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Friday, September 7, 2012

QR CODES...What's all the FUSS about?

I'm sure by now ev eryone has seen one of these before

If you haven't then I don't know where you've been for the past few years. These are called QR Codes and they can be a sellers best friend if they are trying to keep up with an ever evolving "on the run" society. QR stands for QUICK RESPONSE.And from my research by 2014 a whopping 65% of global users will have, and use their iPhones,iPads and practically any other mobile device to do their shopping on the run.

The QR code can deliver information to a potential shopper to place them at your website,Etsy shop, Blog or even your email address. They can also be used by the shopper to take advantage of sales, coupons and discounts available at wherever they shop. Many stores now have them set up(as you walk in) for you to use your phone to "scan" the code and get any coupons offered by that store. You can have a code foe a particular item or for your whole store.

The smart business person will have them imprinted right on their business card, or even offer items with their code imprinted on them, like tee shirts, for example.

The best news of all...there are FREE sites where you can get your own QR code for an item or your whole shop or website.So, of course there are apps you can get for your mobile device to be able to set your device up to scan these codes, when you find something of interest, save it for later recall or use at check out!

I even saw a news story the other day where a HUGE retailer is testing software based on this premise to allow you to "scan as you go" to do your grocery shopping that will keep as running tally of the items you are adding to your REAL shopping cart that will allow you to check out without standing in a long line, or ANY line for that matter.

So now that you know where can you find these QR Code creators? Simple...this is THE answer to practically everything these days)...GOOGLE IT!!

I'd like to acknowledge Mary Morgan of Guru Originals and Pearl Blay of The Beading Gem,(both sellers on Etsy)for much of the information I've shared with you today.Please give them a Shout Out for sharing such great info and go check out their handmade items!!

Now to make it easier for you, here are a few sites that Pearl mentions to get the QR Codes or apps for your mobile device. I'd start here first to see what types of codes are available and a full explanation of use:

Here are a few sites to look at for code generators: Text Only QR code: http://www.qurify.com/en/ Social Media and a FREE Website: http://qrmobilize.com/
This site seems to be the best overall. What is really neat is that you get buy their products, and one of them is a QR Code BRACELET!! You could get a phone cover also!

If I were doing a craft show and wore one think of HOW EASY it would be to share my information!! Or if I didn't have a business card handy. I can think of so many uses for this I'd be here all day listing them.

Now I'm off to go "plant" my own code and see what grows!!