The mechanism known since 1994, is now coming back in great style during the world pandemic and sanitary regime, thus becoming an important topic on the minds of many companies.
The pandemic has reversed the bad luck of QR codes, which is proven by the situation of QR Menu, a myREST startup product. The QR Menu is a menu in the form of a scannable code, which then refers to the full menu of a given restaurant. For over a year now, creator Volodymyr Turchak had been trying to interest restaurateurs in his idea, but to no avail. In another approach to the idea, the startup modified the product by integrating different channels. The system collects information about bookings from restaurants’ websites, Facebook, Instagram or Google. Modifications proved to be a success!
The new feature in Apple Pay will allow you to make payments by scanning the QR code, or even barcodes with the phone. Looking at the fact that the use of QR codes is successfully offered by Walmart or the Walgreens chain of pharmacies, you can see a clear trend in the development of contactless payments. Also in March of 2020 the popular PayPal introduced the possibility of paying with QR codes in several countries. Unfortunately, this option is not available for Poland at the moment.
The recurring trend was also followed by WhatsApp. The popular communicator has introduced the function of scanning codes and thus sharing contacts between users. The scanning of the code is possible from the camera level or by going into the settings.
Not only known brands have starting taking a closer look at codes! In April this year, the Warsaw City Transport Authority began the process of placing QR codes at all stops of the first price zone. After scanning the code, the user is redirected to the page presenting the full timetable for all public transport lines.
As you can learn from the 2020 Pandemic and the QR Code Economy report prepared by Tencent (a Chinese technology company), the use of QR codes in the WeChat communicator increased by 25.86% compared to the same period last year. From January 23rd to May 6th, i.e. during the period of the biggest coronavirus infection, the QR codes in WeChat were used more than 140 billion times (!) by various institutions, companies or ordinary users.
In turn, the Grand View Research report estimates that the global market for contactless payments, including through QR codes, is expected to reach USD 4.68 trillion by the end of 2027 – an increase of 19.8% compared to 2020 (!).
Of course, as in most cases, blindly following the trend is not recommended. It is important to make sure that such a solution benefits users, is optimized and, above all, responds to specific needs. It is not worth missing such an opportunity, but you should certainly prepare yourself well for it.
Source:
https://warszawa.wyborcza.pl/warszawa/7,54420,25880797,kody-qr-na-przystankach-w-warszawie-ulatwia-sprawdzanie-rozkladow.html
https://www.um.warszawa.pl/aktualnosci/kod-qr-na-przystanku-u-atwi-sprawdzenie-rozk-adu-jazdy
https://spidersweb.pl/bizblog/myrest-menu-qr-restauracje-koronawirus/
https://antyweb.pl/whatsapp-kody-qr/
https://alebank.pl/reanimacja-platnosci-kodami-qr-apple-pracuje-nad-nowa-funkcja-apple-wallet/
