With technological advancement in society, we find many things becoming easier for us, but at the same time, these technological inventions seem baffling to us. Understanding the basic concepts and uses may be too difficult to understand. Among such things, the introduction of QR codes provides instant interaction between businesses and customers. You may be wondering how the QR codes work? Before moving further, we need to understand what is a QR code and how does it work.

What is QR Code

QR code stands for Quick Response Code, a type of matrix barcode that appears like a jumble of tiny dots and squares within a square grid. The encoded information can be accessed instantly when you use a phone or a scanning device to read the QR code, thus, it is scan-able using a smartphone device. These codes are created using an online QR code generator that displays a piece of online information to the scanner when scanned.  It looks like a simple image of dots but contains a wide range of information. In today’s world, QR codes are used in advertising, business, health care, and education, however, in business sectors especially in advertising and operations widely use QR codes.

How did QR codes come into existence?

The QR code was developed in response to high demand for checkout counters, In the 1960s, the economy of Japan bloomed, the supermarkets and shopping stores thrived, and started selling a wide range of commodities ranging from food to clothing. Due to excessive work at checkout counters, the employees started to develop carpal tunnel syndrome. To deal with the problem, the Point of Sales (POS) system was developed and incorporated the use of barcodes. With a barcode system, the problem was that 20 alphanumeric characters were not enough in holding a product’s information, and the barcode’s position led to scan failures sometimes.

Types of QR Code

Static QR Code

This type of QR code is used in linking email addresses, URLs, texts, WIFI passwords, social media links such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. This type of code is not modifiable and is a one-time purpose QR code. The data that can be stored is limited, if more information is used in generating QR codes, the tendency of compromising the quality of the QR code is high. The Static QR codes are free and permanent.

Dynamic QR Code

They can be modifiable and can store more data. It is a multifunctional QR code as it allows multi-URL directories. It enables you to create or remove URLs. It requires an active subscription. QR Codes are very popular in businesses. It helps to drive traffic to land pages, share important information and increase engagement with customers.

The QR codes give a straight direction to customers, streamline the buyer’s transaction process by offering self-service and contactless payment options. The business information can be shared without sending an email or any other marketing communications.

Scanning a QR code allows the customer to receive a discount or voucher or share their interest and opinions from their own devices.