The rise of QR codes in western society has been somewhat turbulent. Earlier this year, Google announced that they would no longer be supporting the codes for their Places platform. This caused many to question the longevity of the codes. Despite this, however, the codes have continued to gain steam, leading the charge of the emerging, and increasingly pivotal, mobile marketing industry. Mobio, a leading mobile technology firm, recently released a study that showed QR code scans has risen by nearly 5,000% in the last year. The codes are becoming so popular that many who had previously abandoned them are now having second thoughts.
Starbucks is one of those taking a second chance with QR codes. The massive corporation used the codes on their coffee cups once upon a time, when the codes were still relatively new in the U.S. They opted to discontinue their use after the codes received less than optimal response from consumers. Now, however, Starbucks is adding support for the codes with their “myStarbucks” mobile application.
The application allows consumers to search for local stores, browse products and even create and share their own coffee creations. The application will now double as a QR code scanner for smart phones. The move is preemptive of a time when QR codes start showing up in stores. How soon that will be, however, is still unclear.
QR codes have proven that they can stand up to competition from newer mobile technologies, such as the NFC tag, and still come out as the favored means of mobile marketing. Starbucks has renewed their support of the codes, a move that may inspire other big companies to follow suit.
