Why we should take a closer look at QR codes in 2019

What is QR Code

QR-code, or quick response code, literally translates as "quick response code". In fact, it is a two-dimensional matrix code that consists of alternating shaded elements and voids. Information is encrypted in each of its elements. There is it even in a white frame - with the help of it the scanner "sees" the boundaries of the code.

Like any code, QR is not intended to be used by humans. It only helps us to talk to the computer in its language. Therefore, such a code can be called an intermediary between the online and offline areas.

The closest relative of QR is the barcode. It also consists of a sequence of lines of different widths and equal spaces. The technology resembles a more capacious Morse code: one code contains all the data the seller needs about a particular product.

A QR code contains much more information: 7,089 numbers or 4,296 letters (almost 4 pages of text). You can also add a long link, an email, an SMS, an image, information about an airplane ticket, a unique promotional offer, a meme for a friend, and any other data that is difficult to remember and accurately convey.

How technology has evolved

QR coding technology appeared in Japan over 25 years ago. It was developed by Denso and was originally intended for the automotive industry.

Due to the peculiarities of the language system of Asian countries, QR codes turned out to be very convenient for perception and quickly gained popularity there. Moreover, in a variety of areas: trade and logistics, manufacturing, medicine, marketing.

However, using QR codes hasn't always been so easy. So, 10 years ago, paying for a purchase with their help took up to 17 seconds. And it was hard to imagine that such a slow technology could be effectively used on mobile devices every day.

That all changed in 2003 when the Chinese company Inspiry invented a fast QR code reader. Under the leadership of its founder, Wang Yue, the developers promoted the technology in China at the state level.

In 2005, Inspiry registered the national code standard and released the first mainstream code reader application. And three years later, the first portable scanner appeared, which determined the revolutionary development of technology in China.

In 2014, with the growing popularity of WeChat, QR codes have become the main method of online payments for residents of this state.

According to Internet WorldStat, China ranked first in the world in terms of Internet audience in 2017. And 100% of the latter use QR codes. According to iResearch, the volume of the mobile payments market in China was already $ 8 trillion in 2016. This is 50 times more than in North America.

At the same time, the bulk of payments today go through the multifunctional WeChat application. It helps the Chinese buy movie tickets, rent bicycles, pay for fares, and even buy vegetables from street vendors.

The payment procedure is simple: you just need to take a picture of the seller's QR code on the market or a similar code right at the checkout, and the money is instantly debited from the bank account linked to the application. The safety of operations is guaranteed at the national level.

And two years ago, The Beijinger wrote about an unusual Beijing wedding, where the bridesmaid wore a badge with a QR code. With it, guests could send money via WeChat. The girl explained that she decided to save the guests from the need to withdraw cash.

Why do they use QR codes in Asia

1. Government operations

In Southeast and South Asia, the spread of QR payments has revolutionized the economy and industry. The Chinese government, for example, has been using QR codes at the state level for almost 10 years and plans to replace all official documents with them - birth certificates, visas, identity cards. Since 2010, the safety of using QR has been guaranteed by the People's Bank of China.

2. Identity verification

In 2017, the owners of Taobao opened a self-service store without a cash register. To enter it, the buyer needs to scan the QR code with the Taobao account details. When leaving the store, the system automatically calculates the cost of the selected goods and debits the required amount from the account. The operation takes a few seconds.

Doctors in Beijing hospitals use QR codes to identify elderly people. Patients are given a badge with a code in which their personal data is encrypted, including a medical record. The technology helps to quickly identify an unconscious person in the hospital and reduce the likelihood of a misdiagnosis. It applies not only to the elderly, although they are the target audience of the technology. After all, many of them have memory problems.

3. Advertising campaigns

Several years ago, as part of an advertising campaign, an unusual installation was installed near the Korean supermarket Emart. At lunchtime, the latter cast shadows that turned into a QR code. Customers scanned it and received a $ 12 discount. As a result, such a promotion helped to increase store sales during quiet lunch hours by 25%.

An original advertisement using a QR code was also invented in the South Korean dermatological clinic Regen Clinic. At public transport stops, posters were posted, which depicted a girl with problem skin. But the person who came closer to the poster saw instead of acne QR codes with a promotion: a free consultation on skin care from Regen Clinic.

The Chinese have a tradition of giving money in red envelopes for the holidays. WeChat sponsored the Red Packets ad campaign and people are now happily using transfers instead of cash.

4. Quality control

QR codes help solve one of the most serious problems in China - quality control of goods. Now at stands in supermarkets they print a QR code that contains information about the supply of products. With its help, buyers will find out from which farm and when exactly fruits and vegetables were brought.

Winemakers do the same: they print a code on the bottle that confirms the authenticity of the drink. In the same place, the buyer will find out the harvest date, grape variety and recommendations of the products to which this wine is suitable.

5. Donations

The problem that has been sparked by the popularity of mobile payments is digital begging. Beggars in China beg on the streets and in crossings, but do not take cash. Those who want to donate some money will have to scan the badge with a QR code that is tied to the beggar's mobile wallet.

Even churches collect tithes through QR codes.

In the Hangzhou temple, for example, instead of collecting cash in plastic boxes, they suggest scanning a QR code and sending donations to the church's account.

6. Tracking attendance

QR codes are a modern way to keep track of attendance at a Chinese university. During class, a code appears on the board, which students must scan via WeChat to confirm their presence. The system is ingenious, but not yet very effective: truants scan a photo of a QR code received from classmates.

Why QR codes are not so popular in other countries

In the book “Alibaba. A First-Person Story of World Ascent”describes a case from the biography of Jack Ma, the creator of AliExpress and Taobao. When speaking to a Chinese audience, Jack often uses stories from his favorite martial arts books or refers to Chinese revolutionary history.

An American colleague once asked Jack about his references to Mao in his speeches in China. Jack explained it this way: "To keep you interested, I will talk about George Washington and the cherry tree."

In anthropology there is even a term for this - cultural references. It means that the perception of the world is determined by the cultural characteristics of the environment in which a person develops.

Therefore, in the creation of any product - especially when it comes to technology - it is important to take into account the cultural component. And to see the differences, just compare the typical car rental sites - American and Chinese:

EBay once claimed to be what Alibaba and Taobao eventually became in China, but buyers have failed to embrace the "Western vision." To users, the store seemed empty, uninteresting and alien.

But Taobao, a modified clone of the American marketplace created by the Chinese for the Chinese, was greeted with delight: the volume of its transactions per year exceeds $ 400 billion. That's a third more than Amazon and eBay.

The same is the case with computer technology that came from the West. They did not simplify the life of Asians too much: on the keyboard, each hieroglyph is typed in several characters and folded into one word using tooltips.

Before the advent of mobile touch devices, it was even more difficult: because of the small number of buttons, an already time-consuming set of hieroglyphs turned into a nightmare.

Well, QR codes remind us of Sudoku - Japanese crosswords, familiar to any Asian. However, for a person who uses the Latin or Cyrillic alphabet, it is not easy to use a graphic symbol in everyday affairs.

Where QR Codes are Used in the Western World

In 2013, American smartphone owners were asked if they had ever scanned a QR code, and only a fifth of those surveyed answered in the affirmative.

A year earlier, comScore published research results that almost one hundred percent of online shoppers in the United States do not know how to use QR.

Despite the proliferation of smartphones and mobile payments, the technology is still unpopular in the West and the CIS. And it’s quite difficult to imagine that we began to pay for coffee using QR codes. However, in some areas, this technology was still able to find a worthy application.

1. Checks and tickets

Most often we see QR codes in store receipts. Their use is regulated by law: the code must contain information about the payment (unique identifier, amount and time of the payment) and the data of the buyer, if he pays by card.

The law also applies to tickets: both air and rail. Those who travel frequently and use the Aeroexpress are used to scanning the QR code on their ticket when entering the airport.

In addition, Yandex's Smartpass technology helps generate and read a QR code when buying a ticket to a cinema. After payment, an electronic ticket is sent in the form of a QR - it is enough to save the code on your phone and bring it to the scanner at the entrance to the hall.

2. Museums and attractions

In 2019, you will not surprise anyone by describing a painting in a museum or an old building in the form of a QR code, not text. And three years ago, codes appeared on the sights of Grodno (Republic of Belarus), with the help of which a mobile guide works.

Tourists take pictures of it, and the program tells the history of attractions, shows photos and videos, recommends nearby objects.

QR codes can also be seen in the Russian Museum. They were placed next to a hundred exhibits. With the help of RM’s Guide application, visitors scan the code and receive information about the history and content of the painting, its creator.

So, if you scan the code of the painting "Parade on Tsaritsyn Meadow" by Grigory Chernetsov, the program will tell you about each of the 233 characters depicted on the canvas.

3. Social networks

The technology on which QR works was also implemented by Instagram. Recently, the Nametag function appeared there - cards that work on the principle of QR codes. To go to a profile, you just need to point your phone camera at any of them.

A good example of the adaptation of technology for a Western user: neat cards with a nice design and emoji are very different from standard QR codes.

4. Branded goods

The Australian brand UGG and the American company Sennheiser give customers the opportunity to check the originality of goods using a QR code, which is placed inside the package. The buyer reads it after the purchase, and information about the authenticity appears on the smartphone screen. If the item turns out to be a fake, it can be returned to the store.

5. Veterinary medicine

American animal clinics integrate QR into tags and collars. In addition to the pet's name and medical card, the code also encrypts the owner's name and contacts. The technology helps to identify a pet if it is lost and return it to its owner.

QR codes are also seen as a versatile replacement for microchips. Anyone with a camera on a smartphone can "read" them, while the information from the chips is read only by special equipment in veterinary clinics.

6. Cryptocurrency wallets

Technology has found a place in cryptocurrencies as well. Instead of memorizing a dozen-character wallet address, it can be encrypted as a QR code. To do this, you just need to insert the bitcoin address into the online generator. And to send bitcoin to the address, it is enough to scan the code.

True, QR did not help solve the problem of the security of regular addresses. A few years ago, live on Bloomberg TV channel, bitcoins were stolen from an account, the QR-address of which the presenter inadvertently showed in the frame.

In what other areas can QR codes be useful?

Learning new things is always stressful. Fresh technology should have clear advantages. It is unlikely that we will use QR codes on a par with Asians. But there are still areas in which we can quite successfully apply this technology.

1. Simplification of complex structures

Codes can definitely be useful in manufacturing, as well as in government operations. Two years ago, Russia approved a standard for mobile applications that work with barcodes and QR. And it helped a lot to simplify the payment of taxes, utilities and fines. Unfortunately, very few people still use this technology.

2. Mobile payments

The Norwegian payment system Vipps is now Alipay, making it easy for Chinese guests to pay in shops, restaurants and hotels. QR payments are supported by several national systems. For example, Swish in Sweden and a banking app in Denmark.

The Bank of Russia plans to develop a system for fast payments using a QR code, and several large banks have already added this function to their mobile applications. The recipient enters the transfer data, the application generates a QR code that the payer scans, and the funds are transferred automatically.

3. Advertising

MegaFon was the first in Russia to start using QR codes in advertising, placing them on banners. The mobile operator tried to popularize a new technology for us and even developed an application for its subscribers to create and recognize codes. Despite this, in recent years, QR is still almost never found in advertising.

4. Production of goods

For example, codes can be placed on food packaging, clothing, or in the interior and contain any information about the product. So, last year, Nizhny Novgorod stores joined the Mercury product certification program, which helps to control the quality of goods.

They promise that soon buyers will be able to scan the QR code of any product and find out how secure it is. Unfortunately, this system is not yet used everywhere.

5. Presentation of information

Business cards with QR instead of contact information, which are automatically added to the address book when the code is scanned, appeared eight years ago. They are irrelevant in 2019, but nothing prevents you from using the same principle on a business card site, presentation or ad.

The data may well be presented in the form of a QR code with full contact information about the company. So potential customers will be able to quickly write the necessary data to their smartphone without errors.