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Digital signage getting IQ upgrade with QR codes
STRATACACHE recently announced that it has integrated the increasingly-popular QR code information access tags into its digital signage offering.
September 22, 2010 by Christopher Hall — w, t
STRATACACHE recently announced that it has gotten the jump on a hot and still-spreading information technology by integrating QR codes into its digital signage offering.
QR codes, or quick-response codes, are scannable, 2-D barcodes encrypted with heavy data loads that allow smart phone-wielding customers to photograph or read the code to get coupons or more information on the product being advertised on the digital displays.
QR codes also can be used to link to company websites or other sources of information and are spreading in the retail environment and in other innovative formats. At this year's South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, organizers even printed QR codes on registrants' badges to cut down on paper waste and manual data entry.
Static sign store franchisor FASTSIGNS also recently announced that it had added QR codes to its product offerings.
"Signs and graphics work for you 24/7, even when you are not open or there. Effective signage tells people who you are and what you do. Now, with QR codes, that effort is taken a step further," Drue Townsend, senior vice president of marketing for FASTSIGNS International Inc., said in his company's announcement.
The technology has been adopted by retailers like JCPenney, jewelers on New York City's Fifth Avenue, Chevrolet dealerships, Middle Eastern banksand even wineries.
And earlier this month, electronics retail giant Best Buy added QR codes to the fact tags in all their U.S. retail stores, further enabling their shoppers to use mobile devices to mine information during their shopping trips.
In the FASTSIGNS announcement, Townsend says that while QR codes have been popular in Japan for more than a decade, they've been gradually finding their way into more mainstream uses in North America.
Integrating this progressive technology into digital signage leads to an even wider range of in-store customer engagement, STRATACACHE says.
"QR codes are the future of in-store marketing," STRATACACHE CEO Chris Riegel said in the release announcing the development. "The ability to further open communication lines with consumers is vital to a retailer's success — and QR codes embedded within digital signage are doing just that."
By utilizing QR codes within digital signage, retailers can provide information or offers that could help lead to sales, such as an instant coupon or targeted information on the product a customer is considering for purchase, Riegels' company says. The new application could not only help influence in-store purchase decisions, but also save businesses time and money spent on printing promotional brochures and coupons, STRATACACHE says.
QR codes also allow companies to track campaign effectiveness more efficiently, STRATACACHE says. The codes can provide quantifiable information that can be used to gauge the success of a marketing campaign, including the number of scans, responses or downloads, and make it easier to assess the campaign's ROI.
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