Is this worth pursuing

[getsetgonline]

I have had a pretty rough 18 months as our primary travel business has been decimated so used this time to learn some coding. I have been building a real simple QR code tool but the marketer in me sees this as having more potential.
With QR codes becoming more mainstream, I was thinking of building a specialist service which allows real world businesses to deliver digital content via the QR codes specifically designed to grow marketing activity. Examples are things such as email sign up, social media check in/like or content delivery for visitor attractions such as video. Stores can incentivise purchases such as discounts when in store or upsell packages.
Do you think this has potential or is it not worth anymore time?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

With QR codes becoming more mainstream

Are they?

A QR code is just a reference to another point e.g. url. What is actually unique or new in your idea?

 

[fisicx]

Nothing new. Loads of places already have QR codes doing various things. Don’t think I’ve ever scanned one of them.

Lots of stores ask for an email so I can get a discount voucher. They do the work not me.

 

[MBE2017]

Personally the only QR codes I have ever used are those of shipping companies to print a label for returns where I drop parcels off, simply because it saves myself time and money.

I’m not sure the idea of them becoming mainstream is necessarily correct, did you approach any companies and gauge their reactions? I would have thought this service if required is probably already on the market by now.

 

[Nico Albrecht]

QR codes are pretty much dead as it requires too much user interaction. There is more promising tech on the way to completely replace QR code tech. You developed an idea like blockbuster in the early 2000's and they went out of business.

 

[Jeff FV]

Pre-covid I would have agreed that QR codes were dead, or a least a novelty with no real use.

But having travelled overseas twice in the last six months I have been seeing them everywhere: your passenger locator form, your Covid pass, your boarding pass. As a teacher, Ive got into the habit of doing lateral flow tests twice a week. Each test has a QR code on it, much simpler to scan that than type in the lengthy 10 digit code to register your test.

I think they are now far more mainstream than they were two years ago

 

[Fagin2021]

QR codes are pretty much dead as it requires too much user interaction. There is more promising tech on the way to completely replace QR code tech. You developed an idea like blockbuster in the early 2000's and they went out of business.

I don't understand that comment! What could require less interaction? A modern smartphone has a built-in QR reader. You just hit the camera button, point it at the QR code and you're there (wherever 'there' is).

I think QR codes have a lot of untapped potential if used creatively. In particular, when you want someone to go direct to content without an intervening menu. Or when a phone, rather than a keyboard is needed. For example, how about a For Sale board outside a house. Or on a dog collar.

There are loads of potential applications but how you turn them into a saleable product is another matter.

 

[intheTRADE]

I was given a business card last week with just the persons name, company name and QR code underneath. Scanned the QR code and took me to list of links to email them, call them, visit the website or connect with them on LinkedIn - quite cool I thought and I certainly remember that person and their company from now

 

[Nico Albrecht]

I don't understand that comment!

That's cool and nothing wrong with that but QR codes is tech of the past. 2- 3 years and good bye to them.

1. they are ugly and take space away and are static once printed.
2. They req. human interaction
3. very limited what code can be used and length of code
4. It takes to many steps to actually read them, phone on , open picture app in the hope it finally supports QR reading not all of them do , press scan and so on. This is already way to complex for the average Joe. Tech needs to be user friendly for most people to accept it.
5. There is plenty of better solutions in the development and ready to roll out NFC tags ( no real estate taken away , much more information to store on. Light ID, Google has some nifty tech coming up with sensors and picture scan tech.

6. and let's not forget the security implications of QR codes. QR codes, as demonstrated, can be used as a vector to compromise your device. The method requires the target to manually download the malicious file, but many other exploits are automatic and stealthy and do not require further actions after scanning the code. Be careful about what you scan more modern secured tags would be a better option to identify correctly

compare a QR with a 20 year old car. I need a key , have to put it in the door to unlock and than put it in the ignition and turn it to start the action. Modern keyless entry is a much smoother user experience with no more human physical interaction.

 

[Fagin2021]

That's cool and nothing wrong with that but QR codes is tech of the past. 2- 3 years and good bye to them.

1. they are ugly and take space away and are static once printed.
2. They req. human interaction
3. very limited what code can be used and length of code
4. It takes to many steps to actually read them, phone on , open picture app in the hope it finally supports QR reading not all of them do , press scan and so on. This is already way to complex for the average Joe. Tech needs to be user friendly for most people to accept it.
5. There is plenty of better solutions in the development and ready to roll out NFC tags ( no real estate taken away , much more information to store on. Light ID, Google has some nifty tech coming up with sensors and picture scan tech.

6. and let's not forget the security implications of QR codes. QR codes, as demonstrated, can be used as a vector to compromise your device. The method requires the target to manually download the malicious file, but many other exploits are automatic and stealthy and do not require further actions after scanning the code. Be careful about what you scan more modern secured tags would be a better option to identify correctly

compare a QR with a 20 year old car. I need a key , have to put it in the door to unlock and than put it in the ignition and turn it to start the action. Modern keyless entry is a much smoother user experience with no more human physical interaction.

Won't argue with you about coming technologies but I do think you're over-egging it about the steps to read a code.

I use a Galaxy S10 and simply press the camera button. I don't need to activate an App or anything else - if the viewfinder encounters a QR code it automatically loads the link or sends me to the link depending on the option I have selected. What could be easier?

Granted, QR codes can't cope with over-long links but most are not.

 

[Nico Albrecht]

What could be easier?

There is still too much interaction to do and way to static. As an example NFC would allow for the menu to pop up on my screen when sitting at a table and based on my preferences it would show me straight away the menu what I want e.g not " Vegan " or any specials they wanna push.

You seriously overestimating the intelligence of the average Joe using modern tech and waiters these days spend a lot of time explaining customers how to log into wifi or how to use a qr code in a restaurant than actually working their job.

 

[UKSBD]

waiters these days spend a lot of time explaining customers how to log into wifi

Last place I went to had a QR code that did that

 

[simon field]

They said the same thing about barcodes, and they’re as popular as ever!

 

[Fagin2021]

You seriously overestimating the intelligence of the average Joe using modern tech and waiters these days spend a lot of time explaining customers how to log into wifi or how to use a qr code in a restaurant than actually working their job.

That's the first time anyone has accused me of overestimating the intelligence of Joe Public!

 

[garyk]

I don't think they're *becoming* more mainstream, if anything they were a new thing quite a few years ago now and are less popular. That said I'd agree with one of the other posts that in a way they should be more popular now that smartphones have qr scan built into the camera rather than needing a separate app. They seem abit gimmicky to me and certainly nothing new or innovative.

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

I think it depends how you determine "mainstream" - they are certainly becoming more well known as to what to do with them (i.e. people even knowing you scan them, rather than just seeing a strange load of square shapes and wondering what it is), and yes, more well used....but only because people are HAVING to use them for various Covid related things. It doesn't mean they particularly care for the technology or find them useful, in fact if anything I'd suspect most people have had enough of seeing and using the bloody things and seeing one is more likely to put them in a negative frame of mind.

Also.....pretty much anything you can think of won't be new. Every use for QR codes you can think of has probably been done. Ones like mentioned up above such as storing all business card data - I remember we did that at my old work, can't remember exactly when it was but I stopped working there at the end of 2013!