Now that nearly everyone carries a smartphone, QR codes are becoming an increasingly popular marketing tool. Savvy consumers often scan QR codes in the store before deciding to purchase an item. This makes them an excellent tool for guiding potential customers toward the decision to purchase your product.

What Are QR Codes?

QR is short for “quick response.” These are small, square, two-dimensional barcodes, which can be read by traditional barcode scanners and by smartphone apps. Today, nearly every smartphone has an app that will scan QR Codes, read hyperlinks, and bring the user directly to any web location you choose.

Including a QR code on your product label can turn your packaging into a dynamic, flexible, perpetual marketing tool. The code can point to a web page you can update as often as you’d like, effectively providing your current and potential customers with whatever information you wish them to have. The possibilities are as limitless as the Internet itself. You can link the code to anything you like, including:

  • Customer review sites such as Yelp or Google
  • Online magazine article or review featuring your product
  • Food pairing suggestions
  • Any page you like (or a new page you set up for this purpose) on your existing website

Your QR Code is Free!

The best part? The code costs literally nothing. Unlike UPC symbols, which can become costly, you can generate a unique QRC at no expense using free tools available online. If you prefer, we’d happily create one for you based on the URL you provide.

Including your QRC on a new label design adds nothing to the cost of your product labels, meaning you can take advantage of this technology at no expense. We can add a QR code to an existing digital label at no charge as well. For labels printed on a conventional press, there’s a small fee for setting up a new printing plate, just like any other change in label design.

QR Codes on Food Labels

By including a QRC on your custom food or beverage label, you can give your customers—and potential customers who may be standing in a store considering what product to purchase—an array of rich online content. This could include:

  • Online coupons or other promotions
  • Seasonal or monthly recipes
  • Contact information

Imagine having the opportunity to provide a wealth of valuable information and gently persuasive marketing copy in a square inch of space in the corner of your custom food label. It’s easy to see why QR codes are becoming increasingly popular not just with marketers, but with consumers as well.

QR Codes for Personal Care Labels

Portland loves its small-batch, eco-friendly personal care products. Green cosmetics and other health and beauty products face particularly stiff competition in the Pacific Northwest. With all the green skincare lines and other natural personal care products competing for shelf space, it’s a safe bet that many of your potential customers pick up several products and read the labels before making a purchase decision. With a QR code, you can send any smartphone user to read testimonials, view videos or see a list of complimentary products in your line—right there in the store.

Private Label Beer, Wine or Spirits

Do you provide private label libations for weddings and other special events? How’s this for a value-added service? Include a QR code that can point to:

  • A slide show for attendees to discuss
  • A YouTube video of a newlywed couple thanking wedding guests for attending
  • A web page that updates for annual or other repeating events
  • Literally any Internet content the event host desires

Rose City Label Can Help

QR codes on your custom product labels are an easy, convenient means of bringing consumers to the website of your choosing. They are becoming more widely recognized and popular every day. Many consumers, once they discover them, scan nearly every code they see in a store. A single, static code offers unlimited marketing opportunities, as you can update the page it leads to as often as you care to.
Can you afford not to employ this emerging, increasingly popular marketing tool? Talk to us today about including a QR code as part of every label in your product line.