What Is a QR Code and How will it work for my business?

Internet trends constantly come and go, one however that has stubbornly stayed around against many recited incorrect predictions of its impending demise is that of the QR (Quick Response) code.

You may beg the question ‘What are these QR codes and why are they important?’

if this is the first time you have heard or seen it, you maybe pondering your mind right now in wonder. It can be said whilst the majority of savvy internet users may already know, for those that do not, this is what a common QR code looks like:

At first glance, it looks a bit odd, this code is something that local business owners and entrepreneurs need to be mindful of since it is becoming a significant business tool. The QR code is essentially a natural extention of the traditional barcode, which has been around since the 1970s from your supermarket groceries to large LCD TVs.

QR codes was designed and introduced by Japanese car parts manufacturers - Denso ( A subsidiary of Toyota) to track the movement of car parts. Now the same is being used by big companies and local businesses.

The advantages of the QR Code for Your Business

The QR code has many advantages over a traditional barcode, however. The main advantage is that you can hold up to a hundred times more information on a QR code than on a tradiional horizontal barcode. In addition, QR codes can be scanned from any direction for 360 degrees.

This makes them easier for your device/scanner to read and reduce the possibility of background interference.

The third main positive is that from a point of view of marketing, the code’s appearance is unique and interesting, increasing the likelihood of engaging the customer in any campaign where it might be used.

A QR code reader app can be downloaded onto a smartphone/ by anyone, and they are mostly free of charge. This means that any customer can walk into your business with his or her smartphone, and scan a QR code which you have generated. An Android user can use a app like QR Code Reader, and an iPhone user can download the Quickscan app. Both are free of charge.

There are many websites allowing you to generate QR codes and again, most are free of charge. You can then download them to your computer for printing. A Google search for “QR code generator” brings up countless results, each offering different options. So it is simply a case of selecting the options that works best for you.

QR Codes in Business

Now, let’s see some business-related scenarios where you would use QR codes.

· Use a QR Code to direct a customer to the URL for your website, Facebook, Twitter or other social media page.

· Use it to share a text message (anything from “Happy Holidays!” to “Have you seen what we have upstairs?)

· Use it as a discount code to be taken to the checkout counter for 10 percent off, for example.

· Use it on your business card with your contact details embedded inside the code.

· Use it to link to a Google Maps location for your new store location perhaps.

· Use it to link to a YouTube video or channel perhaps demonstrating new products or funny company videos.

· Use it to link to an app store download (perhaps of your company’s latest eCommerce app?)

· Use it to embed pricing for your products as an alternative for more conventional price tags.

· Put it on your website’s “contact us” page allowing people scan it and get your contact information direct on their phones.

· Put the code on the tables and walls of your restaurant as an easy way for customers to send off a Foursquare or Facebook status update.

· Put a code on your restaurant’s takeout menu allowing customers to

scan it with their phones and instantly call to place an order.

· Put a QR code at the end of promotional videos taking viewers to a landing page on your website.

· Put it on the front of your door and promote a virtual tour of inside the business so

prospects can see and share if you are not in.

At street7, we hope, you can see by now the great advantages of using QR codes in your business. The codes can help you store a serious amount of information and provide a creative new way of engaging customers. Encourage them to get their phones out and start scanning. By offering an incentive of a discount available only to customers through the code.

Virtual Reality is NOW here for BUSINESS

360 Degrees Virtual Reality For Business

The use of Virtual reality is a far cry from years past with clunky and uncomfortable headsets that weight the same as you as you insert them over your head to view some basic graphics.

The explosive growth of the use of VR (Virtual Reality) in real world application has seen big brands advancing and latching onto this trend. In terms of social platforms, giants such as Facebook, Youtube and Google offer 360 degrees enabled consumer viewings and as technology for software goes as they advance so will the quality of application.

Is your business prepared for VR?

Good news for savvy and forward-thinking businesses is that much of the competition associate VR technologies with teenage gaming and pay very little attention to the real-world applications that could significantly enhance their business.

Social media and corporate branding is very closely connected- that much is very obvious.

Here is an example:

Restaurants and schools could create a virtual tour with interactive information points to list offerings and share particular items and offers. The scope for creativity is limited only by imagination.

Earlier on in the year I was kindly invited along to a hotel and hospitality event in London and the discussion of ‘weddings’ was the hot topic for the up coming months of spring and summer. Just to fill you guys in the know, weddings season is good for hotels on numerous levels (Food and drink sales, full room bookings, event bookings and brand awareness via social sharing).

This can also be seen as with the opposite view, Not being able to fill your wedding slots in advance means the your competition are.

Here are some points are gave them#:

Nowadays, not 1900 century, people have a mobile phone and they are more likely to stay in doors then to come out. We can learn based of statistics, 7 out of 10 people are more savvy with technologies and using their phones more for research and mapping services even before they physically step foot in the venue.

You could build trust and a save a lot of ‘donkey’ work by just creating a virtual tour of the hotel for weddings. People can see the function/dance floor, bedrooms and swimming pools etc.

The hotel could then embed the virtual tour onto the website, Google Maps and sharing it with a short link in their marketing. One marketing idea that was executed for a few clients previously that got massive amounts of interest was this:

You could link and apply the virtual tour onto a QR code on leaflets, banners or points of interest dotted around the venue, so when people scan it- the scan takes them straight to the virtual tour and viewed on the mobile device

Why is this particular useful you ask? Because it saves the ‘donkey work’

You increase your pre-qualified leads, save resources and time showing people around   

In the same instance, events like weddings at the hotels, sharing photos of the special day is very common practice, sharing a fully immersive 360 degree photo is on another level altogether.

Hotels and business are able to apply their branding and contact details on the photos and when guest share the image (without disruptions) with their friends on Facebook or a photo gallery reel, the brand details or also accessible by viewers

The $30 Billion dollar industry!

If the likes of gaming is set to be the standard bearer for the VR revolution, then social media will be undoubtedly be driving force (hence Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus Rift).

VR Headset

How soon you ask? Well, VR technology is already here and will be rolled out sooner than many expect, with some sources expecting VR to become a $30bn industry by 2020. Now is the ideal time to prepare for the coming changes and steal a lead over your competitors.

Get yourself a head start in the world of VR by speaking to one of our friendly  consultants today. We can both advise you on how best to take advantage of  virtual reality in your business, and supply the rich, detailed photography you will need to enhance user experience.