A Quick Response Code commonly abbreviated as QR Code is a 2-Dimensional barcode that can be encoded with information similar to a barcode but QR codes can store much more data and take very less print space.
QR code is actually the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or 2-D barcode). It was first designed in the year 1994 for the automotive industry in Japan. Barcodes are machine-readable optical labels that contain information about any product to which they are attached. In standard practice, QR codes often contain data for an identifier, locator, or tracker that points to a specific website or application. A QR code has four standardized encoding modes (numeric, byte/binary, alphanumeric, and kanji) to store data; extensions can also be used depending on the need. The Quick Response system became very popular due to its fast readability and more storage capacity compared to standard barcodes. Applications of QR codes include product tracking, document management, item identification, time tracking, and general marketing.
What are QR codes??
QR codes were introduced to the world by Japan where they are very common. They can be useful to take a piece of information from any transitory media and put it into a cell phone. QR Codes may soon be seen in magazine adverts, billboards, web pages or even on t-shirts. Once they are on your cell phone, they may give you details about that business, or details about the person wearing that t-shirt. QR codes can also show you a URL that you can click to see a movie trailer, or it may give you an offer code that you can use in an outlet.
The reason why QR codes are more useful than a standard barcode is that they can comparatively store much more data, including geo-coordinates, URL links, and text. Another important feature of the QR Code is that instead of requiring a bulky hand-held scanner to scan them, most modern cell phones can scan them.
How do they work??
QR codes consist of black squares arranged in a square-shaped grid on a white background. QR codes can be read by using an imaging device like a smartphone camera, and then processed by using Reed–Solomon error correction until the image can be properly interpreted. The data present on the QR code is then extracted from the patterns that are present in horizontal and vertical components of the image.
How could we use QR code??
Any business, no matter how small or big, can use QR codes in a multiple number of ways. You can auto-generate one and put it next to every product on your web site containing all the details about that product, the phone number to call and the link to the page so they can share all these details with their friends on their cell phone. You could also add one to your business card which will contain your contact details so it is easy for anyone to add you to their contacts on their cell phone.
QR codes can also be added to any print advertising, flyers, posters, invites, TV ads, etc. The printing of QR codes on physical media is one of the best ways to connect smartphones to online content with information like the following contained in them:
All the details about the product,
Contact details of the supplier/manufacturer,
Offer details,
Any relevant event details,
Competition details,
A discount coupon for next purchase etc,
All social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace IDs,
A link to your business channel on YouTube,
All this information will help in managing many applications, some of which include:
Marketing (connecting consumers to content)
Inventory management (QR Codes can survive wear and tear)
Mobile Payments (cardless transactions)
Login authentication (Just like Whatsapp Web)
Identification (anti-counterfeiting, ID cards, ticketing, etc.)
A QR Code can be generated with the help of online QR Code Generators. The codes that you generate can then be decoded using any QR Code scanning application on your smartphones. There are many free websites on the internet that can provide QR code generation for free and these can be scanned by many smartphones on Android or IOS platforms. But their websites provide limited services for free and you will have to opt for their paid packages to actually use on a large scale for commercial purposes.
Hope this was helpful. Thanks
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