QR codes for small businesses

Which code where

1. Reviews

The review code has the highest return of any code a small business prints. The moment is the till: the customer is happy, has their phone out to pay, and is about to leave. A 3 cm code on a small laminated card by the card reader, and the same code on the receipt, catches that moment.

Point it at the review form itself, the link that opens the “write a review” box, not your general profile. Every extra tap loses half the people. If you make the code dynamic, you can see how many scans per week and change the destination if you move platforms.

2. Wi-Fi

Anywhere a customer waits, they want the Wi-Fi. A Wi-Fi code joins the network in one tap, and the network name and password printed beside it cover the phones that do not offer. Put it on the counter and at the seats. It is static, because the code holds the password itself, so keep the card and change the password once or twice a year. The Wi-Fi type page explains the format.

3. Your contact card

For a trade or a service, the vCard is the code that brings repeat work. It saves your name, number, email and website to the customer’s phone in one tap, so in six months when the boiler fails they find you under “plumber” rather than searching. Put it on the van, on invoices and on your business card. Keep the fields short: name, business, one number, email, website. A long vCard makes a dense code that fails on a moving van. See the vCard type page and the business cards page.

4. Booking and social

The booking code belongs on the window. A passer-by after closing time who scans a 15 cm code and books a haircut for Thursday is a customer you would not otherwise have had. Make it dynamic. Booking systems change and the window vinyl should not.

The social code is the one most businesses get wrong. A code per network clutters the window, and a code to a single network excludes everyone else. One dynamic code to a small page that lists your accounts, and the customer picks. On packaging and till cards it does double duty as the “share a photo of your purchase” prompt.

Getting the counter and window codes right

• Counter and till cards: 3 to 4 cm, laminated, level M or Q. Scanned from 30 cm.
• Window: 10 to 20 cm, level M, printed vinyl on the inside of the glass. Scanned from 1 to 2 m through reflections. Use the size calculator.
• Receipts: 2 cm minimum, and check the code on the actual thermal printer; some print grey.
• Van: 15 cm or more, level Q, on a flat panel not a curved wheel arch. It is read from across the road when parked.
• Contrast: black or a dark colour on white. Your brand colour can be the border and the words.
• One line each: “Scan to leave a review”, “Scan to join Wi-Fi”. Not “Scan me”.

Fake-sticker note

Any code in a public place can have a sticker put over it. Counter codes behind laminate or under the glass, window codes on the inside of the glass, and your name as part of every design, so a plain replacement looks wrong. Never ask customers to pay through a code on the window. More in the security explainer.