You may have been asked to scan a QR code with your smartphone to see the restaurant’s menu if you’ve lately gone out to dinner. Perhaps you’ve spotted QR codes being used to make contactless payments. Quick Response Code (known as QR Code), an image-based internet shortcut, has become a popular tool for improving client experiences, from ordering to contactless payments and product information. Today on EZ PIN and in this article we tell you everything about QR code. We answer the question of “what is QR Code?” and we tell you “how to generate a QR code?”

What Is A QR code?

The QR code has been around since 1994, when Japanese company Denso Wave invented it. The company wanted to make bar codes more informative by using a 2D design. Initially, QR codes were primarily used to track manufacturing activity.

Decades later, brands began using QR codes as a marketing technique that could be read with smartphones apps. Because they were inconvenient for customers, they never really took off.

In 2017, Apple enabled the iPhone camera to read QR codes without the use of a third-party app. Android was fast to follow. The codes became increasingly effective for quick information transfer as wireless networks became faster. In 2020, QR codes will be an essential tool for business owners to offer clients while maintaining social distance during COVID-19.

How to Use QR codes at Your Business

The ideal way to use QR codes will most likely be determined by your business. Restaurants, for example, can generate codes to improve customer ordering, while retail outlets can generate codes to support contactless checkout.

Here are five QR code ideas to get you started:

Facilitate Safer Payments

During the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone is concerned about their safety. By avoiding touch, QR codes help to protect customers and employees. Buyers can use their mobile device to scan a code and pay their charge. Staff at restaurants and stores would not have to handle credit cards or cash, and servers will be able to receive contactless tips from customers.

Provide Touch-free Menus

Some areas now mandate businesses to eliminate shared physical materials such as menus and replace them with disposable solutions that create a safer experience for customers. Single-use objects, on the other hand, generate waste. Customers can use QR codes to access a contactless online menu and place orders directly from their phones. They also enable restaurants to make real-time changes to their menus based on availability and cost.

Create Interactive Ad Campaigns

QR codes can help with marketing initiatives in addition to keep customers safe. QR codes, for example, can help increase the success of print advertisements by providing consumers with additional information such as videos or a map to the retailer’s location.

Enhance The Customer Experience

A shopper’s in-store experience can also be enhanced with QR codes. According to a survey, 48 percent of smartphone owners use their devices while shopping in stores. Customers can get more information about an item, see it in action, or view a slideshow of color and design options by placing QR codes on a product or shelf.

Build A Relationship

QR codes can also be used by retailers to strengthen client interactions. Customers might be directed to review sites that request input or social media accounts that request a follow using codes. When QR codes are scanned on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram, customers can follow retailers’ accounts. Store owners can also use QR codes to encourage customers to join their loyalty program or subscribe to their newsletter.

How to Generate a QR Code for Payments

Customers demand more touch-free ways to complete purchases as more shops open. EZ PIN QR codes can assist you in accepting payments and reducing customer-staff interaction in your gift card business. Here’s how to get going.

Provide Contactless Payment In-person Via EZ PIN POS

This method allows customers to pay at your EZ PIN POS using their phone for a touch-free payment method.

• Tell your customer to scan QR code of the store. It can be done without the need of EZ PIN (or any other) mobile application.
• Customer adds an item(s) to their card or enter any amount and proceed to checkout.
• When they choose what they want, a QR code will appear on their screen.
• The QR code is given to the customer, who must give it to you.
• You scan the QR code with the EZ PIN POS Machine and tell your customer the price of the gift card. Then you confirm the customer’s information, take the money and register the gift card.

The QR code is an important aspect of today’s retail and restaurant operations since it gives customers active methods to remain safe and engage with companies. They may also assist you in providing the types of experiences that your clients desire. In other words, QR codes make it simple for customers to interact with your business by just opening their smartphone’s camera app.