QR vs NFC: The battle of fast scanning.

QR vs NFC: De battle van het snelle scannen*.*

They have been around for years: techniques to make it easier to send your leads to your business online. Yet NFC and QR seem to be only now really making their appearance. Why is it that these methods never really caught on before, and how can you make use of them now, in 2019? You will find out in this blog!

 

Fast scanning with QR

QR codes, the black and white square codes that perhaps everyone remembers. It made its appearance 10 years ago and could be used for marketing purposes. Yet it is only now starting to look like something. How come?"

QR is a 'Quick-Response' code, similar to the barcodes you see in shops. Unlike barcodes, QR codes can be scanned easily and quickly by anyone. In China, these QR codes are already widely used for making payments easily. In the Netherlands, it is also increasingly used, as they can now be scanned by default with the camera app. Still, not all devices have this feature yet and by no means everyone knows about it.

And that is probably where it went wrong 10 years ago. Not all devices were yet equipped with the necessary software to scan QR codes. In addition, QR codes were often not printed properly, were not yet placed in optimal places, the QR codes sent people to the wrong landing page (homepage instead of product page) and by no means all websites were made for mobile 10 years ago. Thankfully, this has now changed, which is why it is only now time to take a good look at this!

 

NFC: just tap 'n go

The Near Field Communication chip, or NFC. A technology that basically everyone uses every day, but not everyone is familiar with. NFC is the technology that allows you to pay contactless with your debit card and mobile phone. So with NFC, you actually only need to 'tap' to perform a certain action.

As opposed to RFID chips, chips used as ID to enter a building, chip your pet or check if you are driving on a toll road, you can do more with NFC. Although NFC has a lower frequency, it does have the functionality to both read and transmit code. This gives NFC an edge over RFID, as you can use it to exchange information two ways. That's how you can use your smartphone as a debit card, but at the same time you can also put the bonus points from, say, the AH or Kruidvat straight onto the savings card. Through NFC, your mobile has actually become a digital wallet where your debit card and savings cards come together.

NFC has also never made its real entry because it simply has not been standardised. Now that it does increasingly appear on smartphones as a feature, it is only interesting to look at this as a marketer.

 

Google Lens

Google has also released a new feature that allows people to easily get more information: Google Lens. Google Lens a cool tool where you can point your camera to scan an object, text or image and Google will give you different suggestions with similar things. Unfortunately, you can't yet set this up yourself, making Google Lens not suitable for marketers (yet).

 

NFC vs QR

Both are excellent ways to get your target audience to perform an action you want faster. So you can easily take them from the offline world to the online world. Still, there are differences to be found between the NFC and the QR tag.

Let's first list the similarities. For instance, you can use NFC and QR to identify the people who scan them:

  • To send them to a website, landing page or social media page;
  • Show a video
  • Show images/photos
  • Give more product information
  • Give a review easily
  • Call or WhatsAppen to a specific number
  • Give access to an event

Though an NFC tag allows you to do a little more than you can with the QR. This is because NFC allows you to communicate two ways. In addition, an NFC tag can allow you to adjust settings in your phone. The following can still be done with an NFC:

  • Adjusting profiles within mobile (thus easily going into 'auto mode');
  • Fulfill payments;
  • Automatic check-in on Facebook;
  • Pay with your phone and withdraw loyalty points at the same time;
  • Exchange files, business cards and other information between devices;

Also, the success of NFC and QR never really materialised because not all devices (yet) have a built-in NFC and/or QR scanner as standard. Nowadays, though, almost all phones, both iOS and Android, contain a QR scanner. Often standard in the camera (in almost all Android and iOS 11 and higher) and with Android people can also easily use Google Lens to have the phone scan a QR code. For this, though, you have to set it up in the camera settings.

NFC is a little less advanced in this. Although Android has been putting it on its phones since 2012, Apple was still waiting to do so. Now that Apple is also convinced, an NFC reader is also standard on the latest iPhones. Below is a table showing which devices do and do not have this feature by default.

QR vs NFC

Extra method

In addition to NFC and QR, there is actually another 'method': a shortened URL. As simple as it sounds, but actually the main reason an NFC and QR are needed is because URLs are too long to type in easily. Nowadays, there are more and more programmes to shorten your URL and you can also more easily set which URL you will use for your landing pages yourself. You could also choose to purchase a separate domain, where the URL is much shorter.

QR codes are also a lot less complex and therefore easier to scan if they are based around a short URL. So keeping your URLs short should actually be a priority, even if you do not deploy it in your marketing strategy or for creating QR codes.

 

Marketing applications

All these methods are nice and all, but what can you do with them in your marketing? We'll tell you now! Both QR and NFC can be used for pretty much the same purposes, only with some it's a bit easier than others.

 

Offline to online

Both methods are good for driving offline users to the online world. For example, have people in a magazine scan a QR code to go to a video or website. Or take visitors with a scan or tap to a page with more information about an art object, festival or clothing. The ingredients of a delivered pizza or a luxury three-course dinner can also be shown this way quickly. 

Both QR and NFC can easily take people from offline to the online world. QR involves no extra cost at all in this, NFC the amount of cost is also minimal. Especially if you use NFC stickers.

 

Device to device

NFC and QR are ideal for directing people to more information by using devices. For example, QR can be shown on your narrowcasting screens, so people only need to scan it to get more information about a product, or to be redirected to a leaflet or offer from your store/company.

NFC is also suitable for this as this method also allows information to be shared between different devices. You only need to hold the phone near another device, such as narrowcasting screen, tablet or other phone and you can exchange information in this way.

NFC is also suitable for this purpose because this method also allows information to be shared between different devices.

 

Review

As a marketer yourself, you probably know the importance of posting reviews online. 88% of online users factor reviews into their purchasing decision and 80% say they value reviews as much as personal recommendations1. Of course, you won't get those reviews in 1, 2, 3, but you could make it much easier for your users to give a review. For example, with an NFC tag and/or QR code that sends scanners straight to a Google Review page!

 

Sales

If you handle sales, then all methods can be useful to let your leads easily save your details, call you or send them to your LinkedIn page. For example, put a QR or NFC tag in or on your business card to link users and your potential customers to that (social) page where more information about you and your company can be found. Or let scanners link directly to a contact page or even call or WhatsAppen a specific number. With Google Lens, you can even just point your camera at the data on a business card and then this data will be saved instantly. There are plenty of reasons to incorporate these scanning methods into your sales!

Now that you know more about these different methods, we are curious to know which one you will use. At Sterc, we recommend using multiple methods at the same time to ensure those leads don't pass you by because of a missing feature on the phone. Ideally, you should at least post a shortened URL, as anyone can easily copy it. By adding an NFC and/or QR in the process, you can target all the users you want. Additionally, if you want to learn more about online trends, then download our 2019 Online Trend Report, it is full of trends and online opportunities 2019 has to offer you!


1: https://www.vendasta.com/blog/50-stats-you-need-to-know-about-online-reviews