For several years now, the QR code has been experiencing a remarkable comeback. Today, it is an indispensable means for brands to transfer information to mobile devices quickly and easily. Originally used as a product label, the code was invented by Japanese company DENSO WAVE back in 1994 and has been further developed in a variety of ways over the last three decades. Today, it compresses complex information of more than 7,000 numbers or 4,000 characters in a two-dimensional QR code. Codes are available either as fixed variants that can no longer be edited after creation or as dynamic codes that are updated and edited on a continuous basis.
In times of COVID-19, we can use them to quickly access the menu or request a Wi-Fi connection in a café, for example. They will also reliably direct customers from posters to the appropriate product in an online shop. Social media platforms such as Facebook or Pinterest use the square to make further content quickly accessible. Mobile payments are also becoming increasingly popular, using cryptocurrencies, for example, with transactions completed in seconds thanks to QR codes. Another major field of application is counterfeit protection, where QR codes make supply chains transparent and ensure that products themselves are counterfeit-proof.
The possible range of uses are virtually limitless: shopping vouchers, competitions, cashback promotions, product information or review options. Anything that enhances and adds to the product or service is contained effectively in a QR code. But why are QR codes suddenly so popular again?