They’ve been around awhile, but why are a lot of people still oblivious to the many obvious uses of QR codes? I feel like I’m stuck on this question lately. I guess the biggest barrier is the lack of knowledge people have about the codes. You remember the 6% of people that use QR codes? Why is it that only 6% use them when 32ish percent have smart phones and the ability to scan them?

We are constantly surrounded by so many things we care so little about, things we have no interest or time to engage with and understand. Peoples phones have become extremely important in keeping their lives functioning properly that it would seem to make sense that people would want to have the option to easily take note of and bookmark the things they are interested in by scanning QR codes. So, plus for the consumer.

Plus for the brands and those trying to effectively provide information, QR codes make interaction super easy and the brands can track how many people are using the codes. They can learn more about their customer base thanks to the codes. They are far more useful than most other barcodes as well because of the error correction capabilities and the ability to hold more information. It seems that the most widely used QR codes are the ones used by companies advertising a product.

There are a few drawbacks to QR codes that aren’t present with other codes. They aren’t universal like standard simple barcodes. The lack of standardization of QR codes is why smart phone companies tend to not start phones with a scanner app… because not all apps are able to scan all 2-D barcodes.

So what is worse and how can we break this cycle of so few people scanning QR codes? It’s that same old story… why spend money to educate the populous when the populous doesn’t care? How do you make them care without spending even more money? A conundrum indeed.

Have some more detailed information on this subject and then tell me what you think.

- Jessa