According to a survey by Mobileiron, the world is embracing QR codes more than ever. It stated that 86.66% of smartphone users had scanned a QR Code at least once in their lives. And 36.40% perform at least one weekly QR Code scan. Besides this, did you know that NFC technology is also booming? This new technology makes it possible to exchange information at a 10-centimetre distance between two objects. As these have similarities, they're very different! This article will explain these two technological features and their main differences. 

A QR code (Quick Response code) purpose, very similar to a barcode, is to be scanned by a camera or an electronic device such as a mobile phone. When it's scanned, a link to a website will appear below it so the user can tap it and access the desired destination. Companies use this technique to make their websites even more accessible to a broad audience. An example of this is restaurants displaying menus or clothing stores that place QR codes on the labels of their clothing items to work out product details, share their vision or easily share the company's social media with their customers. Recently we've seen new uses for QR codes at a marketing level, such as Connected Packaging Experiences, interactive branding or marketing landing pages that offer gamification, videos, photo galleries, and live GDOR-compliant data gathering.

 An NFC logo

NFC (Near-Field Communication) technology allows devices to connect without exchanging personal details. This exchange needs to be done within the limit of 10 centimetres. You can recognise an NFC device by looking for the NFC logo. How this NFC technology works is simple and automatic; you just need to connect the two devices by holding them next to each other. Thanks to this, Bluetooth has become, in some aspects, redundant to connecting devices. Nowadays, actions using NFC technology are wireless transactions via a payment device and a smartphone or smartwatch, electronic devices paring as digital keys for hotels or offices, easy-to-scan trackable codes for long-distance shiping, transferring photos to a printer to print, and much more.

The advantages of QR codes are that they're straightforward to use by only scanning the code with a smartphone📱and secondly, there are endless ways for businesses to connect with their customers thanks to the limitless personalisation possible for landing pages and connected packaging experiences. The benefits of NFC technology are that it creates opportunities for easy, safe and fast payments, it's changing the way we interconnect electronic devices quicker, and providing a new solution or alternative to fiscal keys for the first time in centuries.

Here you can check this exciting case study from KDD, which uses QR code technology to re-direct users to an engaging connected packaging experience. 📦

Here at Appetite Creative, we're not only experts regarding QR codes but also NFC technology. Contact us today to find out what we can do for you and your products!