarket, Hema, let users scan QR codes on various products to see the entire supply chain from farm to shelf. Brands also do this, for example with milk formula or other foods where consumers are especially cautious.
Put the tracking on a global block chain and this is highly applicable to imported goods, medicine, or vaccines. Beyond tracing your pork roast back to a local farm in Denmark there has also been attempts to give Alzheimer patients a QR code to carry on them, making it easier for strangers to help them and connect with relatives, should they get lost.
From physical to digital experiences
QR codes on big billboards, in digital- and video advertisements and throughout a mall on storefronts, parking signs and instore promotional activities are now commonplace in China. The QR codes have long been bridging the gap between the physical space and the online universe, as it is an easy way for users to connect from offline billboards or price tags to direct purchase or online interactions.
In the new retail era, it is also a way to lead customers into brand-related games and engage with consumers to unlock personalized offline to online experiences. A good example I have seen, is a baby formula brand, that equipped cans in the supermarket with a QR code. Once I scanned it, not only could I see the supply chain of this product, but I was encouraged to enter a game with a digital cow-avatar.
The game let me learn about the brand, but also generally about baby formula, and I could collect points to unlock small fairy tales that would be read aloud to me – or potentially my baby. That was 3 years ago. Now even luxury brands like Burberry have started to use QR codes to do similar things.
That connection between online and offline is highly relevant now during lock downs, where storefronts may offer customers a peak at what they can discover online. But remembering the name of an item in a store window or a specific app to find in the app store or even going old school with a www-link is a much less smooth and easy experience for the customers. In China, any industry from real estate to farming utilizes the QR code to get consumers to scan and find information or scan and win prizes.
In many fast-food restaurants or cafés in China, you might find a QR code on the table, so the diners can scan, browse the menu and order directly with no need to wait for the staff.
For tourism, events, and sports
One use of QR codes widely seen in China is of course to spread and disperse information. It replaces an old school www-link, and it can be blown up into a massive scale, so it is easy to scan even with thousands of people waiting in line to enter the train station ahead of the Chinese New Year.
The QR code is also faster to scan if you are running a marathon or doing a geo-tracking activity, where you need to collect information along the way quickly. It is also extremely useful in museums or at tourist sights, and it can hold more information in several languages than a physical board.
One of the most common usages in China is for event flyers that lead to sign up pages, program information or web shops.
For COVID-19 health status, identification, and mobility
When the fight against COVID-19 started in January of 2020, the authorities and tech giants spent only a few weeks before they launched the so-called health code for each city/province. For the consumer, it appeared as an option inside the existing mobile payment apps, where you could generate a QR code. The code has been in use since, and is generated based on information from central authorities on your travel activities as well as information from health authorities.
The health code is not mandatory, but required in all public transportation, to enter public buildings, and other areas with heavy traffic of people. With the number of virus cases down, China allowed travellers equipped with a green code to travel freely in most parts of China throughout last year’s golden week, where over 600 million trips were made over the course of a week.
Now, there is a rise in new cases, and with an expected 1.7 billion trips across China during this year’s Spring Festival the QR health code is combined with negative tests for travelling.
Similarly, QR codes are also used for identity badges, conference tickets, business cards and visitor passes. I even have a QR code on my work permit, which I can scan and see current validity date and further information not listed on the permit. It is now also common that business licenses are issued with a QR code.
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