Consumers across the United States will be using the quick response barcodes for a range of uses.
A growing number of consumers in the United States are scanning QR codes for a spectrum of different uses and applications.
These uses include a broad number of reasons that include everything from information to payments.
New research shows that the number of American consumers using their smartphones for scanning QR codes is growing very rapidly, according to an Insider Intelligence forecast. The uses for these barcodes will include everything from gaining more information about a product, service or promotion, accessing a digital restaurant menu, or completing mobile payment transactions.
The forecast indicated that the use of the quick response barcodes will rise from 83.4 million American users this year to 99.5 million by 2025.
If the report is accurate, it indicates that while there will be a slowing of the annual growth rates in the barcode’s use over the next three years, the COVID-19 pandemic created a substantial increase in the scanning trends of the barcodes. The number of American smartphone users who use the barcodes at least once per calendar year increased by 25 percent. In 2019, there were 52.6 million Americans who scanned at least one time per year. By 2020, that number had risen to 65.7 million.
The QR codes made it possible for fast, convenient and affordable contactless transactions and information sharing.
“Retail, quick-service restaurant and hospitality businesses have been the main users of QR codes thus far,” said the Insider Intelligence prediction. “However, new uses are emerging, particularly for marketers looking to drive engagement and personalisation — and enhance customer experiences — through interactive TV, vehicle screens, public transit, billboards, product packaging, store shelves, buildings, shopping bags and business cards.”
Before the pandemic, many of the forecasts were that quick response barcodes were on their way out of use and would be fizzling into oblivion. That said, the sudden requirement for affordable, simple contactless access to information and payments turned that trend around and caused their use to skyrocket instead. While that does seem to be slowing down now, there is no indication that rapid growth of use will stop.
