Over the past year, we have seen a significant rise in the use of QR Codes. This “touchless” interactive technology allows customers to receive information about a product or service, and even sign up for a service, all with a quick scan of a QR Code with a smartphone camera. Brands, retailers, and even restaurants have seen a massive surge in QR Code usage. A lot of the surge can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The timeline above is Google Trends timeline from January 1, 2020, to May 26, 2021, on the volume of searches for the term “QR Codes.” Basically, the closer to 100 the line, the greater the popularity of that search term is. That peak? March 20-27, 2020. The beginning of what would be a long, hard year for many businesses forced to shut down due to the pandemic.

As shown, QR Codes had little traction before the pandemic. Once the pandemic hit, it took a huge upswing. Restaurants like Bar Louie and Buffalo Wild Wings started to deliver their menus via a QR Code sticker on the table. Over time, we started to see QR Codes in retail stores like Petco and Walmart (which includes a Touchrate program).

Due to the pandemic initiating mass interest, brands and retailers have found out just how much can be delivered with a QR Code. QR Codes have been used for a multitude of reasons including:

• Digital Path to Purchase
• Product Selector
• Coupons
• Cashless Payments
• Website Traffic
• Loyalty Program
• App Adoption

Marketers also find this technology incredibly helpful, as it also helps give them a sense of who their real audience is through general information gathered by analytics platforms like Google Analytics.

Here at Touchrate, we use QR Codes to deliver a full digital path to purchase to assist customers in finding the right product for their particular need. We also have developed a contactless, in-house ordering platform, where the customer orders their food and pays for it all right from their phone, no need to wait for the waiter.

The beauty of QR Codes is that they allow you to gather data and assist your customers when they need it most, in-the-aisle. QR Code programs can be integrated into your company’s signage and are a very low cost-to-scale solution.

So why not get started today?

Note: Recent A/B test

Prior to COVID, for every (1) consumer scanning a QR code for a path-to-purchase in-aisle for a specific product there were (25) consumers using a touchscreen with the same Path-to-Purchase.

In the last 12 months as a result COVID, for every (1) consumer scanning a QR code for a path-to-purchase in-aisle for a specific product there were (13) consumers using a touchscreen with the same Path-to-Purchase.

So today we have a bit of a treat. Our friend Eric Sharp, Founder of Protofuse, a B2B Digital Marketing Agency, invited Wayne to join him on his 1 to 10 Podcast. Wayne accepted and they sat down and had a nice long chat about the history of Touchrate and how technology is changing retail with Touchrate's innovative solutions.

#9: Creating Solutions Through Innovative Service – Wayne Hilmer

Retailers are adapting to chase millennials and Gen Zers.

Attracting millennials and Gen Zers could help retailers thrive in a difficult environment.

In a time when brick-and-mortar retail is struggling unlike ever before, these two younger demographics could breathe life into same store sales. Despite millennials' reputation for doing everything online, they're far more likely to make purchases offline, and they account for $600 billion worth of consumer spending in the US, Forbes reports.

Gen Zers also prefer to shop in-store and despite still being very young, between 7- and 22-years-old, they already account for another $44 billion in annual spending. If retailers can successfully become part of the shopping habits of millennials and Gen Zers, they may be able to thrive as these demographics come to represent an ever larger portion of all consumer spending.

“The power has shifted from the institution to the consumer” - Tim Cook, CEO Apple

Brands are realizing when shoppers are provided Touchscreen Informatics in-aisle they can increase sales with a dynamic marketing message to distinguish their product and offer product information while capturing insights to match a shopper’s feed-back for a reason to buy and a call-to-action.