So far, I’ve been reluctant to use QR codes. I especially dislike being forced to use them to read the menu at a restaurant. When faced with that situation, I always ask the waiter to bring me a printed menu.
I have used QR codes in business, though, as another way to connect people to information from a client. The other format is to use a bitly link to take someone to the client’s site, but that’s not always a simple matter from a cellphone. That’s where QR codes come in.
I have seen QR codes used in TV ads from time to time – mainly in infomercials on cable. But the mold was broken during the Super Bowl broadcast, when Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, ran an ad that simply showed a QR code slowly moving around the screen. According to reports in the trades, the ad pulled such a big response that the Coinbase server crashed because it got overloaded.
So, QR codes seem to work. They’ll likely become even more commonplace as more phones have the capability to use them. More than 83 percent of smartphones today can scan QR codes, up from a bit above 52 percent only three years ago. Industry experts say that number should hit 99.5 percent by 2025.
I guess QR codes are here to stay.